5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
When aliens attack and swiftly conquer the world by frying our electronic grid and systematically hunting down the disorganized, pathetically under-defended survivors, a small band of tourists in Moscow combine to find a way to annihilate the aliens' powerful defenses.
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Yuriy KutsenkoAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 65% |
Thriller | 38% |
Horror | 18% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Blu-ray 3D
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
You don't know who you are until something happens.
Nobody likes those movies where all the good parts find their way into the trailer, those movies that are better enjoyed in a two- or three-minute
compact version rather than the larger ninety-minute full-on experience. The Darkest Hour is one of those movies. It's not an awful
experience stretched out to ninety minutes by any stretch of the imagination, but the full film doesn't really do much more than repeat the sort of
stuff that appears in the trailer. If anything, it's too slow. Once the initial "cool" factor of the usual alien invasion and post-apocalyptic hubbub fades
away at the end of the first act, viewers are left with pretty much a series of repeating scenes that feature characters wandering around and hiding out
from the aliens, slowly piecing together what they're here for, how to kill them, and how to avoid their own demise. It's all very straightforward, and
pretty much
all that changes is the background and character rotation as some are killed off and others appear to take their place. The movie works well enough as
mindless entertainment with a little scientific muscle behind it, but a game-changer or genre-definer The Darkest Hour most certainly is not.
It's raining death.
The Darkest Hour's Blu-ray 3D presentation isn't terrible, but it's far from exemplary. The image provides an average sense of 3D depth; there's good separation between characters and objects, and viewers can roughly discern the exact spacing across a room, down a street, or through an entire city. Those sprawling cityscape shots fare best, generally, but even closer-quartered but still relatively open shots, such as an early scene inside the Moscow airport, yield decent depth. Gimmick 3D effects are rare; an upside-down shot in chapter six looks really cool. Random debris, vaporized humans, and exploding aliens all present viewers with little odds and ends that seem to drift out of or explode from the television screen. Some viewers may experience light crosstalk, depending on television capabilities. On the general side of the ledger, this transfer holds its own compared to its 2D-only counterpart. It's a little darker, skin tones a touch pastier, but it still offers vibrant colors and excellent clarity, particularly in bright outdoor scenes. Color balance remains a strength. Fine detail isn't quite as exacting in darker scenes, but facial textures and all of the little city details still shine, including dust and debris in the streets, brick textures, and the like. Trace amounts of aliasing and a few jagged edge are also visible. This isn't a disc that will sell 3D displays, but it's a decent presentation. Note that the review 3D/2D hybrid disc sampled would only output a 3D signal, even when selecting the 2D menu option. Only connecting to a 2D-only source yielded a 2D transfer. This was confirmed via both a Panasonic standalone unit and a PlayStation 3.
The Darkest Hour shines on Blu-ray. Summit's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers expectational audio from beginning to end. A strong collection of haunting, airy notes deeply penetrate the soundstage during the opening titles. Drifting surround support and a fine sense of wide-open space creates a fairly chilling sonic effect. The track plays popular music in the following minutes, once overlaying the film and shortly thereafter in a dance club. Both deliver clean, crisp notes, excellent spacing, natural immersion, and superb and fine-tuned bass. Action effects deliver the goods. The sound of humans being ripped apart by the creatures plays with a clear sense of tearing and spilling all over the stage. Gunfire is delivered accurately and with a strong, crisp edge. It plays with good power and authenticity, and even the sound of brass hitting pavement plays with a true-to-life flair. The heaviest, most prominent effects -- including building collapses -- play with tremendous strength, but not at the expense of nearly pinpoint clarity and natural immersion into the chaos. The track also handles more subtle sound effects, such as water lightly rolling up against a ship's hull, with a pure, realistic sensation. Dialogue is firm, clear, and balanced in the center channel, never lost under the heaviest effects. This is another first-rate soundtrack from Summit.
The Darkest Hour contains an average assortment of extras: a short film, a featurette, deleted scenes, and an audio commentary.
The Darkest Hour serves its purpose as acceptable mindless entertainment. It's slick, well made, kind of snazzy sometimes, but that's about it. Dull characters and a repetitive cadence keep the movie from ascending beyond mediocrity. This is the perfect example of the go-nowhere modern movie. It's nowhere near as awful those bottom scrapers in terms of raw production value, but it's also a fine example of how a movie suffers when nobody cares about the characters. The bottom line is that most will be entertained in a brain dead sort of way, but audiences shouldn't expect the next great Sci-Fi masterpiece. Summit Entertainment's Blu-ray release of The Darkest Hour features stellar audio and midlevel 3D video. A few supplements are included. This would make a good rainy day rental.
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