# SOURCE CODE (Blu-ray; Summit Entertainment)



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAoqQbcD5x_WzpEq-3AoKTUFmj4HZ_SnfxmH6bgnekjiqe8dRv0J0SyVGO[/img]*Releasing/Participating Studio(s): Summit Entertainment
Disc/Transfer Information: Region A Locked; 1080p High Definition 1.78:1 (Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1)  
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Video Codec Information: MPEG-4 AVC (27.88 MBPS)
Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Russell Peters



MAKE EVERY SECOND COUNT.


PLOT ANALYSIS:*

The first thing that struck me over the head like a lead pipe from a jealous boyfriend of the stunning adult video starlet who I was trying to hit on in the park when taking in just 15 minutes or so of Duncan Jones’ _Source Code_ was that this MUST have been based on either a video game or graphic novel – or some strange fusion of the two. I knew it was going to be science fiction-ey going into it, but this got REALLY strange in some spots – and I STILL cannot understand what really happened at the very end. Though, I gotta say, Michelle Monaghan was REALLY really cute in this and I couldn’t stop staring at her – thoroughly from head to toe – when she was onscreen; she’s just one of the most adorable, girl-next-door actresses out there, and between her infectious heart-warming smile and the fetching short skirt outfit she has on throughout _Source Code_, I was hooked. 

OH – the story? Okay, well, what Duncan _Moon_ Jones has concocted here is a quasi-futuristic-thriller-time travel spinster of some kind that actually fuses many different concepts and seems lifted from different motion picture projects; you don’t figure it out at first, at all, but at the crux of it is a government experiment (yes – by the U.S. government…who else?) wherein a severely injured helicopter pilot and military captain (Gyllenhaal) is placed in a specialized chamber and one small working part of his brain is tapped in to, allowing other government officials (Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright) to “communicate” with him via a parallel universe creation of some kind. Sound far-fetched? It’s beyond that – it comes off as ridiculously impossible. What Jones does right, however, during his plodding and pacing of _Source Code_ is to not reveal any of what is actually going on until the very end – throughout the film, we sit and wonder what it is exactly that is going on as Gyllenhaal’s Colter Stevens character routinely “flashes” back and forth between a Chicago commuter train and what appears to be some kind of isolation chamber he’s locked in by which he speaks to the government officials conducting this experiment. What we end up learning is that Stevens was a downed helicopter pilot who lost most of his lower body in a crash as well as one of his arms, and his now barely-functioning torso and minor part of his brain is being “controlled” by the government in a new attempt to battle terrorism – the notion by itself is pretty impressive and would be great if it was plausible. But, how exactly are they attempting to do this, you ask?

You see, some home-grown terrorist nut wants to blow up, first, the passenger commuter train in Chicago – as well as a passing cargo train simultaneously – with a pretty impressive explosive device that’s somewhere on the train being controlled by a cell phone, as well as destroy the entire city next…Jeffrey Wright’s Dr. Rutledge character represents the brain – no pun intended – behind this secret government experiment, while his subordinate, Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) is the go-between via the government’s orders and Stevens’ behavior. The whole thing just gets a bit head-scratching once we see the government “secret headquarters” in which these experiments are taking place; I mean, Gyllenhaal’s Stevens character is encased in a tomb-like pod in which cables and wires are hooked up to his head, suggesting this is how the government officials are tapping into what’s left of his mind, while Goodwin and Rutledge “speak” to what’s left of his essence via a microphone and infrared camera of some kind…yet, they are able to send Stevens “onto” the actual Chicago train by making him appear as another guy that sits opposite Monaghan’s Christina Warren character and whom she is starting a relationship with. What?

Sometimes, I gotta say, science fiction as much as I like it in doses (think the original _Trek_ or _Star Wars_) gets way too thick, deep and trenched in monkey manure for its own good. I saw this happen with _Oblivion_ and even _After Earth_, and _Source Code_ is another good example. The filmmakers want us to believe that this Christina Warren is sitting on a commuter train outside of Chicago talking with a guy who she’s falling in love with, but the guy that WE as the audience see as Jake Gyllenhaal really looks like the guy SHE sees (don’t forget – Colter Stevens was badly injured in the helicopter crash and is being kept alive via an advanced form of life support wherein only part of his brain still functions for this mission) confirmed when he runs into the train’s bathroom and sees a different face in the mirror. All the while, the train continues to blow up from the explosion on board, with Stevens each time being “yanked” back by the government to be given another shot at stopping the bombing before it happens. Lost yet?

