A DVD Review of... Images (C) Warner Bros. Genre: Sci-Fi/Action Cast: John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, Sabine Karsenti, Kelly Preston Synopsis: Based on the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard. In the early 21st century, the Earth was quickly taken over by a giant, gas-breathing alien race known as the Psychlos who quickly destroyed Earth's defenses and modern civilisation. Almost a thousand years later, one of a handful of the surviving humans decides to venture outside his protected and safe little community in the Rocky mountains. Soon he becomes the only hope for mankind when the Psychlos, almost finished mining out the planet's resources, determine to exterminate all life. Film Review: After a huge year last year, the sci-fi genre has really taken a back seat with "Mission to Mars" (2/10) being the first major studio pic in the area. "Battlefield: Earth" is the second one to come along and while its a short step above M2M, its not likely to challenge "Gladiator" at the box-office. Yes it has lots of action & FX, but its script lacks cohesion. On the upside a very suprising thing is that the filmmakers seem to have really squeezed the $50 million budget to produce a film which looks like it almost cost twice as much, so credit to the company and crew behind that. Performance wise most of the actors basically walk through their roles which are almost amazingly one-note at times. Johnny Tyler is the hero who decides it is his job to save the Earth from continued dominance by the Psychlos. These aliens are watchable simply because they are over the top, while the humans are pathetic - barely talking neanderthals who seem to rally at the drop of a club behind anyone who can string more than two coherent sentences together. As I was saying though the aliens are the more fascinating to watch and Travolta once again does one of his signature one-liner villains. Despite the repetitive dialogue ("leverage" anyone?), his enthusiasm for the work does shine through the repetitive and sometimes annoying out loud laughing. Whitaker also does OK as the not too bright alien sidekick character with ambitions over his boss. As villains go though the Psychlos aren't frightening or even particularly evil aside from one or two moments (eg. the cow scene). They rely on that kind of 'superiority complex' humour used by the character of 'Q' a lot in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" but none of the aliens here even approach that character's level of wit or intensity. The story is quite weak, with the pace all over the place. From the start we're immediately thrust into the action without any real warning and don't understand what's going on. Then things slow to a grinding "gold mining" subplot in the second act, before rushing through the third. Unfortunately there are plot holes big enough for a caveman with under 7 days of training to fly a Harrier Jet through. It feels like the filmmakers were so concerned that the 'gold mining scheme' storyline was not epic enough that with 40 minutes to go they shift it to a haphazardly assembled BIG scale theme which seems rushed. There's enough plot elements for two movies crammed into one - so neither it or the characters are fully explained or explored. Nevertheless this is a Summer movie, one made for audiences who are just after light-hearted entertainment. The FX, sound and action are B:E's stronger ponts and may be sufficient for those who don't want to think too deeply about such things as story and characters. - Garth Franklin "Battlefield Earth: Special Edition" DVD Details In Brief (Region 1) Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 119mins Versions: 16:9 Enhanced Widescreen, 4:3 Letterboxed Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1 Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Language & Sub-Titles: English, French Audio: Commentary by Director Roger Christian and Production Designer Patrick Tatopolous Documentary: "Evolution and Creation" featurette, Travolta Make-Up Test Featurette, VFX Featurette Clips: Two Theatrical Trailers and Two TV Spots, Hidden Video Other: Biographies, Storyboard Montage, Novel Promotion Region 1 vs. Region 4: No Details on Region 4 release DVD Review: One of the year's weakest films has come to disc and while there's some good features here, it'd take a lot to make up for the film itself - sadly none of these do. The print's visual quality is the highlight - quite impressive all over with almost no glitching aside from a slightly desaturated red tone - which isn't much of a problem as only a few scenes involve red. Most of the film is shot in blue & green which is transferred well. The audio is a little quiet on the dialogue but the mix is not too bad. The commentary by Christian is on the informative side but he's very serious and sounds, well almost a little tired. The first of the big extras is the E&C 16-minute featurette which is the standard making of stuff, most of which you'll hear in Christian's commentary. The 'Storyboard Montage' shows single cells, footage and a mix of the two set to some techno fast music - its moves way too fast at times and the sliding wipe is quickly annoying. The 2-minute Travolta make-up test is the best of the docos as its short, fast and shows you some of the early stages of the latex layers. The VFX featue basically is just Travolta and Christian repeating over and over how they got some of the "Star Wars" people involved (yawn!), but some of the model footage is interesting. There's a strange bit talking about and promoting the novel which you don't see much of these days and is a commendable idea, plus it has the films two trailers and TV spots which are transferred extremely well in widescreen bar the 'Full Trailer' where the dialogue seems very faint. As said though the extras don't make up for the film but too the very few who did like it, they will enjoy this. - Garth Franklin News & Rumours || Films of 2002 || Films of 2001 || Films of 2000 || Films of 1999 || Films of 1998 || Films of 1997 Film Trailers || Film Reviews || DVD Reviews || This Week: US || This Week: UK || This Week: Australia TV Guide || Site Links || Release Dates/Box-Office || Advertise With DH || Submit Info || Main Index || Privacy Policy