Jumper (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

95

Film Synopsis:

From the director of The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith comes the evolution of extreme — a high-powered shot of adrenaline that stretches the very limits of imagination. David Rice is a young man who knows no boundaries — a Jumper, born with the uncanny ability to teleport instantly to any place on Earth. When he discovers others like himself, David is thrust into the midst of an ancient war while being hunted by a bloodthirsty band of zealots sworn to destroy all Jumpers. Now, David’s extraordinary gift may be his only hope for survival.

My Take:

I love a good dyed in the wool sci-fi action flick. Unfortunately the genre is not prone to films that are elevated to classic film status. I have absolutely no problem with that and generally go into these films bearing that in mind. Jumper is a not a film that will be remembered as a classic but it does have something to offer. It features great special effects, good casting, and fresh conceptual look at the “hero” genre. The problem is that the story lacks depth which leaves some questions that should/could have been answered. One key point was that there was never any background on the Paladins. The Paladins hunted the Jumpers to the death. Sam Jackson seemed to be the Paladin in charge and he used a specific weapon when finishing off the Jumpers. There was no explanation regarding why or if he needed to use it. He made several references to God in his final words to a Jumper “Only God should have the power to be all places…” I would have liked to have seen a brief back story on the history of the war between the Jumpers and Paladins. David (Christensen) lived with his father who was left by his mother when David was 5 years old. David had a strained relationship with his father and never had any answers regarding why his mother left. Griffin (Bell) was also a Jumper whose mother left when he was 5 years old. There almost seemed to be a connection there but it is never developed. Later in the film David is reunited with his mother and there is a small plot twist thrown in (sorry no spoilers here !). The film is based upon the graphic novel by Steven C. Gould. The filmmakers took some liberties with the story when developing it for the big screen.

I thought that Christensen was a little robotic in his portrayal of David, but that seems to be his style. Jamie Bell really did a great job in coming off as the fly by the seat of your pants Griffin. He added an air of levity that kept things from becoming too serious. Sam Jackson is one of my favorite actors and his presence lends just a bit more credibility to the cast. He did wear this funky white hair which was kind of strange but who cares? In the end I felt entertained which meant to me that I had not just wasted 88 minutes of my life.

Parental Guide:

The rating is for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality. No problem here for young teenagers or older.

Audio: 92

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Video: 98

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Jumpercomes to Blu-ray Disc sporting 1080p AVC encoded video with an average bitrate of 34 mbps and lossless 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with an average bitrate of 3.8 mbps.

This is a reference quality presentation is every regard. Right from the opening moments it was apparent that detail was abundant and had a seemingly endless resolve. The scenes shot in Italy at the Coliseum were visually arresting as images were razor sharp with incredible dimensional depth and lifelike texture. Elevated contrast gave the video a very dynamic and stylized look that translated positively to image quality. Colors were bold with deeply saturated primaries and slightly exaggerated tonality. Fleshtones were spot on and looked gorgeous. Black levels were not as deep black as I would have liked which made them appear to have less dynamic range and impact. Adjusting the brightness setting on my display helped but crushed shadow detail. (I preferred the properly calibrated setting much better.) There was no compression related video artifacts, or noise present in this whistle clean high definition video transfer.

The lossless DTS–HD Master Audio mix delivered the goods, period. This is an aggressive mix that contains demonstration level material that will test just how good your system can sound. Your subwoofer will be kept busy by the unending low bass energy present. Each “Jump” is followed by a low bass thump that resonates within the sound field with palpable distinction. The rendering of dialogue is as good as I have heard in my room. During the battles between the Paladins and Jumpers the entire room comes alive as the front and rear sound stages collide to engulf the sweet spot with surround activity. I was impressed as the tight control and precision offered in this soundtrack which enabled the listener to glean every sonic reference inherent in the mix. It sounded fantastic.

Bonus Features:

Fox has included a comprehensive bonus feature set along with Jumper. It offers a 360 degree view of the production and includes extensive interviews with the cast, director, writers and production staff. All of the bonus content is in high definition. The Picture-in-Picture pop up feature works well for those with players with this capability. If not there is a non PiP option for those that have players without the feature. It looks at the conceptual aspects of the film, the graphic novel and discusses how the two were applied in the feature. The were three novels based upon the characters portrayed in the film and there is the possibility of sequels to Jumper. There is plenty of info on the special effects, behind the scenes footage, and insights from the cast and filmmakers. Fox’s Digital Copy is a most welcome feature for those who have the desire to take their movies on the go. Enjoy.

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• Commentary by Director Doug Liman, Writer Simon Kinberg, Producer Lucas Foster
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• (HD)Jumpstart: David’s Story – Graphic Novel (animated)
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• (HD) Jumping around the world (PiP) feature – Pop up factoid
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• (HD) Doug Liman’s Jumper: Uncensored
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• (HD) Making an actor Jump
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• (HD) Jumping from Novel to Film: The past, present, and future of Jumper
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• (HD) 6 Deleted Scenes
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• (HD) Previz: Future concepts – (animated)
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• D-Box Motion code

Allows the SD version of the film to be loaded on to a PC or portable playback device such as an IPOD.

Final Thoughts:

I thought that Jumper was an average Sci-Fi thriller that was made better by its presentation on high definition Blu-ray Disc. It features reference quality audio and one of the best video presentations I have seen on Blu-ray. Add to that a well rounded set of bonus features (including a bonus Digital Copy Disc) and this is an easy recommend.