5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In the mid-21st century, the nations of a dying Earth look starward for a solution and set out to colonize Mars.
Starring: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, Simon BakerAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 94% |
Thriller | 64% |
Adventure | 35% |
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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese audio and subs are hidden.
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Of all the things I expected Red Planet to be, a meditation on faith and reason wasn't one of them. And yet it's the film's philosophical questions -- the existence of God, the nature of existence and other unsolved riddles of the universe -- that lift Red Planet out of the genre muck and give it legs to stand on, shaky as those legs may be at times. The rest of the story amounts to little more than an over-plotted compendium of all-too-familiar science fiction tales. Mankind's last hope rests in the success of a last-ditch space mission, a freak accident disables key systems aboard the only ship embarking on said mission, a small group of explorers find themselves stranded on a desolate planet, various dangers pick off crewmen one-by-one, a once-docile robot turns on its human masters, a startling discovery changes everything, the fate of humanity hangs on a next-to-impossible launch from the surface... there's even a bit of "life, uh, finds a way" thrown in to sweeten the pot. (It's a dozen genre pics for the price of one!) Were there a few more slow-mo explosions, a half-hour subplot-to-nowhere crammed into the second act, and an Aerosmith song wafting on the wind, I might even utter the words "Michael Bay." But, by some mildly astonishing miracle, Red Planet doesn't crash and burn, at least not entirely. It's overcrowded and contrived, but it isn't predictable or uneventful by any means, and it certainly isn't as dull or disastrously dizzying as Mission to Mars, 2000's other Mars-minded box-office flop.
Stranded...
Red Planet makes its Blu-ray debut with an excellent 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that rockets past its DVD counterpart. The steely gray hull and blue-lit passageways of the Mars-1, the sun-blasted yellows and dusty oranges of the planet, and the bottomless blacks of Hoffman's space-scape have never looked better, fleshtones are convincing and consistent (barring a flushed face or two) and contrast and clarity aren't far behind. (Shots involving visual effects aren't as striking as most other scenes, but most of the presentation's shortcomings are tied to the film's source.) Detail is quite impressive as well, with naturally resolved fine textures, remarkable closeups, and crisp, clean object definition. As to the encode itself, there isn't much to criticize. Some minor artifacting flutters to the surface in a handful of scenes (the worst of which disrupts the sky behind Kilmer and Sizemore around the 1:08:00 mark), crush creeps into a few shots, and slight, almost negligible ringing is apparent throughout. But videophiles won't have to contend with much else. I didn't catch sight of any significant macroblocking, banding, aliasing or smearing, and inherent inconsistencies in the now eleven-year-old image are the only things that will give most viewers pause.
Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track makes the most of Hoffman's excursion to Mars, from the otherworldly howl of a planetary storm to the groaning steel of a shuttering ship, the clank sizzt clank sizzt of a relentless robot, and the roar of a surging fireball. Explosions and other low-end elements are rugged and robust, and the ever-present, mechanical hum of the Mars-1 settles deep within the soundscape. LFE output isn't entirely reliable -- some scenes seem to favor volume over prowess -- but the original sound design seems to be the culprit more than anything. Thankfully, rear speaker activity is engaging (in spite of some stocky directional effects), acoustics are believable, and ambience is both effective and enveloping. Dialogue is also intelligible, well-prioritized and neatly nestled in the mix, and voices remain grounded, regardless of how chaotic Gallagher and Burchenal's Mars-mission becomes. I wouldn't go so far as to call the experience extraordinary, but as eleven-year-old sci-fi thrillers go, it all sounds quite good.
The Blu-ray release of Red Planet is barren. Extras are limited to eight deleted scenes (SD, 14 minutes) -- "Santen & Chantilas," "Green House," "Bacon & Wife," "Fight," "Amee Jams H.H.C.'s," "Kiss Flashback," "Potato Scene" and "Ice Cave" -- and a theatrical trailer (SD, 2 minutes).
Red Planet is at least a dozen films rolled into one bite-sized sci-fi thriller, but it spreads itself so thin that it falls short of its ambitions. There's still an entertaining, unexpectedly meditative genre pic buried in there somewhere, though, and its second-act left-turn, while not entirely shocking, is worth the cost of a rental alone. Thankfully, with a terrific video transfer and immersive DTS-HD Master Audio track in tow, Warner's Blu-ray release will easily please fans of the film, lackluster supplemental package or no.
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