6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
FBI agents investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves—fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles—enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: in a world of masks, who's real and who can you trust?
Starring: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, James Francis GintyAction | 100% |
Thriller | 72% |
Sci-Fi | 47% |
Comic book | 8% |
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
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
I've always had a difficult time understanding why older generations readily reject the latest-n-greatest technologies; why my grandmother can't wrap her head around a VCR, why my father is terrified of a DVR, why my mother insists that hackers are, at this very moment, intent on cracking her home computer and swiping her recipes. But then, dear readers, I turned thirty. Texting teens frequently frustrate me. Watching their parents do the same, oftentimes while sitting across from their children at a restaurant, is equally maddening. MySpace strikes me as a network designed for people longing to construct houses of lies. The Blogosphere offers anyone and everyone with an opinion a seemingly viable platform to rant and rave as they see fit. 24-Hour News Networks have viciously ripped the still-beating heart out of legitimate journalism. Movie critics are callous, conceited... well, this is awkward. Why dwell on generation gaps? Because it's these inevitable divides that makes Surrogates, director Jonathan Mostow's adaptation of Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele's award-winning graphic novel, such an intriguing film. While his vision comes up short for a number of reasons, it clings to the comic's fascinating premise: a dark future in which society's 21st Century obsessions -- youth and beauty, online avatars and robotics, among others -- have sheltered and isolated its populous from the very things that make them human.
Moonlighting 2.0
Surrogates may not be the most attractive dystopian cautionary tale on the market, but its strong 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is faithful to Mostow's vision, basking in director of photography Oliver Wood's neon-infused cerulean blues, jarring reds and golden delicious yellows. But even beyond raw primary power, the filmmakers' oft-times steely, at-times earthy palette also features searing skies and inky shadows, lending the image a fair amount of depth. While fleshtones are all over the place -- ranging from milky to ruddy and back again -- and facial textures have been scrubbed away, such inconsistencies only affect the surrogates. Disconnected humans are blessed with lifelike skin, well-rendered stubble and other less-than-subtle indicators designed to separate the machines from those viewing the world through their own eyes. Impressive detailing is apparent elsewhere as well. The presentation not only reveals every corner of VSI's bot factories and every stone that dots the Prophet's dilapidated camp, it rarely comes up short. A few soft shots haunt the proceedings, but viewers should look to Mostow, not Disney, for an explanation. Significant artifacting, aliasing and ringing are nowhere to be found, and noise reduction has not been employed. The pore-starved surrogates resemble victims of severe DNR, but the transfer itself hasn't been touched.
If I have any lingering complaint it's that noise spikes and lulls without warning, generally whenever Greer and Peters are bathed in harshly hued light (which is to say quite often). That being said, Surrogates' Blu-ray presentation is staunch and able-bodied, and should satisfy anyone who embraces Mostow's peculiar aesthetics.
Disney's hefty DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is bold and bombastic, dishing out hearty explosions, disruptor pulses, crashing helicopters, and shotgun blasts with the best of them. Dialogue is crisp and well-prioritized, surging and relenting as naturally as the film's quieter scenes and action sequences require. Voices never disappear beneath the chaos, joining the fight with ease. Speaking of the battlefront, LFE output is both weighty and rewarding, rear speaker activity is aggressive and enveloping, and dynamics are impressive. Directionality is precise as well -- motorcycles roar from channel to channel and surrogates fling across the soundfield, while factory machinery whirs in the distance and fleeing crowds dart in every direction -- and pans are slick and smooth. A handful of scenes lack subtlety, as seems to be par for the sci-fi actioner course, but only the most stringent audiophiles will find fault in the film's occasional more-is-less brow-beating. All things considered, Surrogates sounds great. Even if you balk at Mostow's flashy utopian dystopia, you'll at least be able to enjoy its immersive sonics.
While it doesn't include a Bonus View video commentary or a much-needed comic-to-screen Picture-in-Picture track, the Blu-ray edition of Surrogates nevertheless serves up a solid selection of more traditional special features, all of which are presented in high definition.
Surrogates is an entertaining, occasionally mindless exercise in fulfilled potential and missed opportunities; an action-oriented procedural that cashes in on a handful of intriguing questions, but sometimes fails to pair them with equally intriguing answers. That being said, Disney capitalizes on the film's flashy aesthetics and pulse-pounding sequences to produce a high-quality Blu-ray release. It features a faithful, technically proficient video transfer, a full-throttle DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a decent supplemental package that holds a number of exclusives. Though sci-fi fans will part ways when it comes to the film itself, Disney's Blu-ray efforts will prove to be far less divisive.
2003
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Director's Cut
2009
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2003
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40th Anniversary Edition
1984
2009
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Icons
2009
3 Disc Edition
2012