Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Mindwarp Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 25, 2019

This Mill Creek Blu-ray release of 'Mindwarp' is currently available in a two-film bundle with 'Brainscan.' The picture was previously released to Blu-ray by limited run label Twilight Time in 2013. I did not review, nor do I have access to, that disc; this review focuses solely on the Mill Creek presentation and does not include comparisons to the 2013 release.

In the near future, an advanced computer simulation known as “Infinisynth” allows users to escape real life by sleeping the time away and dreaming so intensely that they are essentially unaware of the post apocalyptic horrors that exist outside. A young woman named Judy (Marta Martin) has become disillusioned with the artificial reality and attempts to free herself and her mother (Mary Becker) from its addictive clutches. She craves reality, not the “nothing” that exists inside the artificial. The mysterious systems administrator agrees to take her offline and grants her a journey to the “unimaginable.” She is violently pulled into the real world, a decaying landscape populated by flesh-eating mutated monsters known as “Crawlers.” She is nearly killed but is saved by a human named Stover (Bruce Campbell) who quickly realizes she is an “inworlder,” someone who doesn’t belong on the surface. Judy quickly comes to understand the greater role she is being groomed to play in the dead world around her.

Mindwarp Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The image is pleasantly filmic, imperfect but a fair presentation for what amounts to a budget Blu-ray. The picture holds tightly to its natural grain structure. Detailing is adequately sharp, with skin textures, tattered clothes, and various examples of post-apocalyptic landscapes and locations offering enough basic clarity and sharpness to please. Colors are a bit flat but hold well enough in the early goings and in the third act. Much of the middle stretch takes place underground where reds and blacks complete with precious few other hues. Black crush is commonplace in darker underground and low light locations. Print speckles are few, compression issues are not severe, and there doesn't appear to be an excess of digital processing. The movie looks fairly strong all things considered.

Mindwarp Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mindwarp features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack which delivers a capable listen. The channel limitations are obvious throughout. Music misses the subwoofer channel to provide greater heft. Action scenes are likewise skimpy around the bottom. Even more subdued, yet still sonically critical, moments such as when Judy first finds herself in the real world, with blowing wind and flapping remnants fluttering about, fail to immerse the listener in her new world. The same holds true for several of the film's key locations; it's a fairly flat experience, capable, but hardly noteworthy. Dialogue does image well to the center and presents with good, effortless clarity.

Mindwarp Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Mindwarp contains no supplemental content. According to its packaging, the Twiglight Time disc includes an isolated score track and a trailer.

Mindwarp Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mindwarp will remind contemporary audiences of movies like The Time Machine and The Matrix. However, it's not nearly as concerned with constructing its themes on the same level, despite efforts to find purpose in its vision of death and decay and the artificial. It's a capable variation but does not ascend to the same heights as the genre's finest. Mill Creek's featureless Blu-ray delivers quality video and audio presentations. Worth a look.