# IMMORTALS (DVD; Universal)



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

*Studio: Fox
Disc/Transfer Specifications: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1; Region 1 (U.S.) Release Tested
MPAA Rating: R
Tested Audio Track: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: Tarsem Singh
Starring Cast: Mickey Rourke, Henry Cavill, John Hurt


THE GODS NEED A HERO.


PLOT ANALYSIS:*

Think of Tarsem Singh’s _Immortals_ like _Clash of the Titans_ on meth – or perhaps a kick-butt, fight sequence-endowed hybrid of _Clash_ and _The Mummy_ remake. I really wanted to see this theatrically, after being impressed – if not awe struck and knocked over – by the remake of _Clash of the Titans_. It seems Hollywood, perhaps ever since _Gladiator_, has been fascinated with exploring the myths and legends of the gods and mortals that worshipped them in ancient Greece and/or Rome, and as technology has advanced, so has the ability to bring these ancient clashes and mythical (in some cases) civilizations to startling life on the big screen. However, some critics feel that Singh’s _Immortals_ simply pushed this envelope way too far – indeed, the battle and fight sequences here are over the top, violent, hyper-realized in slow motion techniques (thanks to the producing team of _300_) and blood soaked to say the very least. After viewing the film on standard DVD last night, I tend to agree – I am sure the ancient battles (whether they were between mortal man and mythical god creatures or amongst their own civilizations) were bloody and violent, but the action on display here was just wildly dramatic. I mean, we have the hero lead flying through the air delivering Kung Fu-like kickdrops to his adversaries while tossing foot-long spears into the heads and necks of enemy troops yards away in the distance. Then, we have the main villain role played by Mickey Rourke, who takes his “Whiplash” performance from _Iron Man 2_ to an entirely different, psycho and downright frightening level with a degree of barbarism and cruelty that even scared me…well, if I were living in that time period…

Much of _Immortals_ plays like _Clash of the Titans_, and the premise here is that our lead is, again, a bent-on-vengeance young man looking to kill Rourke’s evil king character for his warriors attacking his coastal village and ultimately slicing his mother’s throat as he watched. Driven by rage, this kid kicks the hinds of everyone he comes in contact with – a la _Braveheart, Gladiator, The Patriot et al_ – working his way through the ranks after Rourke, but the theatrics and action setpieces really don’t fit this time and place in history. I mean, as I said, this kid is kicking more rear ends than Sam Worthington ever did in _Titans_, and doing it with almost magical, fluid movements; the final fight sequence between him and Rourke is nail biting in excitement and tension, as we can feel every punch Rourke cruelly delivers on our hero’s bloody body and vice-versa. 

Speaking of the final fight sequence, what ends up happening is Rourke and our hero arrange for a battle to ensue just above the ancient temple where the titans are buried in a tomb-like chamber – and this is where _Immortals_ suddenly becomes Stephen Sommers’ _Mummy_, with crusty, flaky dried old “titans” coming to life to fight Zeus, Athena, Poseidon and the other gods that have come down from the clouds of Olympus to help the hero and his warriors against Rourke and his unleashed titans. While the gods wipe the floor with the rampaging titans for the most part in an exciting fight sequence between the superpowers, they are ultimately beaten, most of them killed. Incidentally, as a side note, the dude who plays Zeus in this played Zeus’ other son Apollo in _Clash of the Titans_ – it was a different take on the legendary god, without the flowing curled beard and other features. 

Alas, a hand to hand combat scene breaks out between Rourke and the kid who got in his way of obtaining a special bow and arrow that possesses great power – as I mentioned, the sequence is very engaging and rivals nearly any of the hero-villain sets of the comic films out there. By the time you’re done watching it, you’re exhausted from witnessing these guys beating the ever-loving snot out of one another; in fact, it makes you wonder how they could even survive such horrendous beatings.

_Immortals_ wasn’t bad – but there was something about it that just didn’t allow me to enjoy it as much as _Clash of the Titans_ and I’m not quite sure what that was. It is definitely worth a rental spin. 

*VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:*

Unable to obtain a Blu-ray copy of _Immortals_, I was still satisfied with the upconverted image of the DVD transfer, with a clean anamorphic image that filled my display sans letterboxing (based on the aspect ratio). Blacks and shadow detail were spot-on, faces were realistic in tone and color, there was no noise or compression artifacting that I could detect and this was just a solid standard DVD transfer from start to finish. 

*AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:*

Where this title really stood out was with the audio – wow. Holy cow. Did I get the point across? This standard-issue Dolby Digital 5.1 mix was nothing of the sort – from the beginning, this track was ridiculously aggressive in its mastering, with an overall authoring level that required me to continuously lower my Onkyo receiver’s master volume…something I never find myself doing. Dialogue was crisp, but most of all, the effects and raw, sheer _heft_ of this track was nothing short of amazing – walls of bombastic sound washed over the soundstage from front to back with aggressive panning when called upon, in addition to subtle moments of gentle surround activity that really impressed me. I don’t know how the Master Audio track on the Blu-ray fared compared to this, but I loved the Dolby Digital track on the DVD. 

Let’s discuss _Immortals_!


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

Good review. I just watched this last night and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I knew going in that the audio was going to be great with gobs of LFE based on other reviews and boy were they right! I figured the movie itself was going to be pretty bad with subpar writing and acting but I was pleasantly surprised. The action scenes definitely had a _300_ feel with a bit of _The Matrix_ mixed in but they were really fun to watch. It's been awhile since I've seen _Clash of the Titans_ but I think I actually enjoyed _Immortals_ more.

