5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 2.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
At a remote desert truck stop, the fate of the world will be decided. Evil's armies are amassing. Armed and united by the Archangel Michael, a group of strangers become unwitting soldiers on the frontlines of the Apocalypse. Their mission: protect a waitress and her sacred unborn child from the relentless, bloody siege of the demonic legion.
Starring: Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, Charles S. DuttonAction | 100% |
Thriller | 91% |
Horror | 42% |
Fantasy | 33% |
Supernatural | 24% |
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
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (on disc)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
This is an extermination.
An angel holding a knife and an H&K submachine gun? OK. Unusual to say the least, but OK.
That's the face of Legion, the all-impotant poster image that does indeed sum this one
up
rather well. A mixture of the heavenly and heavy assault weapons, Legion tackles the
Post-Apocalyptic genre by tossing God and angels with a bit of Maximum Overdrive,
The Stand, and The Terminator in a
blender, spitting out some nasty concoction that's reminiscent of Arnold's breakfast of champions
in
another religiously-oriented end-of-the-world Thriller/Action picture, End of Days. Sure to
offend Christians and make everyone else just laugh at the absurdity, Legion does little
right; it has its moments to be sure, and Director Scott Stewart shows some promise, but the
premise and script are just so bad that not even a hybrid Director of Hitchcock, Spielberg, and
Tarantino could have saved this mess that ultimately feels like "God meets Skynet."
Even the name of the diner is cliché.
Legion swoops onto Blu-ray with a nearly flawless 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. Aside from a hint of banding in a couple of places, Sony's high quality transfer leaves no room for complaint. Legion is a dark movie, though there are several very bright exterior shots -- particularly during the film's first act -- that deliver striking detail all around; though these scenes take on a somewhat dusty, tan-colored hue, there's absolutely no shortage of impeccable detailing whether on the gravel-and-dirt parking lot outside the diner or the many dusty, rusty, and well-worn objects and façades scattered about the location. Close-ups of faces reveal an incredibly lifelike texturing as well. Indeed, Legion rarely exhibits a soft shot; this is a crisp, sharp, and clear image that offers fantastic depth and retains excellent detailing even in longer shots and on distant objects. Darker scenes generally exhibit faultless blacks, often appearing absorbing and true but without devouring any details around the screen. Flesh tones are accurate throughout and are usually only influenced by surrounding light sources, or as the case may sometimes be, the lack thereof. Legion retains a moderately heavy layer of grain throughout that completes what is an always solid, sometimes breathtaking, film-like transfer that's another winner from Sony.
For as good as Legion's 1080p transfer is, its DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack proves its equal. Loud and immersive but natural and enthralling, Legion's high definition soundtrack positively submerses the listener into the world of heavenly warfare-on-Earth. Several effects are almost clear and precise to a fault, for instance a loud barking dog in an early scene that's disturbingly close to the real thing. Likewise, rain envelops the listener in one instance, and plenty of action scenes later in the movie deliver a deluge of sonic goodness in the form of gunfire, explosions, and the like that seem to tear the soundstage to pieces. The track also creates a seamless sense of space through finely-tuned atmospherics; the desert location comes alive with buzzing insects or the subtle hiss of an electrical current that brings the environment to life, and one scene featuring the constant piercing of a "stand by" television tone that proves just as chilling as anything in the movie. Various musical numbers, particularly a hard rock piece later in the picture, enjoy pinpoint clarity and exceptional power. Also featuring the expectedly clear and precise dialogue reproduction, Legion makes for a captivating and mostly seamless high definition listening experience.
Legion fails to bring with it a heavenly assortment of extra content, though what is included is of a relatively high quality. The highlight of this package is Brining Angels to Earth: Picture-in-Picture, a running video commentary/behind-the-scenes feature that contains Director/Co-Writer Scott Stewart and a host of additional cast and crew speaking on the construction of the film, the traits of the characters, the themes of the story, the picture's place within its genre, the special effects, the shooting locations, filmmaking techniques, and much more. The interview footage of the cast and crew is intercut with effects sequence shots, hand-drawn storyboards, and other assorted goodies. It's a solid, competent piece that's fairly all-encompassing and proves superior to a more traditional one- or two-man audio-only commentary. Fans will find enough of value in here to give the movie a watch with this feature in tow. Creating the Apocalypse (1080p, 23:43) is a somewhat generic but effective making-of piece that sometimes plays as a bit superfluous after the picture-in-picture extra, but there's some good information here on the creation of various effects sequences, with emphasis on the ice cream man, the baby, the crazed grannie, and several additional stunts. The piece also looks at the importance of hand-drawn storyboarding and computer-aided previsualization to an effects-heavy picture. Humanity's Last Line of Defense (1080p, 11:32) is a pat-on-the-back piece examines the quality of the ensemble cast. Next is From Pixels to Picture (1080p, 10:57), a more in-depth look at Legion's special effects. Also included is BD-Live functionality; Sony's MovieIQ connectivity; and 1080p trailers for Chloe, Wild Things: Foursome, The Road, 2012, The Da Vinci Code, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Disc one also features a PSP digital copy of Legion; it was unavailable for download at time of publication and will be re-visisted at a later date. Disc two features an iTunes digital copy of the film that was available for transfer to a second-generation iPod Touch. The presentation is strong for what it is, audibly satisfying with a clear and surprisingly punchy presentation across the board, while the video sports fine clarity and detailing with minimal blocking, at least compared to other iPod-compatible digital copies.
This may very well be a first for a major motion picture: Legion is at times halfway intense, invigorating, and fun, but it's also completely devoid of significance and proves downright goofy at the same time, and that's not to even mention the ridiculous "God as the bad guy" angle. The movie can't even get that right, as if God would need angels masquerading as demon-zombies to do His work for him (no fire and brimstone to get the job done in three seconds?), making an already passably lame movie just plain stupid. Legion earns a couple of halfhearted points for some decent direction and atmospherics and a few spurts of entertaining action, but it gets little else right. Sony's Blu-ray release of Legion, however, lives up to the studio's typically high quality technical output. The picture and sound qualities rate as exemplary, and while the supplements are few, the picture-in-picture track proves a worthwhile experience. Fans can buy with confidence, but Legion comes recommended strictly as a rental, if that; the movie is borderline terrible and there are other Blu-ray discs that deliver similarly impressive technical qualities while also offering a superior movie.
2011
2007
2005
2004
2016
2005-2020
Unrated | Nochnoy Dozor
2004
Special Edition
2000
2011
2013
2002
2006
2009
Unrated | Dnevnoy Dozor
2006
2016
1999
Unrated
2003
Director's Cut
1997
2010
2009