7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua, a hardened ex-Special Forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war—and mankind itself.
Starring: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken WatanabeSci-Fi | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.76:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.75:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
German: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Italian: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Japanese: DTS-HD HR 5.1
English SDH, French, French SDH, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
This may not be the prevailing opinion, but at least currently (emphasis on that currently part) there are limits to so-called artificial intelligence. Case in point: when the recent fracas involving Sam Altman and OpenAI broke out, and because I have a completely unkempt sense of humor, I of course headed over more or less immediately to ChatGPT to ask it (him? her? them?) what was going on, and was repeatedly told, "I don't have up to date information", no matter how I phrased the question. Yeah, right. That perhaps hilarious outcome notwithstanding, The Creator posits a (near) future world where A.I. has few if any limits, and we poor, distraught humans may be on the brink of extinction as a result (something that evidently played into OpenAI's Board attempting to remove Altman, since they evidently were more concerned about that potentiality than Altman was, at least according to some news reports). In a way it's also kind of funny to hear co- producer, co-writer and director Gareth Edwards talk in the making of supplement included on this disc about wanting to approach a studio with the idea of producing a science fiction extravaganza for what many bean counters might think of as a miniscule budget, since The Creator reportedly ended up costing some $80 million, certainly not a "mere pittance" by anyone's standards. The result is a frequently very interesting film, with some perhaps slightly muddled "metaphysics", but which has some rather interesting "echoes" of any number of both science fiction tinged and other offerings, including (and get ready for a trifecta you've probably never seen before) District 9, Apocalypse Now and Little Buddha, as odd as that may sound.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.
The Creator is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer
in 2.76:1. Captured with a variety of cameras including some Sony models (kind of hilariously, I think this is the first IMDb technical specs page I've
seen where a drone is listed first) and finished at 4K, this is, as mentioned above, often astounding from a visual perspective. I haven't always been
fond of the appearance of "real" grain in 2160 when I've reviewed 4K UHD releases of 35mm material, but kind of ironically, the very heavy at
times digital grain that attends this presentation actually struck me as rather organic looking. It definitely gives a textured, gritty appearance,
especially against brighter backgrounds, but it never seemed inartfully done to me. Detail levels are often superb throughout the presentation, at times
surprisingly so given some aggressive grading and frequent low light sequences. In terms of the grading, HDR really gives some additional luster to
both the blue and orange-yellow tones that are exploited, and some of the outdoor material in various locations pops gorgeously. HDR also aids in
several rather dimly lit scenes, offering at least marginal improvement in shadow detail.
Note: Per Disney's sometimes perplexing way of doing things, the 4K UHD and 1080 discs in this package sport different audio specs. The
specs above are for the 4K UHD disc. See my The Creator Blu-ray
review for the audio specs on the 1080 disc.
The Creator sports a really effective Dolby Atmos track. As I mentioned in the above linked 1080 review, scores can only "say" so much, and
I actually gave top marks to the 1080 discs DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, but this Atmos track takes all of the often striking immersive capabilities in
that track and delivers some additional support for the many "vertical" sound effects, including everything from some of the frequent drone footage, to
the NOMAD material, and especially in that regard to the many explosive devices that are catapulted straight down from the fortress. Ambient
environmental effects are really well done, and some of the cacophonous urban material as well as the many shootouts and other explosions provide
regular LFE and some fantastically enveloping sound effects. Hans Zimmer contributes another first rate score, one which has just hints of
Asian sounds like gamelan. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in many languages are available.
The 4K UHD disc in this package has no bonus content. The 1080 disc offers this sole supplement:
Years ago on a rather long plane trip I was watching Conan O'Brien's old show on the in flight television and he did one of his "News from the Future" bits where he held a flashlight under his chin, campfire story style, and relayed various "prognostications". One was so funny, I literally burst out in incredibly loud laughter that startled everyone around me. That O'Brien comment was, "In the future, robots will replace humans in dull, repetitive tasks like washing dishes and marrying J. Lo". So I guess in the long run, A.I. isn't such a bad thing, right? Tongues in cheek notwithstanding, as my colleague Brian Orndorf mentioned in his review of the film, Edwards probably never quite "gets there" with this effort, and for me personally there were simply too many questions left unanswered to make the story really congeal. That said, I was frequently gobsmacked by the visuals, and the interplay between the quasi-father and daughter in this film gives it some unexpected heart. Technical merits are first rate, and with caveats noted, The Creator comes Recommended.
Includes "The Invisible Boy" on SD
1956
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1978
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1971
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2012
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1984
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1973