6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Eons after the Gods won their mythic struggle against the Titans, a new evil threatens the land. Mad with power, King Hyperion has declared war against humanity. Amassing a bloodthirsty army of soldiers disfigured by his own hand, Hyperion has scorched Greece in search of the legendary Epirus Bow, a weapon of unimaginable power forged in the heavens by Ares. Only he who possesses this bow can unleash the Titans, who have been imprisoned deep within the walls of Mount Tartaros since the dawn of time and thirst for revenge. In the king's hands, the bow would rain destruction upon mankind and annihilate the Gods. But ancient law dictates the Gods must not intervene in man's conflict. They remain powerless to stop Hyperion... until a peasant named Theseus comes forth as their only hope.
Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, Stephen Dorff, Kellan LutzAction | 100% |
Adventure | 74% |
Fantasy | 54% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy (on disc)
D-Box
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A time-saving word of warning up front: If you're the sort of person who enjoys reading about or studying actual Greek mythology,
Immortals will be infuriating. Director Tarsem Singh and screenwriters Vlas and Charley Parlapanides have no deference at all for the eons-old
stories they've tried to adapt here, combining and compressing various elements of Greek myth until they're left with a narrative that's somehow both
dumbed-down and incredibly convoluted. There's a reason, of course, that myths survive over vast stretches of time--they're damn good, almost
irreducibly elegant stories--so it seems haphazard to tinker with them until they're nearly unrecognizable.
And tinker the filmmakers have, bowdlerizing the Greek pantheon, reducing the gods to buff, empty-headed super-beings, and giving the film's human
hero--Theseus--a weirdly unheroic, inconsequential arc. This is one of the few movies in recent memory where the protagonist's presence in the story
has, at best, a negligible effect on the outcome. For all his raging, Theseus really doesn't accomplish much, which makes you wonder why he's even
worth immortalizing in this watered-down version of the tale, which substitutes admittedly gorgeous CGI spectacle for actual storytelling. Singh's last
film, The Fall, was a step in the right direction, but Immortals reverts back to a lot of the style-over-substance deficiencies of his
debut, 2000’s The Cell. It's showy and quickly forgettable--the blockbuster equivalent of a shiny bauble.
Don't mess with Zeus.
Tomorrow, we'll have our review up of the Immortals 3D bundle--which also includes a copy of the standard Blu-ray disc--but those of you who aren't interested in the extra dimension will be pleased to know that the 2D picture is stellar. This film looks damn good on Blu-ray, to the extent that eye-candy-craving videophiles may want to check it out on that basis alone, lousy story or not. Tarsem Singh knows his way around an arresting image, and the film is filled with one immaculately composed shot after another, all gorgeously rendered in 1080p with an AVC encode. The film was shot digitally using the Panavision Genesis camera--and later converted to 3D in post--and the image is pristine, with very little noise and an exceptional level of clarity. The fine armor and fabric textures of the costumes; the pores, creases, and individually visible five-o'clock-shadow hairs of the actors' facial features; the resolution of the digitally-inserted backdrops--it all looks fantastic. Color is wonderfully vivid as well. Skin tones are perfectly bronzed, reds pop off the screen, the gold-plated outfits of the Olympians shimmer, and the picture is almost continuously sun-drenched in a warm yellow cast. If I have one niggling complaint about the picture, it's that the contrast is heavily shifted toward the shadows, creating black levels that sometimes obscure detail. This is partly intentional, I'm sure, but the image could stand to be a hair brighter in a few of the more impenetrably dark scenes. Otherwise, this is a stunning Blu-ray presentation, free of compression problems, encode issues--besides a few fleeting instances of moire--and other concerns.
The sound design? Even better. Immortals lands on Blu-ray with a maximalistic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that will rock your home theater system if you crank it up. And you'll want to. This is the kind of whiz-bang-clash-pow audio mix that makes all that money you invested in a beefy receiver and high-end speakers worth it. Immersiveness. Startling clarity. Room-shaking subwoofer engagement. Directional precision. All the audio buzzwords apply here. All 5.1 channels are utilized to create a continuously involving soundscape that complements the onscreen action perfectly. The front-and-center speakers output the expected wall of sound, and the rears supply ambient accompaniment--torrents of rain, crashing waves, screaming hawks--along with the pinpoint effects like clanging swords and rattling chains. And the explosions. Oh the explosions, with debris flying outward at you and concentric waves of LFE rumble. My bowels quake just thinking about it. If that weren't enough, the mix is filled out with a great brassy score by Trevor Morris. Dialogue can sound a bit low during a few scenes, but never to the point of distraction. (Or to the extent of docking an otherwise perfect score.) Voices are usually clean and clear, and for those who need or want them, the disc includes optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles, along with a lone Dolby Digital 5.1 French dub.
Style over substance is a charge Tarsem Singh has faced before--he directed The Cell--and it's fair to level the same accusation at him again for his latest film, Immortals, which botches Greek mythology and tries to cover up the mess with CGI gloss and 3D spectacle. (Our review of the 3D version will be up tomorrow.) The film has its share of cool visuals and cleverly choreographed fight sequences, but it just isn't entertaining otherwise. If you're in the mood for this kind of film--the revisionist mythological sword-and-sandal action epic--I'd just rewatch 300. Audio/video-quality enthusiasts may be won over the Blu-ray's stunning picture and explosive sound, but for most others this is a rental at best.
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Standard Edition
1982
2016
2010
DVD Packaging
2011
Extended Edition
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Extended Edition
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Theatrical Edition
2001
Gong Fu Zi Wong
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