I shouldn’t even ask these questions because most of you have already seen _Source Code_ no doubt, but indulge me here. So the film dips into the “time travel to stop a horrific act” genre, with Gyllenhaal portraying the tortured, confused “essence” of himself via brainwaves controlled by the government in his Colter Stevens character, routinely returning to the scene of the pre-bombing crime, each opportunity desperately searching for the person who is going to make the cell phone call to set the explosive off. As each time frame – or, as the government explains it rather haphazardly, each “Source Code” – puts Stevens back in the “character” sitting before Christina on the train until finally he can track down the guy who is going to bomb it, he eventually stops both bombs from blowing off, supposedly…but here’s the question I had: If this was a “parallel universe” he was operating in, as Wright’s Rutledge character explained to him, then how was he able to affect the outcome of real life by stopping the explosion that destroys the train? Doesn’t this dip into “Butterfly Effect” territory and question the “tinkering” of time and fate and the consequences this has on the future and life itself? I think this crossed some scientific boundaries and not for the good – the culmination of the film in the final sequences was even more of a head-scratcher to me, as Stevens begs Goodwin for a few more seconds so he can “rescue” Christina from the exploding train, even though Rutledge wants to continue using him for future “missions” in which they may be able to stop terrorism before it happens. Goodwin eventually takes Stevens’ real-life torso off of life support, much to the dismay of Rutledge, but the concluding frame suggesting Stevens and Christina are alive and well and walking through Chicago made absolutely no sense to me…is Stevens dead? What happened to the real train? Did he stop the bombing…or did he only stop the city from being blown up, not the train(s)? Where are they – Christina and Stevens – at the end of the film when they’re walking through Chicago? Is this an alternate reality or parallel universe?

While those elements were lost on me, we get some good performances here from just about everyone; Gyllenhaal was convincing in the Colter Stevens role, playing his confused, ping-ponging and nearly desperate “essence of himself” with passion and verve, while Monaghan was an absolute delight to look at and portrayed her Christina Warren character with a believability during the sequences in which she’s trying to figure out why her “boyfriend to be” (Stevens, but not Stevens…you know, the whole “different face in the mirror” thing?) routinely acts bizarre with each setting of a new “Source Code.” The only person I really had an issue with was Jeffrey Wright here, who I normally love – clearly aged since _Casino Royale_, he portrays his Dr. Rutledge character with an odd, twitchy, ants-in-the-pants behavior that was a bit offputting. 

In the end, this was a decent rental, but I don’t see, unfortunately yet again, much replay value. As always, your mileage may – and probably will – vary. 

[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4ZNxx2mEzY/Ta2v7STRphI/AAAAAAAAD2A/sWLN7SRzDqA/s1600/jake-gyllenhaal-vera-farmiga-source-code-2011-movie-trailer-header.jpg[/img]*VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC LOOK?*

Interestingly, the first thing that hit me about _Source Code_’s Blu-ray transfer was the inherent appearance of a thinly veiled layer of film grain – something I have not seen on a Blu-ray Disc in quite some time. Most transfers nowadays are either soaked in a noise reduction algorithm – based on general consumer feedback regarding grain – or are simply mastered so perfectly there is nearly no imperfection to speak of. _Source Code_, in its 1080p encode as prepared by Summit, exhibited a faint veil of grain running in the background of nearly all scenes, but it was far from distracting or annoying; the raw, incredible amounts of detail in facial close-ups – made even more dramatic by the transfer’s 1.78:1 letterbox-free ratio – easily made up for this element…but it wasn’t only about detail here. The whole transfer pretty much shines from beginning to end…no shadow crush, incredibly saturated but not overblown color, stable and twitch-free crop presentation…etc etc.

What definitely stood out for me, though, on this Blu-ray edition of _Source Code_ was the amount of sheer, ridiculously eye-popping detail on facial zooms – when the scene captures Gyllenhaal’s face in a frame, every single pore, pock hole and overall mark can be seen in astonishing clarity. Other faces, notably the ones belonging to Farmiga and Monaghan, exhibited somewhat “flatter,” detail-less expressions. 


