Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Skyfire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 29, 2021

Skyfire's claim to fame, per Wikipedia, is that it's "China's first big-budget disaster film." If this is the finished product, China would seem to have a long ways to go to compete with the genre's best Western efforts. Apparently "big budget" is a relative term because the movie is saddled with not only secondhand special effects but also hopelessly forgettable story details and substandard performances. Simon West, whose credits include films like Con Air and The Expendables 2, directs dryly with little palpable passion for the project. The picture finds no novelty in style or structure; it simply plucks from other, better films (a laundry list of which include films like Dante's Peak, Jurassic World, The Meg, and Skyscraper) and finds no identity, no uniqueness, nothing that would whet even the most forgiving genre fan's appetite. It satisfies essential genre requirements but forget about finding anything remotely close to the breakthrough film this is purported to be.

As a child, Li Xiao Meng (Hannah Quinlivan) watched her mother die on a volcanic island when a sudden eruption set much of the surrounding world aflame. A few years later, she is grown up and diligently works as a researcher studying the island's volcanic proclivities and activities. She knows first-hand how dangerous and unpredictable a place it can be, but that has not stopped greedy business man Jack Harris (Jason Isaacs) from opening a theme park that allows tourists to travel right to the top of the volcano and snap a selfie in front of the lava. Harris believes there to be about 150 years before another eruption, but he's about 150 years off in that prediction. The volcano erupts today, and with a resort full of tourists, it's going to be an unforgettable disaster that promises to wipe out his enterprise and snuff out lives in one spectacular eruption.

After 65 full seconds of production company logos, the film begins with an adrenaline shot of intensity. Volcanic ash falls, followed by what amount to cannonballs of heat and flame reigning down on a tropical paradise. But as quickly as the action unfolds, the movie stalls for the obligatory drawn-out exposition that resets the scene with a larger scope of and opportunity for danger. The resort will, of course, fall victim to Mother Nature, and it’s just a question of who will survive.

What follows is a hopelessly generic string of action scenes and lower grade CGI that render the film almost dead on arrival. There’s virtually no character here, character in the sense of the movie finding its own soul and identity, not that there are no characters populating the picture. Yet that may as well be the case. Skyfire’s gaggle of players neither make nor leave any kind of lasting impression. They’re empty vessel stereotypes who fill basic roles, roles which are the bread-and-butter for the disaster genre and here given zero personality. The acting is ineffective, which seems more an issue with an unimaginative script than unwilling performers.

The climactic action, which fills at least half of the picture’s runtime, accomplishes nothing of note. Scenes seem to repeat (they don’t) as it’s just one after another depicting characters trying to escae from the volcanic projectiles, whether on a tram or in a car or on foot. One could probably re-edit the film to move this scene here and that scene there and because it all plays with so much familiarity nobody would probably be any the wiser. Add the effects don’t hold up to Hollywood scrutiny and there’s almost no reason to watch; there are vastly superior alternatives even in a genre that is not exactly know for character depth or narrative excellence.

Skyfire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Skyfire' 1080p transfer delivers a steady, reliable high definition image that is largely typical of a midrange film shot on digital. The picture is sharp with steady clarity and fine color output. Skin and clothes in close-up yield excellent foundational texturing to pores and hairs and fabrics and fibers. Natural vegetation, dusty vehicles, and some of the slick and smooth location elements within the resort offer exemplary definition. Color output is fine with much of the vibrancy coming from the aforementioned natural greenery as well as some of the intense reds and oranges that give bold yet deadly coloring to the lava, fireballs, and other naturally occurring phenomena that serve as the movie's chief antagonists. Tonal output here is excellent with fine gradations commonplace and the most dangerous colors expressively popping out of the screen. Skin tones appear accurate and blacks are fine. The picture does reveal relatively minor examples of noise, aliasing, banding, and macroblocking. None of these are in such severe quantities as to significantly detract from the picture quality but do appear with enough regularity to depress the sum a little bit. This one's not going to set the world on fire, so to speak, but it does provide a perfectly serviceable, even agreeable, watch in all areas of concern.

Skyfire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film arrives on Blu-ray with a pair of 5.1 lossless soundtracks, one in the original Mandarin and the other in dubbed English. Both are similar in terms of musical engagement, sound effect depth and traversal, and the like. Action scenes do not reach a level of sonic intensity and pinpoint detailing that these sorts of movies usually demand, but there's enough in the way of essential energy, stage engagement, and subwoofer extension to reach a level of baseline sonic satisfaction when the volcano's fiery projectiles zip and zoom through the air, as cars rush from the scene or drones fly about, as the general din within the maelstrom of mayhem intensifies in the second half (and in the opening minutes). Music plays with good width and fidelity, leaving surrounds to support the content rather than carry it fully. Dialogue in both languages is clear and well prioritized, though the natural flow from the original Mandarin (accompanied by English subtitles) yields the best viewing experience.

Skyfire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Skyfire contains no supplemental content. The main menu screen only offers options for "Play," "Chapters," and "Setup." No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Skyfire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Skyfire summed up in a word: generic. The film has no original thought, which is not a death sentence for a film in this genre, but the sheer lack of even marginal creativity or diversion from the norm is disappointing. To that end the film hits all the "right" notes. It just doesn't hit it's "own" notes. The Blu-ray is nothing special either. Video and audio are fine but no extras are included. Rent it.