The Review at a Glance: ( max score: 5 )
Film:
Extras:
Audio/Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )
94
Studio and Year: Sony Pictures - 2010
MPAA Rating: R
Feature running time: 97 minutes
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi/Action
Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English, Portuguese DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, English Audio Description track Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Music by: tomandandy
Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Region Code: A/B/C
Blu-ray Disc release Date: December 28, 2010
"She's back...And she's bringing a few of her friends."
Film Synopsis:
While still out to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation, Alice joins a group of survivors who want to relocate to the mysterious but supposedly unharmed safe haven known only as Arcadia.
My Take:
Alice (Milla Jovavich) worked at Umbrella Corp, in a lab that was working on experimental viral weaponry. Things went awry and the T-virus leaked out killing everyone in its path. Once dead, the virus really kicked in, bringing the people back to life as zombie's. The T-Virus worked in Alice making her a Super-Solider like the Virus intended; she has been fighting for her life ever since. After 5 video games and 3 movies comes Resident Evil: Afterlife, the 4th film in the series, and Alice is still fighting and hoping to find a safe, T-Virus-free place to live. After revenge killing the reminisce of the Umbrella Corp's underground Tokyo base, she heads to Arcadia, Alaska, after hearing rumors of it being the safe haven she so hopes for. When finally making to Arcadia, she re-teams with her friend Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and realizes its not the place she had hoped for. They take off to LA and find a band of survivors and team up to go to the real Arcadia, which is a huge vessel in the sea.
My experience with Resident Evil is limited, I played the first 2 video games, so I know of Umbrella Corp. and the general back-story. I saw Resident Evil 1, and thought it was pretty bad, so I didn't see any of the others in the series. As far as video game adaptations go, this is the best I have see and I did enjoy it more than the first. But I found neither as scary as playing the games alone in my dark room...the chills were lost with these films. It looks and feels like a video game, so for that I give it credit. The fight scenes are full of eye-candy and digital insanity, albeit borrowing waaaaaay too much from the Matrix. A good video game adaption does not mean it's going to be a good movie. Heart, character development...you know, the important stuff is missing here. And the plot really isn't more than a vehicle for action. Is it too much to ask for both these days??...At least the action is pretty cool.
Parental Guide:
Rated R for sequences of strong violence and language.
AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Audio: 96
Video: 92
I know it sounds weird but the problem here is how good Resident Evil: Afterlife looks. It shows off all its faults, warts and all. A casual observer might not notice but the digital effects seemed to stick out in a way that wouldn't be seen on the big screen or on SDDVD....but Blu-ray can be unforgiving. At times the CGI had a bit of separation from the frames they were laid upon and their definition was a bit different than the non CGI parts of the frame. This separation might look amazing, creating greater depth on its 3D release, but here it did stand-out as a bit off. Besides that, it was pretty impeccable. It was highly defined, super resolute with deep and un-crushed black; colors looked spot on and this sure was a fun watch. Now this audio track is one of the most ballsy, brutal and precise I have heard; it is absolutely reference material. The audio is a nice workout for you reference level listeners, and LFE lovers. The mix worked very well, and its heavy but accurate use of surrounds just added the icing to the insanity of over abundant action sequences. Resident Evil: Afterlife is absolutely recommend for its A/V presentation---Sony, you did well, again.. I cant wait to see this in 3D!!
Bonus Features:
Final Thoughts:
Resident Evil: Afterlife is good for what it is, a movie based on a video game. Full of big action scenes all culminating with a "boss" that must be beaten to move on to the next and never-ending obstacle. As a movie itself, it is pretty shallow on plot, and has some weak performances. It sure looked and sounded great, so for fans of the franchise this would come highly recommended. I watched the commentary after the film and it was full of technical nuggets and interesting fact, but wasn't the most exciting or humorous I have experienced. The almost hour long group of featurettes were enjoyable--I wish all new release had a supplemental package like this. Resident Evil: Afterlife is a tough film to make a recommendation on, If you love to be dazzled by your system and don't care if the movie is so-so at best, get it!!!---but I would tell a friend to skip it.