[img]http://static.yify-torrents.com/attachments/source_code_(2011)/37940794_large.png[/img]*AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC SOUND?*

The English DTS-HD Master Audio track in 5.1 as presented on Summit’s Region A Blu-ray of _Source Code_ was everything you could ask of a mix daunted with the task of accompanying a high-octane sci-fi thriller – surround activity was robust and aggressive during the “Source Code time travel” clips as well as the continuous train explosions, dialogue exhibited no problems and there was a tight, controlled sense of heavy LFE. If anything – and this is really stretching to nitpick at something – the track exhibited a bit of what I’d call a “dated” sound as compared to BRAND NEW mixes of films that recently hit the market…it’s difficult to describe and would be even close to impossible to measure, but the 24-bit audio encoding here for the Master Audio mix had a somewhat “older” characteristic to it when paralleled with more massively-budgeted films as of late also accompanied by DTS-HD MA tracks. 

As I said, though, this is really stretching and nitpicking to find something. 















*FINAL THOUGHTS:*

This was a one-time-only deal for me; most diehard sci-fi heads will most likely think differently. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a rental spin and tell me what you thought.

As always, my friends, thanks so much for reading!


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Some nips and tucks made to review; thanks. :wave:


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

Thanks for an honest review of Source Code. I saw this one when it first came out on Disk and my first thought after the movie was, "what did we just watch here?" I watched it a second time and things started to blend better. Jake's character is pure consciousness that can be manipulated by the government. The end we are led to believe that Jakes character was somehow able to manipulate an alternate universe or reality for himself. I thought the story was dreadful and not unlike Inception and Shutter Island as far as following along on a first view basis. I personally base this type of movie on older movies of alternate reality like Altered States (1980) Dreamscape (1984) and Dark City (1998) and the more recent Sucker Punch (2011) which to me were pure eye candy as far as FX goes and I like eye candy.


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

ericzim said:


> Thanks for an honest review of Source Code.


You're welcome, Eric; and as always thanks for reading...



> I saw this one when it first came out on Disk and my first thought after the movie was, "what did we just watch here?"


As was ours...



> I watched it a second time and things started to blend better. Jake's character is pure consciousness that can be manipulated by the government.


That I kind of got, as pointed out...but what I didn't understand was the element regarding the "identity" he took on the train, i.e. the guy "Christina" was seeing in front of her. I understand the manipulation of the brainwaves, via tapping into them in the chamber Jake is locked in, but what was the whole "taking over the other guy's identity" about...and was this in an "alternate universe" or existence? If so, was there ever a train about to even blow up?



> The end we are led to believe that Jakes character was somehow able to manipulate an alternate universe or reality for himself.


Hmmm...interesting theory about the end. So are you saying his "consciousness" has gone on to live in this alternate universe along with the "Christina" character, and it's all in his MIND...but he had been taken off life support, correct? 



> I thought the story was dreadful and not unlike Inception and Shutter Island as far as following along on a first view basis


When you say "dreadful," do you mean...literally creating a sense of dread, or do you mean you thought the film -- and story -- was so "dreadful" you hated it? 



> I personally base this type of movie on older movies of alternate reality like Altered States (1980) Dreamscape (1984) and Dark City (1998) and the more recent Sucker Punch (2011) which to me were pure eye candy as far as FX goes and I like eye candy.


Indeed; it had some feel of some of those films -- though with regard to _Dreamscape_ (a GREAT 80s film, by the way, with Dennis Quaid and David Patrick Kelly in which dreams can be infiltrated), I think it was a bit more linear to understand in that the government had found ways to tap into people's dreams (and Quaid's character had the ability to do it by himself if I am not mistaken) and there wasn't really an "alternate universe" to deal with...also, with regard to the other great William Hurt film you mentioned, _Altered States_, this was sci fi let loose out of its cage at its best, suggesting an experimental drug is able to induce pathological and delusional states of consciousness...but it somehow also brings the characters (namely Hurt) back to primitive states of being (presumably in his mind, but at the end somehow physically) one of which turns him into (again, the end scene) molten lava, which made no sense to me...

_Sucker Punch_ was a film I skipped altogether; if I wanted to see hot young chicks in pleated micro miniskirts and thigh highs I could walk around my local mall...was this a completely made-up fantasy scenario in the film?


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

Osage_Winter said:


> You're welcome, Eric; and as always thanks for reading...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

> We never actually saw Jakes character if I remember correctly, only the mass of tissue that remained, so assuming the character Jake chose was imagined, he could have picked an image of Rock Hudson.


