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Review added January 13, 2005.
Jason X
:: DVD Review |
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Studio:
Roadshow Entertainment |
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>> Review
Equipment |
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Video:
1.78:1
(Enhanced for 16:9) |
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Length:
88
Minutes |
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Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 (448kbps) En |
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Subtitles: En |
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DTS
5.1 (754kbps) En |
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Disc Format:
RSDL DVD-9 |
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Dolby
Digital 2.0 (192kbps) En |
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Disc Capacity Utilised:
6.82GB |
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Video Format:
PAL |
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Region Coding:
4 |
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Layer Change:
37:17 |
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Average Bit-Rate (A+V):
7.24Mbps |
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:: The Film
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>> Skip to
Audio/Video Details
OK, confession time. Jason X is
the first Friday the 13th film I’ve seen. Not that I have
anything against slasher films, but I guess I just never got
around to watching any of the nine (yeah, that’s right nine)
previous instalments in this series of ten flicks. Even so,
I was anticipating something along the lines of a
conventional slasher or horror film. Wrong. Instead we have
a science fiction film with slasher elements thrown in. Yes,
that’s right, Jason is in space this time.
The writers seem to be fully aware
just how goofy this concept is, so the film doesn’t take
itself too seriously (and not too obviously in that
god-awful ‘90s self-conscious, uber-hip ‘Scream’ way that
always makes me want to gag). OK, so Jason is cryogenically
frozen at the Crystal Lake Research Facility at the turn of
the 21st century along with one Rowan, played by the lovely
Lexa Doig (Andromeda).
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Skip forward 450-odd years and the two are retrieved from
the facility on the now barren and deserted planet by a
group of space-faring students on a class expedition. Once
onboard the group’s research vessel Rowan is defrosted and
revived thanks to some helpful medical nano-robots and Jason
left for dead. Naturally he manages to re-animate and goes
on a killing spree, slicing and dicing his way through the
crew, students and a group of Marines also stationed on the
research vessel. That about covers the plot. Jason spends
the rest of the film dispatching the crew and students one
by one in various grizzly ways, although there are one or
two amusing twists along the way.
The plot is pretty generic, and the
writers have undertaken some truly prodigious pilfering of
other films (notably the Aliens series) but the acting isn’t
that bad and the film looks quite amazing considering it had
a budget of less than US$15 million. Even though I really
shouldn’t, I actually enjoyed this slice of hokum but I’ll
be willing to bet I’m in the minority. I have a feeling this
film won’t appeal to slasher fans (including fans of the 13
series) as it takes such an unusual tack for the genre. It’s
not pure science fiction either, so its audience is a little
vague. Still, if you like cheesy science fiction/horror
hybrids such as 'Virus' or 'Event Horizon' this could be
just what you’re looking for.
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Video
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This is one fantastic transfer. The entire film was shot
on 35mm then scanned in its entirety into high-definition
(1080P: 1920x1080) video for all post-production and CGI effects.
This process allowed every single frame to be adjusted and
tweaked to perfection, and the result is a film with a
remarkable visual snap. This transfer really shines, and
the film looks as good as any big-budget production of
late. There are no film artefacts, hairs, scratches or
distractions to be seen at any stage, and colours look
amazing, really popping off the screen.
The picture is super-crisp and sharper than
Jason’s machete, allowing even extremely fine detail to be
seen clearly. Thankfully this fine detail doesn’t come at
the expense of aliasing, and there was no obvious use of
edge-enhancement. One area where this transfer really
shows its stuff is black level and shadow detail. Blacks
are rich and inky, but shadow detail remains excellent.
It’s hard to fault this transfer in any
department, although if I were to be super picky there is
a small amount of very fine grain visible in a handful of
sequences in the film’s final 20 minutes. It’s also a
pleasant surprise to say that this is one case in which
the PAL version looks notably better than the NTSC disc
(which is no slouch in its own right). Not to get all
gushy, but this is one damn fine-looking disc.
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| :: Audio
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The disc’s Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks are both very
good, entertaining presentations, if a little less impressive
than the disc’s visuals. The surround channels are very active
and integrate seamlessly with the front soundstage; they even
include some ambient effects, which is always a pleasant
bonus. The surrounds aren’t as aggressive as those of more
straight-laced action or science fiction films, but are still
above average with numerous discrete rear effects and even the
odd discrete pan thrown in for good measure. The front
soundstage is wide and enveloping, with no distortion and very
wide dynamic range.
As with the surround channels,
directional cues are frequent and the film’s score is spread
well across the front channels. The front channels also
support the ambient effects found in the surround channels.
Bass is good but not exceptionally deep and while the LFE
channel is used frequently it also lacks significant sub-sonic
activity. What bass there is punctuates the onscreen action
well. Dialogue is fairly well recorded and very crisp,
although there is some sibilance and a slight ‘boxiness’ every
now and then. There was no obvious clipping. This is an
excellent soundtrack, and like the disc’s video transfer
belies the film’s low-budget origins.
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