4.7 | / 10 |
Users | 1.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Four isolated astronauts at an isolated mining station on the moon experience an alien intercession after a meteor storm.
Starring: Christian Slater, Brendan Fehr, Amy Matysio, Michael Therriault, Ryland AlexanderSci-Fi | 100% |
Horror | 90% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Director Roger Christian would no doubt prefer to be known as a member of the Academy Award-winning team that art-directed the first Star Wars, rather than the sucker whom John Travolta persuaded to direct Battlefield Earth (2000). For my own part, I prefer to think of Christian as the promising helmer of a creepy but little-seen 1985 thriller, The Sender, which starred Zeljko Ivanek (now an Emmy-winning character actor) as a young man with uncanny telepathic powers. Christian has been gamely trying to rehabilitate himself every since the Battlefield catastrophe. Unfortunately, Stranded won't help. With a script by Christian and aspiring screenwriter Christian Piers Betley, who counts Tudor Gates (Barbarella) among his inspirations, Stranded is a thriller in space without a single original notion. It cheerfully recycles familiar elements from landmarks of sci-fi cinema, and lesser examples too, but adds nothing beyond minimally competent filmmaking and a few decent performances. Now, I'm all for competent filmmaking and decent performances, but if one is going to construct a story from building blocks that will constantly have viewers asking themselves, "Where have I seen that before?" (or worse: "That again?"), then the cinematic craftsmanship better be Kubrickian in its quality, and the performances should be Oscar-worthy. Otherwise, all the dark shadows, gloppy makeup and screaming fits in the world won't induce anything other than slumber.
Stranded was photographed on the Red system by Mark Dobrescu, who has done a lot of second unit work on films such as The Messengers. After passing through a digital intermediate and on to Image/RLJ Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray (presumably with no intervening analog stage), Dobrescu's work comes through cleanly and clearly—but also very dark. Most of the film occurs in low light after the meteor shower has destroyed the outpost's power grid, so that many scenes are dominated by dark blues and greens and deep blacks. Shadow detail is quite good where you're supposed to see it, but frequently you're not supposed to see anything at all, except for figures in the foreground where the immediate action is occurring. One advantage of this approach is that it stretches the limited budget, because distant expanses of set can be left with minimal set dressing. When you're looking at what's been lit to draw your eye, what's there is finely detailed with little or no noise or interference. Faces, cockpit and corridor instruments, personal items in crew quarters and gloppy alien parts can be readily discerned. The 88-minute film (with about 20 minutes of extras in 1080p) fits neatly onto a BD-25. One further visual element merits mention. As detailed in the special effects extra, Christian made the decision to use miniatures rather than CG to create the exteriors of the ARK moon installation. This no doubt was a throwback to his days working on Star Wars, and it certainly makes sense on a low-budget film. Elsewhere I've expressed my affection for model work, but it has generally been accompanied by shooting on film and compositing via optical dupe. These techniques may be inseparable from the successful use of models. At the very least, effects technicians and cinematographers need more experimentation to perfect the process for digital cinema. When they're properly done, models aren't supposed to announce themselves as such, but my first thought when Stranded began was: "Hey, look at all the models."
Stranded's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track has much of the impact and detail that one expects from a contemporary soundtrack. The opening meteor bombardment of the moon station is loud and powerful and puts the sounds of destruction throughout your viewing room. After the station's decimation, sounds of steam, alarms, shifting metal and everything broken are everywhere. Bass extension is deep, and near the end there are several events that use it effectively. The score by Todd Bryanton (The Tall Man ) is forgettable, but it gets the job done during the movie.
Stranded is a capably produced Blu-ray, but it has nothing to recommend it as a thriller, a horror film or a space adventure. If you're truly curious, rent it.
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