6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Buried beneath the Arctic ice since the Cold War, genetically modified Soviet soldiers have been rediscovered, reactivated and are ready to unleash devastating destruction. They are cold-blooded killing machines with super-human strength and one man, a scientist who has been searching for them his entire life, will try to stop the carnage before they complete their terrifying, top-secret mission.
Starring: Dominic Purcell, Michael Ironside, Adam Beach, Gabriel Hogan, Camille SullivanAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It's usually space aliens or genetically modified Nazis that are dug up to wreak havoc on the modern world, but Ice Soldiers takes a not-so-chilling page out of a supposedly fictional chapter of the Cold War by pitting a few blonde-haired Soviets against a handful of modern scientists, explorers, and military personnel. The film's novelty more or less begins and ends there. It's basic, forgettable plotting and Action with a story that fits comfortably between "mindless" and "smart." The picture neither tries too little nor tries too hard to build up its side stories or character interactions, but it fails to produce enough action to keep the simple narrative chugging along. An overly long first half doesn't yield a super-action-packed second, and the end result is a passable, but forgettable, time killer.
At odds.
Ice Soldiers thaws onto Blu-ray with a sturdy and accurate 1080p transfer. Despite a sea of white -- lots of snow and bright, empty skies -- there's not much harshness to the image. It manages to remain mostly well-defined without feeling blown out or poorly defined. Snow textures can often look natural and complex in close-ups, while facial and winter clothing detail stand out with commendable exactness in most tighter moments. A few shots look a bit softer than others, but not to any degree to raise alarms. Colors are pleasing, particularly when scattered bright and darker shades alike contrast against the predominantly white backdrops. The image suffers from no major bouts of noise or blocking and shows only very light and sporadic banding. Overall, a good transfer, particularly given the image's constraints.
Ice Soldiers heats up sound stages with the sounds of intense, pumped action. Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack features a steady parade of explosive, heavy-hitting action sound effects and music. Gunfire, explosions, whooshing snow mobiles, and other action-specific elements play with thunderous presence and an endlessly aggressive posture. Sounds pour out of every inch of the stage and rarely take a hit in clarity. Musical notes flow with the same power and feature enveloping surround usage and potent low end accompaniment. Cold arctic wind blows around the stage, not so aggressively as to all but chill the audience but rather to positive, environment-defining effect. Dialogue plays naturally and evenly from the center. This soundtrack is easily this release's highlight.
Ice Soldiers contains no supplemental content beyond trailers for other Sony titles.
Ice Soldiers gets the basics right but does nothing else well. It tells a recycled story made of pieces from better movies, and the end product isn't all that cohesive or interesting. It's visually bland, thematically vacant, and emotionally tame. The action feels routine, the acting uninspired, and the filmmaking limited. It's a passable watch but Action fans can certainly do much better. Sony's Blu-ray release of Ice Soldiers features good video and potent audio. No extras are included. Skip it.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1996
2018
2017
2013
1999
2012
2006
2013
2008
1982
2006
2009
1995
2009
1992
2008
1998
1995
2017
2013