Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Impostor Blu-ray Movie Review

Disappointing video hurts a Blu-ray release of an overlooked Sci-Fi Thriller.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 15, 2012

Phillip K. Dick's influence on the Science Fiction genre and the literary world-at-large cannot be denied, his works not overly praised, his vision indisputably detailed. While his influence in the motion picture arena doesn't match his written legacy, cinema has crafted several of his stories into top motion pictures, the highlight undoubtedly being Director Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Other films -- the entertaining Total Recall and the slickly-crafted Minority Report -- have made big money for studios and entertained hundreds of thousands of audiences with chilling visions of a future gone mad. The filmed adaptation of his Impostor may be the most ignored or, at least, under-the-radar picture of them all. It certainly lacks the detail and wonder of Blade Runner, the sheer fun of Total Recall, and the unbelievable polish and technical skill of Minority Report, but this Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump)-starring Thriller, directed by Gary Fleder (The Express), offers audiences an exhilarating, superbly-crafted, highly-suspenseful, and consistently-captivating tale of a man on the run, on the run from authorities and from the truth.

This isn't very comfortable, you know.

Spencer Olham (Sinise) has known nothing but war. He's grown up in a world decimated by a decades-long conflict with Alpha Centauri, a planet home to an alien race determined to destroy mankind. His father was lost in the fight, and Spencer's turned his attention from building rockets to building weapons, hoping to wipe the enemy out once and for all, to end the conflict and restore peace to a world's he's only know savaged by war. His wife Maya (Madeleine Stowe, 12 Monkeys) works at the veteran's hospital, caring for the wounded soldiers. One day, Spencer is quickly and brutally arrested. He comes to strapped in a chair and face-to-face with Hathaway (Vincent D'Onofrio, Men In Black), a dedicated, no-nonsense military man with orders to tear open Spencer's chest and reveal inside an alien weapon, a bomb human intelligence believes to be meant for Earth's Chancellor. But Spencer's no alien, or so he claims. He looks human, feels human, bleeds, and remembers every last detail of his life. Yet that's simply not enough; the aliens are making headway in replicating human tissue and creating clones that don't even know they're alien until they're within range of their targets. Spencer cannot accept that fate, cannot accept that he's not the man he once was, a soulless recreation of his former self. He manages to escape and races to reveal his identity and prove he's no alien before the authorities catch him and kill him in order to reveal the truth.

Impostor won't be mistaken for a classic, nor is it a bad movie dressed up in nifty visuals and special effects. No, this is a rock-solid little Thriller that does almost everything right. It might certainly be mistaken for an everyday, run-of-the-mill "man on the run" movie in some of the unavoidable stock chase scenes and necessary dialogue exchanges, but the setting, technologies, scenarios, circumstances, and raw uncertainty as to how the movie will end -- what truths it holds -- elevates it a good deal above general genre fluff. In some ways, the movie might rightly be compared to the high-tech Chase Thiller Enemy of the State, though far bleaker in tone and more immediately interesting and dangerous but about the same in scope and intensity, Impostor replacing a modern setting and today's cutting-edge technology with a dark, war-weary, grimy, unforgiving environment with the constant overhang of mass destruction and uncertainty defining every frame. Impostor moves quickly, shaped by extraordinarily strong first and third acts. Even as the second act gets a little bogged down in minutia and routine chase scenes where nothing of real import occurs, the startling open and shocking conclusion mask the routine middle and elevate Impostor into nearly "elite" status within its genre.

Impostor impresses from the beginning. The set-up of both the future timeline and the alien war are well done and immediately absorb the audience into the hopeless world of tomorrow. There are a few cursory similarities to Starship Troopers in the global newscasts and military helmet stylings, but for the most part Impostor creates an authentic, unique world that opens up to offer a compelling storyline shaped by solid performances, a good dramatic current, a frenetic pace, and a good combination of adrenaline and drama. The picture enjoys a good number of effortlessly-integrated special effects that support the notion of a future world while not going completely overboard and into some implausible universe. Whether that's thanks to budget constraints or smart filmmaking only the producers know, but the end result is not just acceptable, but exactly what the movie needs. Gary Fleder's direction does well to keep up with the action and support the story with steady visuals that always seem to get to the heart of the drama, inside the characters' minds, deep into the dark underbelly of the future world. But it's the performances that shape the movie more than any other element. Gary Sinise shines as the man on the run, elevating what could have been a stock character into a complex individual who's convinced of who -- and what -- he is. But even through the certainty and the trials to prove his innocence, he finds a deeper layer, a lingering trace amount of insecurity and doubt about what the truth really may be. Vincent D'Onofrio also elevates his character above the typical "government goon in pursuit" and finds an added layer of intensity and, within himself, doubt as to whether he's chasing the right man for the right reasons. The chemistry is strong between the two, whether simultaneously on-screen or not. The chase dynamic is heightened considerably by the performances and overshadowed only by a remarkable double-twist ending.

Impostor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Impostor features a dark, bland, visually stale image that's a result of the film's gloomy look as well as a quick and easy Blu-ray transfer. Colors are hard to come by beyond shades of blue, gray, and black. Certainly there are a few brighter scenes with some splashes of brighter tones, but even those remain rather dim and visually uninteresting. Details fall almost completely flat throughout. The image doesn't look excessively and hopelessly scrubbed down, but it is quite bland and lifeless. Details on faces, clothes, and the film's many dull, barren surfaces are minimal. The video enjoys a boost in resolution, crispness, and stability over standard definition images, but this is far from an example of a title that really looks much better on Blu-ray. Flesh tones are fine within the film's color parameters, as are blacks, which never veer too far either towards a dark shade of gray or overpowering crush. There's some background blockiness and some lingering dirt. This is a serviceable transfer; Impostor will never look like a Pixar movie, but there's certainly room for improvement here.

Impostor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Impostor blasts onto Blu-ray with a loud and active DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This audio presentation offers listeners a nice, wide soundstage. The track plays big and seems always ready and willing to immerse the listening audience into the film's dark, uncertain world. Music plays with suitable clarity and good spacing, not only across the fronts but within the surrounds, too. Various sound effects play heavily and with much vigor, sometimes to the detriment of dialogue, such as the rumble of mass transportation vehicles as heard early in the film that compete with the spoken word's clarity and volume. Ambient effects are handled nicely, and its often these little subtle elements, as much as the larger pieces, that really create the realistic soundstage. Dialogue nicely bounces around cavernous locales, and an underground hiding spot features dripping water which yields a steady, creepy, mood-setting effect. Other than when it competes with loud music and effects, dialogue plays smoothly and intelligibly from the center channel. This track isn't demo-worthy material, but it's a good, enjoyable presentation that's superior to the lackluster video presentation.

Impostor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Impostor contains the following two supplements:

• Original Short Film (480p, 37:41): A condensed version of Impostor.
• Behind the Scenes Featurette (480p, 11:53): A standard behind-the-scenes piece that offers cast and crew interviews that cover expanding the film to a feature-length picture rather than part of a Dick trilogy, the film's art direction, building a future world, filmmaking techniques, visual style, and set construction.

Impostor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Impostor works on nearly every level. It's far better than the average "chase" movie, elevated by a unique and well-crafted future world, a gripping start, a startling finish, fine acting, solid direction, and enough energy to get through a fairly routine, but admittedly necessary, middle stretch. Impostor isn't the finest Phillip K. Dick-based film, but it's an absorbing, high energy, dramatically-charged, and oftentimes exciting little vehicle that should satisfy fans across several genres. Echo Bridge Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Impostor features disappointing video, good audio, and a couple of extras. Recommended primarily on the strength of the film.