Life Tracker Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Life Tracker Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 3, 2016

If Gattaca posited DNA as a kind of inviolable determinant in what any given human was capable of becoming, Life Tracker takes a somewhat similar but perhaps even more provocative position by offering a plot conceit whereby DNA samples can be used to predict what will happen to any given individual. It’s not quite the same as Gattaca, since there’s no governmental and/or societal agency in charge (at least not initially), but in a way Life Tracker’s thesis is even more disturbing, since it’s one’s preordained genetic components which become the inviolable determinant rather than some external force. DNA testing has become something of a sensation over the past couple of years, with several companies offering their services via copious advertisements on television. The tests offer overviews of various “haplogroups” to which one belongs, while also offering the ability to connect to “relatives” (who are often far removed, but who share at least a segment or two of DNA). It’s an intriguing “new” technology, and one that perhaps will ultimately lead to more of a global feeling that we all belong to the Family of Man, and for some it can provide a really useful investigative tool in case their family histories are shrouded in mystery. Life Tracker is one of those films with a killer concept but a somewhat less successful overall presentation, some of which is due to the perhaps mistaken (if understandable, given the film’s miniscule budget) decision to make this a “found footage” outing. Many of the problems that have attended other films in this genre also crop up here, including a tendency to have characters deliver long expository monologues directly to the camera as well as a certain “not ready for prime time” ambience in at least some of the performances.

That said, Life Tracker commendably departs from some well worn found footage tropes in a couple of ways, though in other presentational aspects, it tends not to follow the logic even of its own context. In the first category, instead of a purely chronological tour through events, the story actually begins at the end, so to speak, and then goes back through a rather long series of interstitial occurences. That allows for the second, perhaps more felicitous, departure, as an aspiring documentary filmmaker named Dillon (Barry Finnegan) takes so long to document his DNA story that technologies upgrade, meaning better quality video and a wider aspect ratio. That aspect ratio situation tends to inform the second category outlined above, for director Joe McClean is pretty haphazard in following any inherent logic of his own premise, often juxtaposing narrower ratios (which typically hover around 1.39:1) into scenes where Dillon has supposedly gone “high tech” with newer cameras and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

Dillon has become intrigued by a slew of advertisements featuring a kind of cowboy character named Richard ‘Rocko’ Hutchensen (Chas Mitchell), a guy you might expect to catch hawking used cars on television rather than the amazing new DNA technology which his company Life Tracker Limited (often shortened to LTL throughout the film) is marketing. A quick and easy DNA test can provide results which specially certified “readers” are able to analyze, offering seemingly infallible predictions about any given individual’s future.

A couple of inventive plot machinations keep Life Tracker percolating along at a fairly good clip, despite the fact that the film hardly ever ventures from Dillon’s own explorations about LTL’s activities, rather than actually depicting those activities outright. Dillon is helped by both his friends Bell (Rebecca Marshall) and Scott (Matt Dallas), but the film tends to utilize elements like man on the street interviews conducted by the trio to impart salient narrative points. When it turns out that the DNA can provide death dates, LTL is initially hesitant to actually hand out that information, fearing either panic or some kind of backlash, and in one of a couple of nicely done “twists”, the government does get involved, insisting on a kind of FOIA ambience (ironic as that may be), something that leads to the release of the information. At that point, the film’s central conceit comes into play, for it turns out huge swaths of Mankind are evidently “slated” to die in two huge waves, an initial one in Belfast and then, some time later, in Los Angeles. That does provoke panic, and finally provides an explanation for the “countdown” clocks that have been interstitial elements in the film (see screenshot 12).

There’s a lot of really interesting content floating through Life Tracker, but the presentational style doesn’t fully support what might have worked better as a big budget, special effects laden science fiction extravaganza (a la Gattaca, in fact). Some decent points are made vis a vis flash in the pan hysteria like that which attended the whole Y2K fracas from a few years ago, but Life Tracker perhaps never provides the devastating denouement that it seems to be leading up to.

An attempt to at least tiptoe through some more convincing exteriors comes at the close of the film (whose crew evidently ventured to a recent hurricane location to catch scenes of physical devastation), but Life Tracker is probably too intimate to ever benefit from gambits like this. Performances are a bit clunky at times, especially Finnegan, who just seems to be a bit awkward in front of the camera, even divorced from any characteristics of Dillon. A couple of more recognizable names (and, frankly, polished performers) show up in brief supporting roles, including Jay Thomas as a governmental official trying to tamp down misinformation.

Life Tracker Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Life Tracker is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a sometimes bewildering variety of aspect ratios, but with much of the film in 1.85:1. As detailed above in the main body of the review, while at least some of the changing aspect ratios are directly dealt with within the confines of the story as Dillon upgrades his equipment, and other changes are at least understandable when it's shown that people are filming themselves with their phones or minicams, at other times the changes aren't especially well supported by the context of the film (as also alluded to above in the main body of the review). This is one of those presentations which is a bit hard to grade, for this probably recreates the theatrical experience of the film to a tee, while also often leaving quite a bit to be desired from a pure quality standpoint. The bookending segments, when Dillon is working with a badly damaged camera, are pretty ragged looking, including some intentional pixellation (see screenshot 6, and note the video "anomaly" underneath Dillon's mouth). The opening, "older" sequences (which hover around 1.39:1) are fairly soft looking as well, and also suffer from video roll and other old school phenomena. Things look at least incrementally better once Dillon upgrades to newer equipment and the film moves into its 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but even here things aren't exceptionally sharp and well defined, and video "glitches" (intentional, one assumes) continue to crop up on occasion. The best looking sequences tend to be the man on the street interviews, when the camera is at least relatively stable (a lot of this film suffers from "jiggly cam syndrome"), moments where detail levels are quite commendable, and the overall image is decently sharp and well defined.

Life Tracker Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Life Tracker's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track doesn't have a whale of a lot to work with, since the film tends to consist of first person confessionals directed straight at the camera, snippets from news broadcasts, or man on the street interviews. Fidelity is fine, and dialogue and monologues come through cleanly and clearly, but there's not much "oomph" here, aside from one brief sequence in the very late going. While perhaps not overly impressive, the track does not suffer from any damage or distortion of any kind.

Life Tracker Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: There is an authoring error on this disc with regard to the supplements. The link for the earthquake featurette actually boots the behind the scenes montage, and vice versa. The timings below are for the "correct" supplements.

• Earthquake Behind the Scenes (1080p; 2:42)


• Life Tracker Behind the Scenes Montage (1080p; 4:47)


• Making Life Tracker Featurette (1080p; 7:04) offers some decent interviews with various participants.


• Shooting in a Disaster Area (1080p; 2:49) is a brief but interesting look at the Clay, Alabama location the crew visited after the area experienced a devastating tornado.


• Would You Want to Know - Featurette (1080p; 3:33) offers interviews with various cast and crew addressing whether or not they'd want to know their future, especially their time of death.


• Long Trailer (1080p; 1:51)


• Short Trailer (1080p; 1:08)

Life Tracker Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Life Tracker may never quite get to where it seems to be aiming, but writer-director Joe McClean is a talent to watch. The film has a number of really fascinating plot elements, and for once the found footage approach isn't instantly off putting. While not a home run, this is at least a solid double for a newer filmmaker stepping up to one of his first feature film "at bats". Technical merits are okay (video) to very good (audio), and this is the rare Olive release with actual supplements included. With caveats noted, Recommended.