Event Horizon (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

82

Film Synopsis:

Its name: EVENT HORIZON. The high-tech, pioneering research spacecraft mysteriously vanished, without a trace, on its maiden voyage seven years earlier. But a weak, persistent signal form the long-missing craft prompts a rescue team, headed by the intrepid Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), to wing its way through the galaxy on a bold rescue mission. Accompanying Miller is his elite crew and the lost ship's designer (Sam Neill); their mission is to find and salvage the state-of-the-art interstellar horror. Back to electrify-and terrify-is EVENT HORIZON, now as a two-disc Special Collection DVD that contains never-before-seen special features, including a five-part documentary on the making of this unforgettable motion picture. Kathleen Quinlan and Joely Richardson also star in this gripping sci-fi thriller.

My Take:

Horror film's that leave you thinking about them after you have stopped watching usually are the type that are doing something right. For me Event Horizon is one of those films. It is a creepy sci-fi horror flick that I find disturbing yet pretty entertaining. I like the sci-fi/horror spin and unlike some other films in the genre I don't find that it tries too hard to be either a horror or sci-fi movie. There is a fair amount of horror based jump scare elements and the technical and futuristic aspects of the ship itself is more than enough to satisfy the science fiction feel. The use of audio and visual stimulus to elicit audience reaction is executed well in my opinion. The premise is probably the weak link as very little is made clear about exactly what happened to the ship and how it ultimately ended up back after 7 years in the abyss of space. There is enough to allow you to understand that what it encountered was as evil as evil can be. Character development is good for the most part as you do feel a connection to them. The pacing is spot on and it pretty much feels like a 95 minute high speed train ride that begins practically right from the start. Casting is strong and everyone seems well suited to their characters with no one in particular being a stand out. I have been a fan since seeing Event Horizon on cable TV a number of years ago. I subsequently picked up the Special Edition DVD that was released in 2006 and have watched it several times since. Like most fans I was excited when I heard it was coming to Blu-ray Disc. Keeping reading to see my impressions of its audio/video quality.

Parental Guide:

The rating is for strong violence, gore, language, and brief nudity.

Audio: 80

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Video: 84

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Event Horizon comes to Blu-ray Disc from Paramount featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 32 mbps and lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 channel audio that has an average bitrate of 3.2 mbps.

I was impressed with the quality of this high definition presentation as it looked better than expected. Blacks aren't inky but they are stable, deep and gradational. The dark and shadowy confines of the ship looked great. The level of detail visible in the various interior sequences enabled the texture of surfaces and the instrumentation on equipment panels to be discernible even in low lighting. The faces, hair and clothing of the crew was notably detailed and razor sharp at times. Complexions were realistically depicted with natural tonality and defining subtle character. The images of space had excellent contrast, visual depth, and clean color rendition. Some of the visual effects left the video looking a little soft in places and occasionally some of the dark backgrounds highlighted grain making them appear noisy but fidelity rarely suffered.

The lossless multi-channel audio presentation didn't quite keep pace with the video but was clearly an improvement over the lossy Dolby Digital on the DVD. Overall sound quality was crisper with better defined acoustic presence and improved dynamic range. Dialogue was the weak link as it sounded on the thin side and at times was overshadowed by the other sounds emanating from the front and center channels. I also noticed a distinct reduction in volume at the 46:40 mark during the scene when a scuffle breaks out between two members of the crew. This threw off the balance of the audio briefly and was pretty apparent. Detail and clarity especially in the rendering of sound effects was very good to excellent. This was evident during the scene where Peters (Quinlan) is alone in the med lab and begins to hear strange noises. As the camera's perspective changes the sounds move around the room. The scratching sound coming from the nylon tent sounded incredibly lifelike. The eerie, creepy, and diminutive background sounds present in the soundtrack were reproduced with aplomb. Later on after Justin disappears she is chased from the lab to the bridge by something that begins to pound on the hatch door. The sounds of the buckling metal and its reverberant backlash sounded great. Dynamics were potent and low frequency detail was extended, tight, occasionally room filling and not overly stated which can sometimes make it too prominent. Overall I was very pleased with this presentation as a whole as I feel it improved upon what was already a very decent soundtrack.

Bonus Features:

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• Commentary by Director Paul Anderson and Producer Jerry Bult
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• The point of no return: The filming of Event Horizon w/optional Director Commentary:

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2. The revolving corridor - featurette
   
3. The crew gathers - featurette
   
4. Shooting wire work - featurette
   
5. The dark inside - featurette

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• The making of Event Horizon:

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2. Into the jaws of darkness - featurette
   
3. The body of the beast - featurette
   
4. Liberate tuteme ex infernis - featurette
   
5. The scale to hell - featurette
   
6. The womb of fear - featurette

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• Secrets - Deleted and extended scenes w/optional commentary
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• The unseen Event Horizon - The un-filmed rescue scene and conceptual art w/optional commentary
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• Trailers - Theatrical (HD) and Video

Final Thoughts:

Event Horizon is a good sci-fi/horror movie that has somewhat of a cult following and is one of the better films in the genre. Its story isn't the most well rounded and as it progresses each aspect isn't clearly defined but it succeeds where it needs to and is a movie that has good replay value. I am happy to report that Paramount has brought it to Blu-ray Disc looking and sounding better than ever and has included all of the bonus features from the 2006 special edition DVD release. This is an easy recommendation for fans of the film and the genre.