5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In a dystopian 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits - and will kill him if the data is not removed in time - but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, Henry RollinsSci-Fi | 100% |
Action | 33% |
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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Sony has released the 1995 Sci-Fi film 'Johnny Mnemonic,' starring Keanu Reeves and Dolph Lundgren, directed by Robert Longo, to Blu-ray in a special 'black and white' presentation. The film was previously released to Blu-ray in 2011, in color, through Image Entertainment. This release adds an additional supplement not found on the Image disc as well.
I am not in possession of, nor did I review, the original Image Blu-ray, so I cannot speak on any similarities that may exist between this version and the Image release beyond the shift to black-and-white. Suffice it to say, however, that the film looks quite good here on its own merits, a few issues notwithstanding. Overall, the picture enjoys a very healthy, crisp, and efficient textural output. There are plenty of complex details to be found in skin and environments. The picture clearly thrives under the HD parameters, and while some of the visual effects are hopelessly dated by today's standards, the clarity with which they present and integrate into the film is bolstered by the resolution. The picture does suffer from some questionable grain management. While there are no signs of significant smoothing, grain can often appear static and push and pull in globular masses as characters move about on the screen. This is evident right out of the gate when Johnny wakes up in the New Darwin Inn sequence. This is easily the most problematic issue with the transfer. There are also some odd speckles, splotches, and stray vertical lines, but these are relatively few and far between and do not significantly interfere with a watch. The black and white grading is very elegant. While blacks are prone to crush in a few shots, there's a healthy and effortless feel for tonal gradation and balance between the extremes of white and black and the grayscale within. The grading is balanced and looks great across the board. Longo was certainly right to make the call to make the film in black and white, and while it took some time for his vision to come to fruition, there is no mistaking that aesthetically on the surface and narratively as a key component to the movie's structure, it's the right call.
This new Blu-ray release of Johnny Mnemonic includes a pair of highlight audio tracks. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless presentation is
terrific. The sound effects to open the film are astounding. They're heavily amplified and very much a product of their time, but the sense of full stage
engagement, movement sweep, and discrete details converge into a wonderfully exciting and satisfying audio explosion. Moments later, intense crowd
din pulls the listener into the midst of street chaos in a less dramatic, but no less full and excellent, audio experience. The 5.1 track holds to a full, loud,
and
invigorating structure throughout; these core observations carry for the duration, and when paired with high yield music and firm and centered
dialogue, it proves to be a truly explosive track.
Additionally, Sony has provided a second English track in the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless structure. To be sure, the track is lacking the extreme
surround engagement of the 5.1 track as well as some volume, depth, and overall audio tempo. Aurally, it is definitely the lesser track, but it is perfectly
good in terms of dynamics within its constraints and clarity within the configuration. Width is never an issue, with the stage engaging the full way from
front corner to front corner and dialogue imaging naturally to the middle. Whichever track listeners choose, they'll be in for a treat.
This Blu-ray release of Johnny Mnemonic includes two extras. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship
with a slipcover.
Black and white breathes new life into Johnny Mnemonic. Rather than a gimmick, it's an enhancement that accentuates the photography, setting, and themes. It works so well one can certainly theorize that Longo, even told he could not shoot the film in black and white, nevertheless shot it while envisioning such a final product. Despite some reservations with the video, it looks solid enough, and with the excellent audio and a high quality retrospective, this disc comes easily recommended.
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