6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It had been a year since Dr. Norman Spencer betrayed his beautiful wife Claire. But with Claire oblivious to the truth and the affair over, Norman's life and marriage seem perfect - so perfect that when Claire tells him of hearing mysterious voices and seeing a young woman's ghostly image in their home, he dismisses her mounting terror as a delusion.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Miranda Otto, James Remar, Wendy CrewsonSupernatural | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 53% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Horror | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Director Robert Zemeckis is best known for family fare and movie magic type films like the Back to the Future trilogy and The Polar Express and also for pushing technical boundaries (Forrest Gump and Beowulf). With his 2000 film What Lies Beneath, the filmmaker shifts gears into the "creepy thriller" category with quasi-supernatural undertones, a PG-13 picture that doesn't push the envelope for its technical workmanship or within the genre at large, but it is a perfectly serviceable, if not largely forgettable, genre picture that's worth checking out.
Paramount's 1080p transfer for What Lies Beneath is clearly sourced from a dated master. It's not that it looks exceedingly poor – it's perfectly passable within modest expectations -- it's that it shows some telltale signs of preparation from the DVD era: it appears to have been artificially sharpened somewhat, grain is clumpier and more processed than it is organic, details don't inspire, and colors are flat and ever-so-faded, lacking vibrancy. Textures are nowhere near so crisp as they might could have been, leaving faces and clothes and environments – particularly the main set pieces in and around the Spencer home – lacking the vitality and ultra-sharp and filmic intensity that has been in evidence in so many of Paramount's other Blu-ray releases of recent vintage. As noted, colors are not all that vibrant or nuanced, favoring something of a blunt force approach. The image lacks the clean-up demonstrated in so many of the studio's releases of a more recent vintage; various pops and speckles appear in practically every scene. Minor traces of edge enhancement are visible at the 90-minute mark most prominently and seen in a few other scattered places throughout. This is hardly an eye-catching winner of a transfer; it's murky and not very inspiring but it's perfectly watchable if one can watch without expecting perfection.
What Lies Beneath surfaces onto Blu-ray with a capable if not a little dated Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is somewhat front heavy, particularly as the music spreads across the front portion of the stage. Some surround integration is apparent but it is not so forceful as to overwhelm nor so graceful as to offer seamless integration. The same can be said for some of the more prominent action or ambient effects, such as heavy rain, which lack the precision clarity and seamless stage integration found in superior tracks. Dialogue is the primary audio mover and shaker here, and it does hold steady to a front-center position, even if it, like everything else, struggles to shift into that highest gear. In many ways the track is much like the video, then, offering a solid presentation but one that cannot touch the higher end spectrum, never mind reach an audio zenith.
The lackluster presentation continues with just a couple of recycled supplements from years past. What Lies Beneath ships with neither DVD
nor digital copies. A slipcover has not been included, either.
What Lies Beneath is a capable Chiller elevated by solid performances and complimentary direction from the ever-reliable Robert Zemeckis. The slow-burn and twisty-turny plot offers few surprises but the highlight is the complex psychological performance that Michelle Pfeiffer delivers as the film's lead. This is a decent watch in sum but the genre has far better to offer (but this one's pretty good as PG-13 variants go). As far as the Blu-ray goes, this is a fairly uninspiring package. Everything about it is OK, but there's nothing -- not the movie, not the video, not the audio, not the supplements -- that scream out as a reason to buy. Fans of the film will find a capable presentation but nothing to be excited about, one that is certainly a far cry from the best Paramount has been releasing in the past year or so. Worth a look.
2013
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2002
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2001
2016
2019
Unrated
2004
Extended Director's Cut
2018
1999
2009
2014
2012
2014
2014
2001
2009
R-rated Extended Cut
2002