Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

The Survivor Blu-ray Movie Review

Semi-breakable.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 9, 2017

M. Night Shyamalan seems to be “back”, or at least on the way, courtesy of his well received thriller Split (Blu-ray.com’s Brian Orndorf was evidently less impressed with the film than some other critics). Without getting into the plot dynamics of this film or revealing what comedians refer to as a “callback”, suffice it to say that there’s an unmistakable reference in Split to Shyamalan’s follow up to his breakthrough film The Sixth Sense, 2000’s Unbreakable. That may bring a new audience to this now almost two decade old film, and with the release of The Survivor on Blu-ray, some film historians may wonder if Shyamalan himself may have stumbled across this 1981 Australian production and tucked away a plot point or two in his subconscious, where they showed up again in his tale of David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a guy who manages to escape a horrifying train accident as the lone survivor of the catastrophe, emerging from the carnage with nary a scratch on his body. Something very similar is at play in The Survivor, albeit this time with a 747 instead of a metroliner. After a few introductory scenes, the film begins with a well staged and gut wrenching airline disaster, one that was evidently effected without the help of miniatures and (not to state the obvious, given the film’s production era) without the blandishments of CGI. In this case, it’s the jet’s pilot, Keller (Robert Powell), who walks away unscathed while everyone else in the airplane perishes. That sets the film off onto dual paths, with a procedural element attempting to divine what happened, kind of similarly to Fate Is the Hunter, and another, more presciently Shyamalan-esque element which develops a more supernatural ambience.

There are a number of odd elements even at this early stage which The Survivor takes its good time to address, if in fact it addresses them at all. One of these is the sight of a little biplane flying over a park like expanse where some kids are playing and a young woman, later identified as Hobbs (Jenny Agutter), is looking around, evidently expecting something to happen. This scene is later revisited from another perspective (which won’t be spoiled here) that attempts to shed some light on the situation but which upon any serious reflection doesn’t make a whale of a lot of sense. Hobbs sticks around in the park, sitting on a bench, even as nightfall comes. Meanwhile, Keller has gone through his pre-flight checklist and is getting his mammoth jet in the air.

A probably intentionally confusing set of scenes seems to indicate something very seriously going wrong with the flight, and for those who are really paying attention there seems to be an odd arrival of an unexpected passenger at one point (it’s a fleeting moment that, again, is addressed in a different form much later in the film, but which is never really satisfactorily explained). The upshot is that the plane comes barreling down in the park where Hobbs has been waiting. It makes a more or less intact landing, albeit losing one wing as it collides with a house. Since it’s just taken off, though, it’s full of fuel and that leads to a spectacular conflagration that kills everyone aboard—with the exception of Keller, who during the “rescue” mission stumbles out of the wreckage with hardly any injuries at all.

The rest of the film then starts exploiting the dual track outlined above. On the procedural end of things, a team, including a kind of nasty guy named Tewson (Peter Sumner), starts trying to pore over the wreckage to figure out what went wrong. There are ultimately signs there may have been a bomb aboard. On the supernatural front, Hobbs seems to be psychically inclined and is convinced the victims of the crash “need” Keller to help them find peace. This spookier side of things also includes the apparition of a little girl who was on the plane, who evidently helps a few people in another way—namely to meet their own fates.

The Survivor was directed by actor David Hemmings, and there are certain sequences that could have benefitted from some surer footed ideas in terms of framings and even editing. One of the “little girl” sequences features a kind of paparazzi type photographer who had been snapping pictures of the horribly burned victims of the crash, supposedly to sell them to some disgusting tabloid for untold sums of cash. He ends up following the girl into a graveyard (in just one of the film’s too on the nose elements), and then to a trainyard where he catches the express, so to speak. Hemmings tries to invest the scene with some real tension, including a kind of neat cutaway to birds fluttering in panic after the train whistle blows, but I wondered what someone like Hitchcock could have done with the same material. Another death scene, involving the photographer’s partner, is actually kind of funny, since she evidently is sliced and diced by a paper cutter (most paper cutters I’ve used can barely cut paper, let alone bone).

The denouement of The Survivor wants to have it both ways, with a rational explanation attempting to reside side by side next to one that has more of a The Twilight Zone sting to it. I’m not sure either explanation really makes much sense when you get right down to it, but The Survivor is an often quite interesting film that doesn’t ever quite hit the bullseye but which has a number of unusual elements which may recommend it to fans of supernaturally tinged horror.

The Survivor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Survivor is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. There is typical age related wear and tear that shows up with fair regularity here, with minor and transitory speckling, dirt and similar issues. While there's fairly evident wobble during the credits sequence, things calm down afterward and there are no further problems in that regard. While the palette is just a trifle variable, tending toward brown a bit of the time, in brightly lit outdoor sequences it's really quite vivid looking, with deep blue skies and accurate looking flesh tones. Grain is well in evidence but has a kind of chunky yellow quality in some scenes, something that can add to an already somewhat opaque appearance (see screenshot 10). Some optical effects also intentionally mask detail levels (see screenshot 4). On the whole, this is an organic looking transfer that shows the age of the elements as well as the low budget nature of the film itself, but which should please fans without undue expectations.

The Survivor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Survivor features an LPCM 2.0 mono track which quite capably delivers dialogue, occasional bombastic and/or spooky sound effects, and the kind of anachronistic score from Brian May. The haunting voices supposedly emanating from "the other side" can have a somewhat processed sound at times, perhaps due to added reverb, but everything else sounds clear on this problem free track.

The Survivor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Extended Scenes (1080p; 3:34)


• Not Quite Hollywood: Extended Interviews with Producer Antony I. Ginnane and Cinematographer John Seale (1080p; 22:12) are culled from Mark Hartley's 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood.


• The Legacy of James Herbert (1080p; 9:19) is a fun retrospective about the horror author, who evidently didn't like this film all that much.


• Robert Powell on James Herbert (1080p; 3:24) looks like a relatively recent piece, with Powell, who knew and was a friend of Herbert's, talking about the author.


• Archive TV Special On Location Featuring Interviews with Stars Joseph Cotten and Peter Sumner (1080p; 29:59) is from a tv show called Clapper Board.


• Archive TV Interview with David Hemmings (1080p; 15:43) has information about Hemmings as an actor as well as a director.


• Archive TV Interview with David Hemmings and Robert Powell is listed, but clicking on it simply plays the above interview with Hemmings alone, so either there's an authoring error or someone forgot to put this piece on the disc.


• Antony I. Ginnane Trailer Reel (1080p; 32:03) is most definitely NSFW, with a lot of full frontal nudity from porn films, including up close and personal looks at the legendary John Holmes.


• TV Spot (1080p; 00:28)

Note: Evidently the DVD release of The Survivor (which I never owned) included a commentary, but that hasn't been ported over to this release.

The Survivor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Here's a wild thought: M. Night Shyamalan should consider remaking this film. While there are a lot of interesting concepts floating around this feature, nothing is tied together very artfully and a sounder screenplay might have delivered more scares and, ultimately, satisfaction at the denouement. Still, there's a peculiarly haunting ambience to this film and horror fans who aren't expecting an undiscovered masterpiece may enjoy this. Video shows its age, but audio is fine, and despite an apparent authoring error, Severin has assembled some appealing supplements (though don't play the Ginnane Trailer piece in polite company or definitely if there are kids around). Recommended.