What do you mean by "Jake's character"? We do see Jake as the Gyllenhaal we know walking about the train in SOME kind of universe/existence...



> Off of life support, yes. High school physics taught me that matter in any form can not be destroyed, only changed, perhaps the writer was also referring to the metaphysical.


But what I'm asking is, in which "realm" does he now exist -- and why is "Christina" along with him in this "alternate state of being" or whatever it is...did he just "create" this?



> Typo, my bad on this one, should have been dread full like we knew the train was always going to blow up no matter what the character was going to try to do. Finally the end game being that Jakes character has to "think outside the box."


So what are you essentially suggesting about that element (the sense of "dread")?



> Yup, never understood the ending to Altered States and the whole lava thing.


Interesting tidbit -- even when I was studying in film (and then, consequently, journalism) school, the concluding frame of _Altered States_ was something that "bothered" and remained unexplainable by quite a few professors and film critics I came in contact with. I recall reading a snippet about this film in a book titled _The Best, Worst and Most Unusual Horror Films_ which I still have on my shelf and in which one of the authors discusses that last sequence, questioning it and making some reference to "when was man ever molten lava?"



> That is what I gathered as the final scene of the version I saw had the main character lobotomized. I still can't picture how Scott Glens character 'Wiseman' fit into the mix. Any one of a dozen actors could have played that part. I guess the producer and director thought the film needed an icon.
> Keep in mind that Sucker Punch is adapted from Japanese anime style (mini-skirts and the like) which for Snyder and his wife thought that pushing the limits once again after Watchmen was a great idea.


Let me just preface my reply here by saying to me, and for my hard-earned money, Snyder will never top his _Dawn of the Dead_ remake -- but in all fairness, let's see what _Man of Steel_ brings us this month...:bigsmile:

What was the premise of _Sucker Punch_ in a nutshell? -- As I said, I had absolutely no intention of ever viewing it based on the trailers and teasers (and yes, the anime element makes sense because the clips definitely had an anime-esque feel and vibe, miniskirts notwithstanding :neener.


----------



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

I've seen the movie several times, so let me try to explain.....

1. we never see Jake's character on the other side. what the film is going off of is the theory of the multiverse, wherein each decisions we makes breaks off into a different alternate reality. What the military was doing was transporting his consciousness and "hijacking" someone else in the other universe. Allowing him to control that person's body until the crash happens. every time he went through the process he had to "jump" to another reality that was just about identical until he got it right. The whole time they made it seem like he was time jumping. you realize at the end that he was REALITY jumping and could stay there if he so wished.

2. what happens at the end of the last act is that in averting the train accident at the end he was actually able to STAY in that other person's body and BECOME him, so to speak. Living in that alternate reality along with that version of Christina


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

Osage_Winter said:


> What do you mean by "Jake's character"? We do see Jake as the Gyllenhaal we know walking about the train in SOME kind of universe/existence...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would have to go back and view the movie again but isn't Jakes character on life support/ Colter Stevens, a US Army helicopter pilot whose last memory is flying in Afghanistan, wakes up on a commuter train. However, he discovers that he has assumed the identity of another man (which looks like Jake but just as easily could have looked like Rock Hudson). 8 minutes later, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself in some kind of pod. The pod contains Colter's consciousness at this point and not a physical being and Gives Jake/Colter an 8 minute window to do or be as he wishes which should have been played out more IMHO but that would have made the movie an epic 4 hours long I think. Colter at the end is in the moment that he created with Christine. which leads me to believe he was no longer confined to the POD but was actually thinking outside the box. Not unlike Dreamscape when both characters no longer needed the machine to enter and manipulate dreams.
Hmmm, the dread part to me was knowing the train was about to blow up over and over again no matter what Colter did to try and stop it. When thrust into a stressful situation, an 8 minute window isn't a long time to study the surroundings or even get ones bearings so Colter had to think on the fly.

Sucker Punch' premise was how ones brain can cope with extreme stress and can provide a virtual way out. I had a similar experience when I went under the knife in April for quadruple bypass surgery. I had never had bypass surgery before so before the sedatives were administered, I had some major childhood flashbacks of swimming and riding bikes and just happier times. My wife said I was in a daze for 30 minutes before they came in to sedate me and wheel my bed out to surgery.

In a nutshell, the main character in Sucker Punch knew that in just a few days she was going to be lobotomized so her brain was trying to create an escape route.

