Aeon Flux (Blu-ray)
APPROX. 92 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2005 - MPA RATING: PG-13
" It seems like science-fiction going through the motions and watered down to a point where the film would have hopefully captured a larger audience.
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The transfer and the film features colors that are as vivid and lovely as anything released. They are perfectly saturated and set with the hyper realistic level of detail, "Ĉon Flux" presents a very three dimensional transfer and exhibits great depth. Black levels are true and deep and shadow details are quite solid. Fleshtones are warm and show Charlize Theron´s lovely face in perfect detail. Contrast is solid. The source materials are perfect. I could find no flaws, whatsoever. It really only takes a couple of minutes to look at the stunning colors and ultra-detailed picture to be amazed. This easily one of the better looking Blu-Ray titles released thus far and a great example of where this new high definition format can go. This is not a film I would recommend based on the merit of the story, but the picture is just so good that it is hard not to recommend it for the pure eye candy contained between the opening and closing moments of the movie.
Sound:
Paramount has gotten themselves into a pretty nice pattern. They have released their titles consistently with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital mix and an English 5.1 DTS soundtrack. Additionally, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes are included. The Blu-Ray titles have been released without a Dolby Digital Plus mix, as the Blu-Ray standard does not support Dolby Digital Plus sound mixes for anything less than 7.1 channel sound. The soundtracks of the Paramount Blu-Ray releases have been quite good and "Ĉon Flux" is no exception. This aggressive soundtrack finds elements of the film´s mix populating every speaker. Gunfire encapsulates the viewer during the action sequences, explosions can be deafening and booming when the volume level is cranked up. The .1 LFE channel can easily rattle China in the kitchen from several rooms away. Dialogue is crisp and clear and holds its own during the loudest and busiest action sequences. I don´t know how many times I have mentioned Grame Revell´s name in the past couple of months, but he has been a busy composer. His score is decent and fits the film. It is nicely rendered here.
Extras:
"Ĉon Flux" contains a nice number of supplements that have made their way over from the standard definition DVD release and are identical to the HD-DVD release. Two commentary tracks are included, as well as a number of short featurettes. The first commentary, the Commentary by Charlize Theron and producer Gale Anne Hurd is a tough listen. Theron and Hurd deliver a slow-moving and boring commentary that was quite difficult to listen too. The two find themselves delivering a lot of praise and some nuggets of information about the making of the film, but their tone is just too tedious to keep focused on listening to. The Commentary by co-screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfred discusses changes that were made from the original and their script. They discuss some of the difficulties in making an adaptation of the animated series and this commentary is an improvement over the first track.
A handful of featurettes are included after the two commentary tracks. Creating a World: Aeon Flux is a twenty minute documentary that details the making of the picture and the futuristic and sterile landscape populated by its characters. This is a nice enough of a featurette and does create some respect for the production. The Locations of Aeon Flux runs for a quarter of an hour and discusses the sets used. More interviews with cast and crew are provided here and if you paid for the disc, you´ll probably want to watch this supplement as well. The third feature is titled The Stunts of Aeon Flux and details how Charlize Theron did her own stunts that led to her neck injury. The Costume Design of Aeon Flux looks at how the costumes were created for the numerous characters and extras. This runs for about fifteen minutes. Finally, The Craft of the Set Photographer of Aeon Flux spends time with the set photography crew and runs by quickly at just over three minutes. A high definition theatrical trailer is also included. Like I said, if you purchase this disc, the supplements are of good quality and you´ll want to get more value for your dollar and watch them.
Closing Thoughts:
"Ĉon Flux" is a watchable film and I thought it was better than the comparable "Ultraviolet." It is however, a claustrophobic feeling picture that feels just as confined as the residents of the city of Bregna are by its walls. The film feels like a watered down adaptation of MTV´s Liquid Television animated series. The script finds itself spending a lot of time discussing the film´s heavy plot and little time concentrating on eye popping action sequences. In the end, it feels like a routine action picture that is not as bad as many direct-to-video titles, but doesn´t feel like a big budget action picture. Charlize Theron is good as the title character and went through plenty of physical hardships to portray Ĉon Flux. The film starts to run-on at times with its exposition and becomes monotonous. It does not spend enough time showing how dangerous Ĉon can be. The saving grace for the Blu-Ray release is that this is one of the better looking titles released thus far on Blu-Ray. The picture is absolutely stunning and if it wasn´t for some posterization problems, this could be called one of the absolute best Blu-Ray releases. Colors are amazing and the level of detail gives the film a true three-dimensional appeal. It is worth purchasing at this point just on the merits of its picture quality.
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