These days Hollywood doesn’t like the term Direct to Video, one PR person told they prefer the term “DVD Premier,” but here I’ll coin the acronym HTR – meaning Home Theatrical Release. Technically it’s not an HTR, because the film was released in overseas. Echelon Conspiracy is the first HTR that I’ve seen released onto the old Blu-ray disc. Most studios wouldn’t take a chance because producing Blu-ray product is generally cost prohibitive. But I have to say, Echelon Conspiracy is one quality production. This tight little conspiracy film falls along the lines of Enemy of the State and the recent Shia LaBeouf’s recent Eagle Eye. Where an NSA Super Computer goes all wonky in the name of National Security. This film is a low rent version of last year’s big budget Eagle Eye, but I think it worked a lot better – other than the ending.
The plot makes sense (yes, you just have to go with it, as with all conspiracy films if you think too much you’ll hate it), we care about the plight of the poor slub who gets caught in the middle, in this case it’s computer expert Max Peterson (Shane West) who gets free phone that tells him what to do. At first it’s all fun and games, like it tells him to stay an extra day on his business trip, he finds out the next day the plane he was scheduled to be on crashes. Then he gets a mysterious text message that tells him to buy stock in a company, the next day it goes through the roof. So naturally he decides to do everything the phone says including flying to Prague and gambling in a Casino. He catches the eye of the Casino security chief John Reed (Edward Burns ) and FBI Agent David Grant (Ving Rhames). Things spiral out of control from there.
For an HTR this movie is beautifully shot and directed by Greg Marcks and the locations in the Kremlin and Prague look beautiful. The video quality is full 1080p with English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD sound. The menu navigation plain and simple, nothing fancy – which I like. But then this is because it’s a bare bones Blu-ray release with zero extras – unless you count Subtitles in English, French and Spanish.
Conclusion
I never know how to grade these barebone releases. I’m one who appreciates the flash and sizzle of extra features – even though I would never actually watch them, if I didn’t have to review them. This Blu-ray would be a nice rental, but not one you run out to purchase. It’s now available on both Blu-ray and DVD.
Grades
- Movie – B
- Video Quality – A
- Audio Quality – A
- Menu Navigation – A
- Extras – F
Final Overall Grade – B
EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted
7.21.09