Man of Steel intrigues me. Is it worth a theater ticket? Perhaps. Will my wife go? Probably not and not because of the content but only because Russell Crowe is in it.


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Mike Edwards said:


> I've seen the movie several times, so let me try to explain.....
> 
> 1. we never see Jake's character on the other side. what the film is going off of is the theory of the multiverse, wherein each decisions we makes breaks off into a different alternate reality. What the military was doing was transporting his consciousness and "hijacking" someone else in the other universe. Allowing him to control that person's body until the crash happens. every time he went through the process he had to "jump" to another reality that was just about identical until he got it right. The whole time they made it seem like he was time jumping. you realize at the end that he was REALITY jumping and could stay there if he so wished.
> 
> 2. what happens at the end of the last act is that in averting the train accident at the end he was actually able to STAY in that other person's body and BECOME him, so to speak. Living in that alternate reality along with that version of Christina


Wow, I gotta say...though I pretty much came to a good deal of the concluding factors you did, this still was faaaaar-fetched to me...:coocoo: :unbelievable:


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

ericzim said:


> I would have to go back and view the movie again but isn't Jakes character on life support/ Colter Stevens, a US Army helicopter pilot whose last memory is flying in Afghanistan, wakes up on a commuter train. However, he discovers that he has assumed the identity of another man (which looks like Jake but just as easily could have looked like Rock Hudson). 8 minutes later, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself in some kind of pod. The pod contains Colter's consciousness at this point and not a physical being and Gives Jake/Colter an 8 minute window to do or be as he wishes which should have been played out more IMHO but that would have made the movie an epic 4 hours long I think. Colter at the end is in the moment that he created with Christine. which leads me to believe he was no longer confined to the POD but was actually thinking outside the box. Not unlike Dreamscape when both characters no longer needed the machine to enter and manipulate dreams.
> Hmmm, the dread part to me was knowing the train was about to blow up over and over again no matter what Colter did to try and stop it. When thrust into a stressful situation, an 8 minute window isn't a long time to study the surroundings or even get ones bearings so Colter had to think on the fly.


Well, what's remaining inside that pod -- and hooked up to the government's wiring -- is more than just "sheer consciousness;" we see a a half of his torso intact and half of one arm too if I recall correctly, and that "fleshy orb" you spoke of in an earlier post (not your exact words) near the back of the head must have been, as I saw it, the "access point" to getting to whatever was remaining of his brain...



> Sucker Punch' premise was how ones brain can cope with extreme stress and can provide a virtual way out. I had a similar experience when I went under the knife in April for quadruple bypass surgery. I had never had bypass surgery before so before the sedatives were administered, I had some major childhood flashbacks of swimming and riding bikes and just happier times. My wife said I was in a daze for 30 minutes before they came in to sedate me and wheel my bed out to surgery.
> 
> In a nutshell, the main character in Sucker Punch knew that in just a few days she was going to be lobotomized so her brain was trying to create an escape route.


Hmmm...so she escaped "within her mind"? 



> Man of Steel intrigues me. Is it worth a theater ticket? Perhaps. Will my wife go? Probably not and not because of the content but only because Russell Crowe is in it.


My wife doesn't want to see it, either; she's not big on the Superman franchise. While I was skeptical about it at first -- being that Snyder is doing, all over again, the whole origin story which we know ad nauseum already -- I saw the latest international trailers and have to say I'm very impressed with and looking forward to the fight sequences depicted between Supes and Zod...it looks really, really exciting and now that the technology is available, the special effects are going to be light years ahead of what was shown in _Superman II_ (which featured the great Terrence Stamp as Zod). I have a problem with many elements, however, the least of which aren't Russell Crowe taking Marlon Brando's place as the great Jor El and Michael Shannon as the main adversary here...I simply cannot see anyone else in the role of General Zod other than Stamp...:rolleyesno:

In other news, I'll have my review of _Hansel & Gretel_ on Blu up tomorrow.


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

Hmmm...so she escaped "within her mind"?

LOL No, she never did get out not even her brain could do that, but she did do some damage.

Which Hansel & Gretel are you going to review?


----------



## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

ericzim said:


> Hmmm...so she escaped "within her mind"?
> 
> LOL No, she never did get out not even her brain could do that, but she did do some damage.
> 
> Which Hansel & Gretel are you going to review?


Pretty sure he means the newest version - the "witch hunter" one...

