Doom (HD DVD)

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As I mentioned in my review, "Doom" takes the path that great looking special effects is more important to a ´Video Game´ movie than a good script or even decent acting. The visual effects in this film are very good. There is ´gore´ aplenty. Blood splattering left and right. The set designs are very nice. The look of the game pays very good homage to the video game series, at least the third game in the series. The FPS sequence was shot completely separate from the rest of the film and it has a completely different visual appeal. The scene seems to be sharper than the rest of the film, exhibiting a better feel of depth. You almost want to reach out and touch the oozing blood and guts. Almost. It is just a shame that so much solid production value went into such a poor film.

Sound:

Sound is good enough that you can almost argue a purchase of the DVD to show off HD-DVD. At this point, "Doom" is arguably the best sounding DVD on the market. The English 5.1 channel Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack is a sonic assault on the senses from the opening sequence and continues through the credits (thanks to a fun credit sequence that mirrors the FPS sequence). All sound channels are pushed strong through the film and the sound of gunfire is enough to make almost anybody giddy. The subwoofer rumbles hard. For a science-fiction/horror film, "Doom" demands a strong ability to bump and effectively keep its audience uneasy. The soundtrack keeps up to the task. On the other end of the sound spectrum, there are wonderful little touches that offset the booming bass. The metallic sounds of gunfire, the high-pitched squawks of the computer displays and the sound of hard boots against metal grid flooring sound incredible. Dialogue is spot on, even though they mostly spew garbage from their mouths. It is amazing how really good technical presentation can make you enjoy the most painful of films.

Aside from the English soundtrack, Spanish and French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks are located on the disc. The film is fun to watch in French. It really is. The Rock didn´t speak his own lines. Darn. I could only pick up a few words though that I understood. There are also English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles.

Extras:

Universal gets credit for jumping on the HD-DVD bandwagon early and I certainly thank them for doing so. However, their initial releases are simply ports of the original DVD editions. Nothing new or special makes its way to HD-DVD. Even a little something extra would have been sweet. Perhaps a few minutes of "Doom 3" game footage in glorious high definition? That would have been spiffy. The Elite Red DVD case lists five supplements on the back facing and includes the words "And Much More." Unfortunately, the "And Much More" amounts to one additional short feature about the Rock. Of course, the film is an ´unrated extended edition´ and features a few more moments of glorious gore.

Basic Training is a ten minute featurette that details how Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban underwent ´basic training´ to prepare for the film. They describe how they worked out together and trained together and learned the basics of soldiering. The next feature is Rock Formation and is a six minute feature about how the Rock was transformed into the zombie-like super soldier for the big final fight. It is a nice look at the film´s makeup for the Rock. This six minutes was the "And Much More" listed on the back. The third feature is the eleven minute look at the movie monsters, "Master Monster Makers." Id and Stan Winston worked together on the creature designs. Some cool stuff on the making of the baddies here. "First Person Shooter Sequence" is a six minute look at the making of the FPS moments in the film. It details the FPS unit and their 14 day shoot to create the unique view in the picture.

The final two features deal with the Doom games that inspired the film. Doom Nation is a fifteen minute look at the early popularity of the games and how those involved in the production of the film were inspired by the game. It goes into the history of the game from "Wolfenstein 3-D" thru the "Doom" trilogy. The games shareware roots and insane popularity as one of the very first FPS titles is nicely detailed here. "Game On" is a quick set of tips on playing "Doom 3." Oddly, words such as ´ass´ are bleeped out, while the Rock has no problem dropping F-bombs in his supplemental moments. I´m not so sure why he can swear and the person discussing "Doom 3" cannot. Regardless, this feature is more of a look at "Doom 3" than anything else.

Parting Thoughts:

"Doom" is bad. It really is. Some may say that my liking the game to a steaming pile of weasel dung was unprofessional. Some may say it was childish. I´m sure that most that have seen the film will say I was too kind. However, I really do love the First Person Shooter sequence in the film. That is enough to bump the film rating a whole 2 points. Sadly, "Doom" has wonderful technical aspects to it and is a fine looking film in not only the HD-DVD transfer, but the film´s production. The sound is incredible. Here in the early days of HD-DVD, I must say that this is the best presentation of a film to show off an HD-DVD powered home theater. I´d recommend jumping through the fine action sequences and skipping the other 60% of the film. Because once you hit the bad acting and really bad dialogue, it will pain you. As a film, I don´t recommend it. As an example of HD-DVD, I recommend it with reservations. Just make sure to hold your nose.

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