5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
After a Soviet space station crashes into a New York City subway tunnel, a species of poisonous spiders is discovered, and soon they mutate to gigantic proportions and wreak havoc on the city.
Starring: Patrick Muldoon, Christa Campbell, William Hope, Sydney Sweeney, Jon MackHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 59% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (256 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Don't be complaining about the rats anymore.
It seems like New York City always bears the brunt of cinematic disasters. Certainly other cities and locations around the globe have fallen victim to
any number
disasters be they manmade, extraterrestrial, geological, atmospheric, or whatever the case may be, but New York is certainly a favorite of
filmmakers
when
it comes to finding just the right place to wipe off the map. There are so many recognizable landmarks to destroy, most, if not all, recognizable to
the denizens outside
of that fair city largely because they've been spotted so often in cinema and because, yes, New York is widely recognized as the unofficial
"capital of the
world." Indeed, Disaster movies have been wiping out New York landmarks for some time, but when a movie is shot in Sophia, Bulgaria, which is
meant to double
for New York City, don't bet on seeing the Chrysler Building, Yankee Stadium, Times Square, or Madison Square Garden go bye-bye. Spiders
(really, they couldn't come up with a more creative name than Spiders?) is a low-budget, midlevel digital effects-heavy Disaster flick in
which a
bunch of ugly alien arachnids overtake The Big Apple because, well, that's what ugly alien arachnids do. Some folks fight them, a bunch of the bugs
get shot, and, oh, chances are there is a "queen" lurking somewhere far below in the city's famed tunnel system. But NYC landmarks getting
destroyed real good? Fugetaboutit.
"You're one ugly mother......."
Spiders 3D crawls onto Blu-ray with a fairly good, but not particularly eventful, 3D transfer. This big bug movie never really finds its legs as a
major "pop out of the screen" experience, opting instead for depth, subtle 3D trickery, and a handful of "wow" moments but nothing really befitting a
"Creature Feature" in 3D, i.e. it never feels like the spiders are moving beyond the screen and in the living room or their legs or fangs or webbing are
poking out of the screen to get the audience. However, the image does find some good, positive depth, particularly as it looks down city streets or
claustrophobic underground tunnel systems. There's a fair sense of real space between characters and objects, for the most part, and there are a few
scattered extra-screen effects in which flying breaking glass or fiery sparks seem to push out beyond the screen. Otherwise, this is mostly a gentle,
natural sort of 3D presentation. The opening titles do hover nicely off the screen. The review equipment (Sony playback device, Panasonic Plasma
monitor) showed only trace levels of the dreaded crosstalk or "ghosting" effect.
On the other side of the coin, the transfer's other technical merits
show little in the way of major flaw. Detailing is sufficient. Humans look a little flat and pasty with no major texture complexities on faces and clothes,
but the image does showcase some nice rough, tactile surfaces around the city, both above ground and below. The digital arachnids -- particularly the big
kahuna seen at the end -- reveal some nice computer detailing that's translated well onto Blu-ray. Colors can be vibrant and even, particularly in the
early going when the action plays out under brighter lighting conditions, but the palette takes a back seat to atmosphere as the action shifts
underground and, later, to the nighttime. Black levels never waver too far from normal and flesh tones, a bit pasty as they may be, also stay fairly true
to what appears to be the actors' natural shading. There are a few fuzzy shots, a little shimmering on background monitors in the control room seen
early in the film, but the transfer is otherwise technically proficient. This isn't a reference 3D transfer, and it's a little disappointing that it doesn't do
more in the way of "wow!" with its 3D creature effects, but overall the viewing experience is a positive one.
Spiders 3D spins an effective but not truly reference Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It produces a heavy low end to start, one that's a little rattly but fairly effective and deep nonetheless. The low end tightens up a tad later in the film as various sounds of man-versus-mutant-arachnid mayhem plays out throughout the city, both below ground and above. Heavy crashes, huge queen spider footsteps, and gunplay all deliver some suitably heavy bass effects. Unfortunately, that gunfire never really stands apart; it's a little bland, not fully aggressive or real-life accurate but at least satisfying in a low budget movie-typical sort of fashion. Some of the shattering glass and sparks sound effects come through clearly enough in support of the more aggressive 3D picture elements, but the track doesn't do a great job of creating the sort of general atmosphere required to fill in the wider spaces created by the 3D visuals. For instance, an office segment near the beginning offers a little bit of a natural din but not enough to immerse the listening audience into the location. Dialogue does come through without hitch as it flows from the center. All in all, this is a good track and one that's a few adjustments away from something special.
Spiders 3D contains a few brief extras.
For a lower end Disaster movie, Spiders 3D isn't a completely disagreeable experience. It's certainly far from original -- it mimics bits and pieces of a handful of other, better films -- but it offers serviceable Disaster/Mutant Insect carnage with reasonable special effects, decent acting, and a passable script. It's not Oscar-bound, that's for sure, but genre fans will want to check out Spiders 3D anyway for a modest good time at the cheap movies. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Spiders 3D features good video and audio. A few extras are included. Definitely worth a rental and maybe a purchase at bargain bin pricing.
2014
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1957
Спутник
2020
2010
Collector's Edition
1988
Collector's Edition
1978
2012
2011
2013
1999
1980
Collector's Edition
1995
1954
1958
Mind Ripper / The Outpost
1995
Collector's Edition
1978