Have you seen _Wrath of the Titans_ yet? I was going to see it this week but after checking the reviews where its been almost universally panned I figured I'd wait for the DVD. Instead I saw _The Raid: Redemption_ which is an excellent action movie.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Infrasonic said:


> Good review. I just watched this last night and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I knew going in that the audio was going to be great with gobs of LFE based on other reviews and boy were they right! I figured the movie itself was going to be pretty bad with subpar writing and acting but I was pleasantly surprised. The action scenes definitely had a _300_ feel with a bit of _The Matrix_ mixed in but they were really fun to watch. It's been awhile since I've seen _Clash of the Titans_ but I think I actually enjoyed _Immortals_ more.
> 
> Have you seen _Wrath of the Titans_ yet? I was going to see it this week but after checking the reviews where its been almost universally panned I figured I'd wait for the DVD. Instead I saw _The Raid: Redemption_ which is an excellent action movie.


Wrath was about on par with Clash. if you like the first you'll like Wrath. Wrath has been universally panned, but don't forget that Clash was as well.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Infrasonic said:


> Good review. I just watched this last night and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I knew going in that the audio was going to be great with gobs of LFE based on other reviews and boy were they right! I figured the movie itself was going to be pretty bad with subpar writing and acting but I was pleasantly surprised. The action scenes definitely had a _300_ feel with a bit of _The Matrix_ mixed in but they were really fun to watch. It's been awhile since I've seen _Clash of the Titans_ but I think I actually enjoyed _Immortals_ more.


Hey Infra!

As always, my friend, thank you for the kind comments! I believe we're on the same page when it comes to Immortals; you didn't buy a BD player yet, right -- or did I confuse you with someone else? If not, you watched this on DVD as I did? 



> Have you seen _Wrath of the Titans_ yet? I was going to see it this week but after checking the reviews where its been almost universally panned I figured I'd wait for the DVD. Instead I saw _The Raid: Redemption_ which is an excellent action movie.


I have not seen it yet -- I want to though. Looks awesome. Is Sam Worthington in it again? When did it come out?


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Osage_Winter said:


> Hey Infra!
> 
> As always, my friend, thank you for the kind comments! I believe we're on the same page when it comes to Immortals; you didn't buy a BD player yet, right -- or did I confuse you with someone else? If not, you watched this on DVD as I did?
> 
> ...


Yup, Sam's starring like normal, only person who DIDN'T make a come back for the second film was Gemma Artusen (or however you pronounce her last name). I believe it came out about 2 weeks ago at the moment in theaters


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## ozar (Feb 12, 2012)

I've seen the 3D version of _Immortals_ and liked it but need to watch it again, but this time in 2D. There are definitely lots of heavy LFE moments in this film. Some viewers seem to really dislike this movie, but I didn't think it was all that bad. It is what it is... colorful, action-oriented, and LFE heaven!


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

Osage_Winter said:


> you didn't buy a BD player yet, right


Nope not yet! I'm still living in the stone age with my DVD player


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I thought this movie for story alone was just ok. As for sound and in particular LFE…WOW! Each time the bow was drawn back was like Christmas morning anticipation and will check the structural integrity of your home. Certainly worth a rent.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

wormraper said:


> Yup, Sam's starring like normal, only person who DIDN'T make a come back for the second film was Gemma Artusen (or however you pronounce her last name). I believe it came out about 2 weeks ago at the moment in theaters


Gotcha; yeah, I actually looked up some specs about the sequel after I posted...I'll probably catch it as a BD rental, like we did with Clash...


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

JBrax said:


> I thought this movie for story alone was just ok. As for sound and in particular LFE…WOW! Each time the bow was drawn back was like Christmas morning anticipation and will check the structural integrity of your home. Certainly worth a rent.


Did you view the Blu-ray or DVD version, Brax?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

ozar said:


> I've seen the 3D version of _Immortals_ and liked it but need to watch it again, but this time in 2D. There are definitely lots of heavy LFE moments in this film. Some viewers seem to really dislike this movie, but I didn't think it was all that bad. It is what it is... colorful, action-oriented, and LFE heaven!


Thanks for your thoughts, ozar. I, too, as stated in the review, didn't think it was all that bad...did you view the BD or DVD version?


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Osage_Winter said:


> Thanks for your thoughts, ozar. I, too, as stated in the review, didn't think it was all that bad...did you view the BD or DVD version?


since he watched the 3D version I would assume it was the BD since DVD doesn't support 3D


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## ryansboston (Dec 10, 2010)

Nice review! I just watched it tonight on blu-ray (2D, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) and was pretty wowed by the immersive sound and excellent LFE.. Picture quality is really nice and some of the visuals are just such great 1080p eye candy..


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Osage_Winter said:


> Did you view the Blu-ray or DVD version, Brax?


Always Blu-ray when I watch a movie. The only time I watch regular DVD is only as a last resort.


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## ozar (Feb 12, 2012)

Osage_Winter said:


> did you view the BD or DVD version?


Yeah, it was blu-ray. I've ordered another Hsu sub to go along with my existing one so it's time to watch this movie again for some heavy LFE enjoyment.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

wormraper said:


> since he watched the 3D version I would assume it was the BD since DVD doesn't support 3D


Oh, I was under the impression that he watched the 3D version in THEATERS -- unless I misunderstood him...


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks for all your replies thus far, fellas!

It seems all of you who have viewed the Blu-ray have found the same as I found with the 
DVD's Dolby Digital track -- apparently, Fox mastered the soundtrack for both formats
on the rambunctious side! :clap::clap:


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