Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Space Between Us Blu-ray Movie Review

Wait...what?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 11, 2017

The Space Between Us is another film based on a young adult novel written by...wait, what? It's not based on a YA book? Seriously? This thing hasn't been at every Scholastic book fair for the last three years? It has "based on the YA book by" written all over it, pun very much intended. No, for once, this is an original story conceived for film written by Allan Loeb (Collateral Beauty) but it's every bit pigeonholed into the YA style. The story of a boy, a girl, great distances, some health problems, and overcoming it all to find true love certainly doesn't sound very original. It sounds downright hackneyed to be honest, but somehow the movie works on a sweet-and-simple level. Excuse its unoriginality, embrace its sincerity, enjoy the love story, and chances are most in the audience (at least those who would be organically drawn to such a movie, anyway) will forgive its flaws and few moments of absurdity and find themselves satisfied with the core, and very linear, story the film has to offer.

Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) is the first boy born on Mars. His mother, Sarah (Janet Montgomery), a pioneer astronaut and leader of the first long-term mission to Mars, leaves Earth pregnant and gives birth on the Red Planet. Unfortunately, she passes away moments later. Gardner grows up confined in the small Martian colony, dreams of visiting Earth, and he hopes to find his real father. But growing up on Mars and in artificial gravity has made him a mutant of sorts. His body has developed in such a way that life on Earth, at least long term, will not be sustainable; it'll eventually kill him. But radical surgery allows his body to be strengthened enough to make the trip. He does, and his first stop is to meet with Tulsa (Britt Robertson), a high school girl about his age and a long-term pen pal. Of course, Tulsa doesn't know his true story. His life has been covered up since his birth by Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman), the head man at the company that sent his mother to Mars in the first place. As Gardner and Tulsa bond, he slowly opens up about his past, she her present, and together their future, and the two do what they must to find Gardner's father before it's too late.

"Simple" and "sweet" do summarize the movie nicely. The Space Between Us is a movie about overcoming limits to find truth and true love. It's terribly straightforward, but it's also focused and pleasantly agreeable. What the film lacks in central, core creativity it makes up for with both an interesting set of externalities -- the details of Gardner's life story -- and its sincerity. The film lacks message, never goes off on a tangent, and only strives to tell a simple love story, and it succeeds in its goal. The movie maintains a linear path towards the end with but a single, and surprising, tangent in the third act that puts everything at risk, that redefines the journey, and forces the character to rethink who he is and what he can accomplish with his life. Otherwise, the movie plays about as expected, again, though, with that pleasant simplicity and linearity as its guides that help it overcome and succeed where it should probably fail.

The movie does show some weakness, some cracks in the foundation that threaten to bring it down but never quite succeed in doing so. Acting is a weak link. Asa Butterfield can't quite find that fine line between all of his character's needs: social awkwardness, ticks and quirks from a largely isolated life on Mars, high intelligence, and general teenage uncertainty around the fairer sex. The performance captures the character's essence nicely, and some of the awkward moments in the performance could be attributed to actually finding the character's center, but it never quite seems right, either in the funnier, most intimate, or most dramatic moments. The film further relies too much on plot contrivance and convenience, characters circumventing technology and realistic limitations to progress forward, but again, that charming counterbalance does save it from itself every time it threatens to crash and burn. Also, special kudos to Andrew Lockington (Journey 2) on the score; the piece that plays atop the Blu-ray menu screen is extremely melodic and soothing.

The Space Between Us Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Space Between Us was digitally photographed and translates nicely to the Blu-ray format. While it doesn't pass for film, the image does take on some core film-like textures, leaving behind, largely, the flatness and glossiness of lower-tier digital sources. Details are stout. The image is clear and sharp, well defined from corner to corner and never wanting for any significant boost in textural adeptness. Whether faces, clothes, or environments -- sterile Martian interior locations or more tangibly and texturally diverse locales on Earth -- the transfer is never wanting for clarity and visual interest. Colors are well saturated, very punchy but dialed in nicely. Primaries jump off the screen and support hues, especially the colder whites, grays, and blues in those Martian interiors, are dense and detailed. Black levels hold firm and flesh tones present no problems. Source noise is occasionally evident, even in very well lit scenes rather than just the usual suspect low-light interiors. This is hardly a game-changer or ground-breaker, but Universal's transfer satisfiers all requirements of a new release film brought to Blu-ray.

The Space Between Us Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Space Between Us blasts onto Blu-ray with a well-rounded and well-versed DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. The matching of the material's needs and the track's prowess makes for a solid coupling, and Universal's sound presentation delivers in every scene. Rocket blasts are particularly impressive, one later in the movie more so than one early in the movie, but there's a good foundational strength and room-filling presence to each, just a bit more with one in the third act. A few additional heavy-set sound effects play with authoritative presence as well, including crashing ocean waves later in the film, a martian rover crash early on, and an airplane crash on Earth partway through. Music is aggressively spaced and the surround channels carry a healthy portion of the load. Musical detailing, whether score or songs, instrumental or vocals, is terrific. Environmental effects prove nicely filling and complimentary. Whether reverberation in a lecture hall, crowded school hallway din, or at a Sam's Club store, the track always draws the listener into the film's diverse environments. Dialogue is clear and well fined, center positioned, and well prioritized.

The Space Between Us Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Space Between Us contains an alternate ending, deleted scenes, a featurette, and a commentary. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.

• Alternate Ending (1080p, 3:01).
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 13:44 total runtime): Nathaniel's Full Speech, Manual Capture, Smaller Than a Lima Bean, Gardner Gets Mugged, and Kendra's Mission.
• Love Featurette (1080p, 4:28): This piece recounts the movie's plot, explores its themes, and looks at its characters.
• Audio Commentary: Director Peter Chelsom delivers a very well spoken and deeply detailed commentary that dissects the film from all directions: basic plot, themes, performances, influences, visual effects, and plenty more. It's a treasure trove and a wonderful compliment to the movie.

The Space Between Us Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Space Between Us is an agreeable story about a boy and a girl who fall in love. Their love is tested, and it endures. It's nothing new, it's nothing special, but it works because it's focused, plays with no frills, and never does anything that betrays its core simplicity and sincerity. Despite a few drawbacks, particularly in the acting department, the movie otherwise satisfies on a fundamental level and should leave the audience smiling. Universal's Blu-ray offers solid video and audio. A few extras are included. Recommended.