Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Cell Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 19, 2011

Tarsem's The Cell (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance. Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release. In English, without optional subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Perhaps I could try one more time

One of the films I am most excited about seeing this year is Immortals, which is set to have its North American premiere on November 11. Immortals is directed by Indian helmer Tarsem, who typically shoots one film every 4-6 years. I like everything about his work - it is imaginative, bold and always free of clichés.

The Cell was released in 2000 and was Tarsem’s first feature film. In it Jennifer Lopez is Catherine Deane, a young psychotherapist involved with a team of researchers who try to help people suffering from terminal diseases. Her latest patient is a young boy in a coma whose parents have lost hope that he would ever come out of it. Catherine has been working with the boy for months - using a powerful computer, she has been able to enter his mind and establish contact - but has failed to initiate any sort of recovery.

The police have just captured Carl Strangher (Vincent D'Onofrio, Salton Sea), a comatose serial killer, who has kidnapped a young woman (Tara Subkoff) and locked her in a large glass tank which in approximately 40 hours will fill itself up with water and she will drown. In a desperate attempt to save her life, Detective Novak (Vince Vaughn, Swingers) approaches Catherine and asks her to enter the mind of the serial killer and look for clues about the location of the tank.

What happens next is quite fascinating - Tarsem introduces two stories, each incredibly well scripted. The first is about Detective Novak and his struggle to figure out what the location of the tank is using only the information the police already has about the serial killer, his MO and victims. The second story is about Catherine’s adventure inside the killer’s mind.

The Cell is a film that stimulates the mind in a way most contemporary Hollywood films cannot. Though not everything that takes place in it can be logically explained, quite a lot is indeed easy to rationalize - so long, of course, one does not look for clear-cut answers. The film does not offer any, but it introduces possibilities that are indeed fascinating.

Lopez has three excellent character transformations in The Cell, each serving as a litmus test of sorts indicating in what direction the film is heading.

Vaughn’s character is the most clichéd one, but he is notably relaxed in front of the camera, making it quite easy for the audience to care about him.

D'Onofrio is almost unrecognizable with the heavy makeup, but his performance is special -- his demented villain is one of the very best to appear in contemporary American films.

Cinematographer Paul Laufer (Frankie Starlight), production designer Tom Foden (Matchstick Men), set decorator Tessa Posnansky, costume designers Eiko Ishioka and April Napier, and the large team of makeup artists deserve a lot of credit. Once Catherine begins her journey, the visuals are nothing short of spectacular.

Note: In 2001, The Cell earned an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup (Michèle Burke and Edouard F. Henriques).

The Cell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Tarsem's The Cell arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance.

I have mixed feelings about this high-definition transfer. Portions of it look rather strong - fine object detail is good and clarity pleasing. Elsewhere, however, light to moderate edge-enhancement is very easy to see. Various artifacts occasionally pop up as well (the opening 10 minutes, for instance, where Catherine attempts to establish contact with her patient in the desert, are amongst the most problematic in the entire film). I also noticed random traces of noise corrections. The good news is that even with the above mentioned issues this high-definition transfer still represents a strong upgrade in quality. The rampant blockiness from the New Line Cinema's old R1 SDVD release, for instance, has been practically eliminated. Color reproduction is also substantially better, especially during the daylight scenes. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Cell Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1, and French Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Alliance have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

If you like The Cell, I'd suggest that you consider getting this Blu-ray release for the audio treatment alone. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is indeed solid - the bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels very intelligently used (the horse scene sounds fantastic), and the high-frequencies not overdone. Catherine's journey is now really spooky as there are all sorts of outstanding audio effects that give the film a completely different vibe. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Howard Shore's music score either. Lastly, I did not detect any annoying pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

The Cell Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc whatsoever.

The Cell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I hope that with Tarsem's Immortals set to premiere in early November, Warner Brothers will consider releasing The Cell on Blu-ray in the United States. For the time being, however, this very attractively priced Canadian release, courtesy of Alliance, remains the only option. RECOMMENDED.