Check Out the Trailer

Coming of age films are common, but one like this one is uncommon. Outcasts are so often the central character. That’s the case here, but this isn’t your nice blameless outcast. He’s selfish and cruel and real. It’s like a British RUSHMORE.

Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts, JANE EYRE) tells us from the start that this is his biography. He even explains where Wales is for American audiences. Oliver is a bit of an outcast. He is smarter than the other kids, but as self aware as any teenager. Maybe even less so. He wants to have sex and believes that Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige, BALLET SHOES) is his best chance. However, his awkward eagerness doesn’t really help his cause. Lucky for him Jordana is more forthright than he expects and isn’t into grand gestures of affection.

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Check Out the Trailer

I’ve seen bits and pieces of this over the years since it came to cable. Some of the pieces I caught impressed me, because it seemed the whole thing was a spoof of the FRIDAY THE 13TH series, as well as space horror films like ALIEN. Now that I have seen the film from start to finish, I have come to the conclusion that it is trying to make fun of the series, but the problem is that it was written like one of those late-night softcore spoofs.

In the prologue, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder, HATCHET) has been captured and is set to be cryogenically frozen, because he can’t be killed. He gets loose in the facility and Rowan (Lexa Doig, TV’s ANDROMEDA) lures the killer into the freezing chamber and accidentally gets frozen along with him. Apparently Earth was doomed with or without Jason on ice because in the future humans live on Earth II. An education mission is sent back to Earth to check it out, discovering Rowan and Jason and taking them back on the ship to thaw them out.

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Buy It Now!

Read my review of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of this Blu-ray release hating the darkness of it, but then saying that it’s part of the film. When reviewing the quality of a transfer the only thing to really take into account is the intent of the filmmakers and has that been brought to the home entertainment experience. With Disney’s 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer of the fourth PIRATES film, they have done this masterfully. Yes, some of the early scenes are dark and mysterious, but that was director Rob Marshall and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski point. Even in the darkness you can relish in the inky blacks and remarkable detail. It has been described as smoky, which is true, but nothing is lost. When the film sails into the day, the details jump from the screen in the clothing and sets. The color palette is muted, but uber natural, which provides some of the visual awe. Digital anomalies are minimal. There is some faint digital fuzziness in the darker scenes and edge enhancement ringing can be found if you’re looking for it.

If people have been nitpicking the picture quality, they are not doing so with the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 because you can’t. This is one of the Blu-rays of the year to rock the surround sound with. Directionality is masterfully done to the point that it actually made my head turn — hey what’s that behind me. Pans across the soundscape and the general ambiance make for a very immersive experience. Dialogue, score and sound effects are balanced precisely. Every sword clash, pistol fire, explosion, splash or snarky line is given its proper due.

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