I have not watched Source Code yet, but I was intrigued by the concept so I will be trying to catch it now...


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> Pretty sure he means the newest version - the "witch hunter" one...
> 
> I have not watched Source Code yet, but I was intrigued by the concept so I will be trying to catch it now...


OK. I was referring to the theatrical release or extended. Either way I look forward to all reviews from HTS.


----------



## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

ericzim said:


> OK. *I was referring to the theatrical release or extended. *. Either way I look forward to all reviews from HTS.


:doh: I should have probably figured that out... :R


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

ericzim said:


> Hmmm...so she escaped "within her mind"?
> 
> LOL No, she never did get out not even her brain could do that, but she did do some damage.


I'm truly lost on this one...



> Which Hansel & Gretel are you going to review?


I received the R-rated theatrical film-only release.


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

-Quote-
I'm truly lost on this one...

That's alright, you said you weren't interested in it anyway.


I received the R-rated theatrical film-only release.[/QUOTE]

Excellent, every review I have read on this movies release on disk has been the extended version. I have an apparently rare DTS sound format extended release. It will be interesting to compare notes on the theatrical vs extended cut and how the audio differs between Dolby and DTS assuming that your version is Dolby Digital.


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

ericzim said:


> -Quote-
> I'm truly lost on this one...
> 
> That's alright, you said you weren't interested in it anyway.


Huh? When did I state that in those words? 




> I received the R-rated theatrical film-only release.


Excellent, every review I have read on this movies release on disk has been the extended version. I have an apparently rare DTS sound format extended release. It will be interesting to compare notes on the theatrical vs extended cut and how the audio differs between Dolby and DTS assuming that your version is Dolby Digital.[/QUOTE]

Believe it or not, the release I sampled was equipped with a Dolby TrueHD lossless mix -- something I find as a rarity nowadays ironically enough...

This was a blind buy for you as well?


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

"Sucker Punch was a film I skipped altogether; if I wanted to see hot young chicks in pleated micro miniskirts and thigh highs I could walk around my local mall...was this a completely made-up fantasy scenario in the film?"



You don't remember saying this? I took it as a lack of interest


"This was a blind buy for you as well?"


Yes, I had mine on pre-order and got it the day it was released expecting the Dolby TruHD version but ended up with DTS. Is the theatrical release 5.1 or 7.1?


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

ericzim said:


> "Sucker Punch was a film I skipped altogether; if I wanted to see hot young chicks in pleated micro miniskirts and thigh highs I could walk around my local mall...was this a completely made-up fantasy scenario in the film?"
> 
> 
> 
> You don't remember saying this? I took it as a lack of interest


Ohhhh -- for a moment I didn't think we were talking about _Sucker Punch_; my apologies...

When we were talking about "her escaping in her mind," I assumed we were talking about Michelle Monaghan's character in _Source Code_ -- sorry, there was a lack of communication there...




> "This was a blind buy for you as well?"
> 
> 
> Yes, I had mine on pre-order and got it the day it was released expecting the Dolby TruHD version but ended up with DTS. Is the theatrical release 5.1 or 7.1?


Was there a particular reason you blind-bought this title? Just curious; the R-rated theatrical cut is in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 -- the unrated variant comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio track, you're saying? 

At any rate, my review of the title is up now...:T


----------



## ericzim (Jun 24, 2012)

Osage_Winter said:


> Ohhhh -- for a moment I didn't think we were talking about _Sucker Punch_; my apologies...
> 
> When we were talking about "her escaping in her mind," I assumed we were talking about Michelle Monaghan's character in Source Code -- sorry, there was a lack of communication there...
> 
> ...


I will pick up where we leave off here on your review.


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Sounds good.


----------



## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

Mike Edwards said:


> I've seen the movie several times, so let me try to explain.....
> 
> 1. we never see Jake's character on the other side. what the film is going off of is the theory of the multiverse, wherein each decisions we makes breaks off into a different alternate reality. What the military was doing was transporting his consciousness and "hijacking" someone else in the other universe. Allowing him to control that person's body until the crash happens. every time he went through the process he had to "jump" to another reality that was just about identical until he got it right. The whole time they made it seem like he was time jumping. you realize at the end that he was REALITY jumping and could stay there if he so wished.
> 
> 2. what happens at the end of the last act is that in averting the train accident at the end he was actually able to STAY in that other person's body and BECOME him, so to speak. Living in that alternate reality along with that version of Christina


That was a very good explanation by Mike. 

