5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
When five friends vacation at a remote lake house they expect nothing less than a good time, unaware that planet Earth is under an alien invasion and mass-abduction.
Starring: RJ Mitte, Wesley Snipes, Jedidiah Goodacre, Laura Bilgeri, Niko PepajHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 71% |
Sci-Fi | 34% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The Recall doesn't exactly make memories for a lifetime, though it very well might have if its advanced photographic components could have more accurately, and with all the inherent immersion, been delivered into the home experience. The film was shot in both the Barco Escape and virtual reality formats, both of which afford audiences the opportunity to become more greatly immersed in the visual aspect of a film, something that's becoming more commonplace on the audio end of the experience spectrum but, even with 3D and virtual reality, not yet a complete part of the visual component. Of course neither one of those formats make an impact on this, a standard Blu-ray release, presented on a flat ~2.39:1 canvas, that doesn't allow for that Barco Escape width immersion or virtual reality's total immersion, but perhaps with time this, and/or other similarly crafted films, will find life on home formats capable of working with the native material. But The Recall would be little more than a novelty, anyway; the film is but a low budget and small scale alien invasion flick, though it does boast some interesting visuals and concepts in its third act.
The Recall may have been shot with some novel and nifty approaches and delivery methods in mind, but its 1080p Blu-ray transfer is rather pedestrian as it's presented here. The image is sharply noisy, even in better light. Textural qualities rarely excite. Some complex facial features creep in and clothes, particularly Snipes' character's tattered and patchwork fatigues, offer stable and sometimes even impressively complex textures. Still, and generally speaking, there's a flatness and lack of pinpoint definition at work. Even the spartan but roughly textured alien interiors or the creatures' slimy, rigid bodies lack the sort of exactness the environment and figures deserve. Colors offer simple vibrance, with green grasses and leaves delivering the most visual bang. Red hair, some blood, and other standout shades offer satisfying depth and punch, but like the detailing, there's nothing to be overly excited about. Black levels push a little gray and skin tones range from true to pasty. Some banding is also visible in spots, particularly later in the film. Things could be better, things could be worse; the transfer mirrors the movie in that regard.
The Recall arrives on Blu-ray with a fairly bland and straightforward DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that does show some life in the film's third act. For much of the movie, though, the track fails to stretch, presenting with serviceable front-end width but never making much more than cursory, if that, rearward movement. Clarity is never all that exciting, either, as musical notes, action, and atmospherics linger across the front and without serious stage-stretching width at that. Woodland ambience and other peripherals are present in enough quantity to define an environment but not necessarily breath real life into it. The track does find some added aggression later in the film, as things grow more serious. Bass intensifies, surround use picks up considerably, but sonic detail remains spotty. Dialogue is adequately clear and cemented in a front-center location. At its best, the track probably stretches the numerical score up to a 3, but a few bursts of intensity really can't save an otherwise straightforward and pedestrian listen.
The Recall contains no bonus content on the Blu-ray disc, but the included DVD does contain a handful of featurettes.
The Recall hardly classifies as more than a watchable but forgettable budget title with some interesting technical peripherals and a fairly atmospheric third act. The movie boasts adequate performances, impressive because of the relative dearth of serious character construction that amounts to anything of value on the screen. The movie is well paced, though, and for audiences attuned to lower budget filmmaking and alien invasion/survival films, it's not a terrible watch. Echo Bridge's Blu-ray offers serviceable video and audio. A handful of short featurettes can be found on the bundled DVD disc. Worth a look for genre fans.
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