I wanted to see this movie in the theater but the trailers turned me off and I just couldn’t get excited enough to go to one of the advanced screenings. I love the idea of this movie – I mean how can you not like Evil Angels who want to bring on the Apocalypse? Director Scott Stewart does a fantastic job with his Picture in Picture commentary he provides really nice detail on what he was thinking while filming certain scenes and we learn a bit about how the SFX were put together. I much prefer picture in picture commentary to boring audio tracks any day. I’m glad to see Sony Home Video start to implement this mode.
Movie
I love Paul Bettany, he doesn’t get enough work and the movie has Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson and Lucas Black. To bad they are stuck in this low rent movie. This movie is above the level of a Roger Corman film so I’m glad I skipped it on the big screen. It does, however, work pretty well in the comfort of my own home. I find low budget affairs like this strangely inspirational because it gives me hope that someday I can make a movie that’s set in one location. I do expect more when you have a stellar cast like this.
It seems odd though that the movie has such a bleak, isolated, post apocalyptic setting, even though this presumably takes place in the real world. But when you have little old Granny’s screaming “You all are going to f’ing Die” and taking big chunks out of people’s neck, you realize reality doesn’t play in this dojo.
Audio/Video/Extras
The picture quality of this Blu-ray transfer is excellent. It’s a full 1080p transfer – in this day in age, do I still need to mention this in Blu-ray reviews? The audio sounds crisp and clean. The extras on this disk are nice, includes several in-depth, meaty featurettes all in HD, BD Live and Digital Copy. This disc also includes Sony’s cool Movie IQ feature that lets you easily pull up additional information about the cast and crew. I love using this feature.
The Menu navigation on this disc is horrible. Instead of giving a clear indicator (like an icon) on where you are, it highlights text and not very well. There is an Icon at the top level, but not the sub menus. I found myself clicking the wrong item several times before I finally got back to the main movie.
Disc Details
- No of Discs 2
- Transfer – 1080P High Definition, 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
- Audio – English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French
- Subtitles – English, English SDH, French
Trailers
- Unthinkable
- The Runaways
- Youth in Revolt
Special Features
- Previews
- Bringing Angels to Life (Picture in Picture)
- Creating the Apocalypse (23 Min) (HD)
- Humanity’s Last Line of Defense (11 Min) (HD)
- From Pixels to Picture (10 Min) (HD)
Conclusion
The movie’s trailer lead you to believe this is some supernatural movie, but it’s really just a cheesy D level zombie horror movie. This movie reminds me a lot of the Project Greenlight horror film Feast. If you like straight up zombie movies, you may get some enjoyment out of this, otherwise stay away. I really liked the ending it left me wanting more. Even though everything that came before it was bad.
Grades
- Movie – D
- Picture Quality – B
- Audio Quality – B
- Features – B
Final Overall Grade – C
EM Blu-ray Review
By Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 5.16.2010