Life
(2017/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
4K
Picture: A- 1080p Picture: B+ Sound: A Extras: B
Film: B
It
may be more than a coincidence that Ridley Scott's Alien:
Covenant
and Daniel Espinosa's Life
(2017) were released only a few months apart, as there are many
similarities between the two. That doesn't necessarily mean that
Life
is a bad film, even if it does borrow heavily from Scott's Alien
franchise and many other 'space monster films' of the like, but it's
no doubt elevated by its star power in great performances by Ryan
Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, and Jake Gyllenhaal as the leads. The
film also stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Ariyon Bakare.
When
a group of Astronauts on a space mission discover a living being on
Mars (a first for mankind) and bring it onboard their ship, they
immediately try different tests to see if it can be reanimated and
brought to life. When adjusting its atmosphere, they soon see that
the being not only gains consciousness, but starts to grow as well.
Quickly, it becomes apparent that its intentions are not friendly.
Killed off one by one by the being, the desperate crew races to free
themselves of this malicious creature before its too late, for it was
this alien being that caused all life to be extinct on Mars and could
do the same to Earth... the final destination for this space mission.
Slight
spoilers below...
It's
no doubt that the film plays on many screenwriting tropes and tries
to work against what the audience is expecting, since it's initial
storyline isn't all too original. One way it does this is by killing
off one of its stars early on in the film, a technique that was first
utilized by Hitchcock in his classic Psycho
with the killing of Janet Leigh. The film stalls a bit in its second
act with a great misdirection for the climax, one that I didn't quite
see coming upon first viewing. It's not too often nowadays that you
get a truly 'downer' ending and it, in some ways, even draws
comparison to The
Twilight Zone
in its level of unsettlement for the audience.
Life
is a great candidate for the new 4K UHD format and it really shines
here in 2160p high definition with HDR (high dynamic range 10-bit
color) and a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a fantastic
sounding Dolby Atmos 11.1 lossless track (which plays as Dolby TrueHD
7.1 lossless on older home theater systems) that will immerse you
into the film with its extensive sound design. If you don't have
Dolby Atmos at home, don't fret as a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1
lossless track is on the disc as well though not as impressive on the
regular Blu-ray. Similar to the recent 4K release of Sony's
Passengers
(reviewed elsewhere on this site), details in space are highly
textured with HDR dynamic range bringing life-like details to life
like never before and besting the also included Blu-ray transfer of
the film in 1080p.
A
digital UV copy of the film is also included.
Special
Features include...
Deleted
Scenes
Featurettes...
''Claustrophobic
Terror: Creating a Thriller in Space''
''Life:
In Zero G''
''Creating
Life: The Art and Reality of Calvin''
''Astronaut
Diaries''
While
not entirely original, Life
is an interesting addition to the alien genre with a frightening
Blob-like creature that is relentless and emotionless. A solid cast
all around, hopefully this film will get a bit more respect now, as
opposed to its initial lukewarm theatrical release.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