I enjoyed Source Code, so much so I watched it twice when it was first released on DVD way back when. Any time-travel sci-fi flick will require the viewer to suspend reality and accept the explanations from the film makers. For some reason I enjoy that sub-genre. I'll take those all day long before a badly written and acted film (Red Dawn [2012] and The Last Stand come to mind).

I'm looking forward to more of your reviews!


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Infrasonic said:


> For some reason I enjoy that sub-genre. I'll take those all day long before a badly written and acted film (Red Dawn [2012] and The Last Stand come to mind).


I'll give you the 2012 version of _Red Dawn_ as that had so much potential and just flopped for some reason...but I didn't think _The Last Stand_ was _that_ bad when taken for what it was...

Though, I will say Arnie looked horrible and cripple-esque _old_ in that...:rolleyesno: :rolleyesno:



> I'm looking forward to more of your reviews!


Mine or Mike's?


----------



## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

Osage_Winter said:


> Mine or Mike's?


I meant yours but I read everyone's 

I usually just read the audio portion of the reviews before I see the movie and then come back, read the rest and post my thoughts. I'm looking forward to seeing the Hansel & Gretel movie for the audio alone! 

Oh and tomorrow night I should be seeing The Man of Steel so I'll hopefully have some positive things to say about it later in the week!


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Infrasonic said:


> I meant yours but I read everyone's


Got-cha. :T



> I usually just read the audio portion of the reviews before I see the movie and then come back, read the rest and post my thoughts. I'm looking forward to seeing the Hansel & Gretel movie for the audio alone!


Indeed; that's the best way to do it with my reviews because of the in-depth plot analysis I do...:T

The TrueHD audio mix on the "R" rated Blu-ray I sampled was pretty heady...though other members such as Eric have reported getting versions that carry a LOSSY DTS mix on them...at any rate, yeah, come back and let me know what you thought of it once you see it. 



> Oh and tomorrow night I should be seeing The Man of Steel so I'll hopefully have some positive things to say about it later in the week!


If you're even remotely a fan of Richard Donner's _Superman II_ -- arguably the best of the original franchise -- you're gonna love what Zack Snyder did with this. It's everything they couldn't do with the restrictions of the technology of the time...finally, Supes and Zod battle it out over Metropolis in a fight scene the way it was meant to be viewed! :T:T


----------



## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

Great! Man of Steel sounds like a winner then, it has been getting some seriously mixed reviews but it seems most of the audience scores have been very strong.

For Hansel & Gretel I'll be stuck with whatever version Netflix has on the BR so we will see!(It's going to take a while since I missed it when it was first released on Netflix and I'm now on 'Long Wait')


----------



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Yeah...the Netflix Debacle...hence the reason I won't rent from them...:R :rant:

Indeed, _Man of Steel_ has been getting mixed reviews, most critics saying it lacks conviction and any kind of depth to its story beyond the CGI-coated fight sequences...but I gotta tell you...if you're a rabid fan of the second _Superman_ film and always wondered what it would be like if the main character clashed with these adversaries from Krypton using today's modern techniques and special effects applications, you will be pleasantly rewarded...this film was really Snyder delivering for the hardcore fans, doing sequence after sequence of hand-to-hand combat scenes in classic hero vs. adversary fashion -- what a GOOD comic adaptation film should offer. He leaves out a lot of sappy love interest pieces (this will be explored in the eventual follow-up as Clark starts working at the _Daily Planet_ and gets closer to Lois, etc.) so the film isn't bogged down from it, just limping along as we await an exciting action setpiece...Snyder goes for the throat with this one, and I was very happy from that standpoint...

However, don't get me wrong -- the film does have problems and isn't perfect (in my opinion, no comic adaptation will ever unseat what I consider to be the very best in this genre, Sam Raimi's _Spider-Man 2_) but these issues revolve mainly around the casting decisions for the characters: Who in their right mind thought Michael Shannon was the accurate pick for Zod? Or Russell Crowe to play Jor El? Or Laurence Fishburne to play Perry White? These were unforgiveable atrocities in terms of casting (no one will play the role of Zod like Terence Stamp did...that whole "calm charm" he exuded in that character was totally lost on Shannon) but luckily Snyder makes up for it with incredibly exciting action sequences and awesome hero-adversary battles...


----------