Lee Weber
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS50 1080p High Definition Front Projector
Custom 1.3 Gain 128" 2.37:1 CinemaScope Screen
Denon AVR-4311CI Receiver (Calibrated by Jeff Meier)
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triangle Zerius Speakers (7.1)
SVS PC13-Ultra Subwoofer
The Review at a Glance: ( max score: 5 )
Film:
Extras:
Audio/Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )
94
Studio and Year: Sony Pictures - 2010
MPAA Rating: R
Feature running time: 97 minutes
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi/Action
Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English, Portuguese DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, English Audio Description track Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Music by: tomandandy
Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Region Code: A/B/C
Blu-ray Disc release Date: December 28, 2010
"She's back...And she's bringing a few of her friends."
Film Synopsis:
While still out to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation, Alice joins a group of survivors who want to relocate to the mysterious but supposedly unharmed safe haven known only as Arcadia.
My Take:
My experience with Resident Evil is limited, I played the first 2 video games, so I know of Umbrella Corp. and the general back-story. I saw Resident Evil 1, and thought it was pretty bad, so I didn't see any of the others in the series. As far as video game adaptations go, this is the best I have see and I did enjoy it more than the first. But I found neither as scary as playing the games alone in my dark room...the chills were lost with these films. It looks and feels like a video game, so for that I give it credit. The fight scenes are full of eye-candy and digital insanity, albeit borrowing waaaaaay too much from the Matrix. A good video game adaption does not mean it's going to be a good movie. Heart, character development...you know, the important stuff is missing here. And the plot really isn't more than a vehicle for action. Is it too much to ask for both these days??...At least the action is pretty cool.
Parental Guide:
Rated R for sequences of strong violence and language.
AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Audio: 96
- Dynamics:
- Low frequency extension:
- Surround Sound presentation:
- Clarity/Detail:
- Dialogue Reproduction:
Video: 92
- Resolution/Clarity:
- Black level/Shadow detail:
- Color reproduction:
- Fleshtones:
- Compression:
I know it sounds weird but the problem here is how good Resident Evil: Afterlife looks. It shows off all its faults, warts and all. A casual observer might not notice but the digital effects seemed to stick out in a way that wouldn't be seen on the big screen or on SDDVD....but Blu-ray can be unforgiving. At times the CGI had a bit of separation from the frames they were laid upon and their definition was a bit different than the non CGI parts of the frame. This separation might look amazing, creating greater depth on its 3D release, but here it did stand-out as a bit off. Besides that, it was pretty impeccable. It was highly defined, super resolute with deep and un-crushed black; colors looked spot on and this sure was a fun watch. Now this audio track is one of the most ballsy, brutal and precise I have heard; it is absolutely reference material. The audio is a nice workout for you reference level listeners, and LFE lovers. The mix worked very well, and its heavy but accurate use of surrounds just added the icing to the insanity of over abundant action sequences. Resident Evil: Afterlife is absolutely recommend for its A/V presentation---Sony, you did well, again.. I cant wait to see this in 3D!!
Bonus Features:
- Commentary with Director Paul W.S. Anderson, and Producers Jeremy Bolt and Robert Kulzer
- (HD) 7 HD Making of Featurettes (47min)
- (HD) Band of Survivors: Casting Afterlife
- (HD) Outtakes
- (HD) Deleted and Extended Scenes
- (HD) Sneak Peak of Resident Evil: Damnation
- (HD) Undead Vision: Picture in Picture
- (HD) Trailers: The Social Network, Salt, Takers, Piranha 3D, The Virginity Hit ,Faster, Animal Kingdom, Justified, Game Of Death
- movieIQ+sync
- BD-Live
Final Thoughts:
Resident Evil: Afterlife is good for what it is, a movie based on a video game. Full of big action scenes all culminating with a "boss" that must be beaten to move on to the next and never-ending obstacle. As a movie itself, it is pretty shallow on plot, and has some weak performances. It sure looked and sounded great, so for fans of the franchise this would come highly recommended. I watched the commentary after the film and it was full of technical nuggets and interesting fact, but wasn't the most exciting or humorous I have experienced. The almost hour long group of featurettes were enjoyable--I wish all new release had a supplemental package like this. Resident Evil: Afterlife is a tough film to make a recommendation on, If you love to be dazzled by your system and don't care if the movie is so-so at best, get it!!!---but I would tell a friend to skip it.
Lee Weber
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS50 1080p High Definition Front Projector
Custom 1.3 Gain 128" 2.37:1 CinemaScope Screen
Denon AVR-4311CI Receiver (Calibrated by Jeff Meier)
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triangle Zerius Speakers (7.1)
SVS PC13-Ultra Subwoofer