Babylon A.D. [Blu-ray]
by Mathieu Kassovitz
![Babylon A.D. [Blu-ray]](/images/Babylon-A-D-Blu-ray-B001KMB6VE-L.jpg)
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Blu-ray details
Actor: Charlotte Rampling, Gérard Depardieu, Lambert Wilson, Mark Strong, Vin DieselDirector: Mathieu Kassovitz
Brand: Diesel
Cinematographer: Thierry Arbogast
Composer: Atli Orvarsson
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2009-01-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Blu-ray Reviews of Babylon A.D. [Blu-ray]
Blu-ray Review: Solid, but ultimately mediocre sci-fi
Summary: 3 Stars
It's a shame this film didn't do better. The concept is really cool, the action is tight, the acting is good, and the special effects are dynamic. Even the script seems well enough written. So what happened? Well... nothing actually. And that's exactly why the movie failed.
The movie starts off strong with a really nice dystopic view of the future. You find mercenary Toorop (Vin Diesel) in an almost post-apocalyptic eastern europe and Babylon A.D. pulled this off very well. There are a fair amount of little details that are given about the world in the first part of the movie, and it's presented in a way that feels more like exploring and less like forced fed exposition. The movie never lets up on how well this new world is presented even up to the contrasts in a mega-modern United States.
The action and tone of the action feels like a mix of Diesel's previous romps like XXX and Riddick. This a good thing by the way as he works well in his element. The action is flashy and impressive without being like an over-the-top Michael Bay explosion-fest. If you are an action movie aficionado you may feel like most the action is more "been there... done that" sort of thing even if the action is good.
The acting is solid as well. Diesel shows some subtle and convincing set of emotions. Michelle Yeoh felt a little subdued, but it works. Melanie Thierry played probably the most emotional character in the film, and handles the direction fine.
So what went wrong? I did say there was a solid script, and I meant it. By that I meant the exposition was presented well and the dialog wasn't corny and felt convincing for the genre of the film. Script is one thing. Story is another. This is where the movie fails. The plot is cliche' and without any real story development. Toorop must protect a "special" girl with special powers. Sure the powers come up cool, but plot-wise they are pointless. There is never a decent explanation as to why everybody is going through all the trouble, and whatever explanations they give you are incredibly underwhelming.
I'm sorry folks, but all the atmosphere and action in the world will not cover up a story that goes through the motions without any true payoff in the end plot-wise. It's the basics of storytelling to have a beginning, middle and an end. The writers seemed to have gotten their beginning down great. The middle needed more meat, and apparently they totally forgotten the whole concluding a story respective of how it was set up. It's like after the film established the setting and characters it coasted through action and exposition scenes; just going through the motions.
The Blu-Ray is the way to go. A lot of scenes will stand out better considering the increased detail you get. Amazon seems to be missing the full details on the audio options. You get DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 in English AND Dolby Digital 5.1 in French. And yes this movie would be a good audio benchmark from what I've been hearing. You also get subtitles in English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin.
Special features are kind of your standard fare. Although there is some goodies that Babylon AD fans should get a kick out of. I believe all of the featurettes are high def (some 1080i and some 1080p):
- Genesis of Aurora: This is a five minute animated "prequel" to the film. I think the name makes it obvious what those minutes will be about.
- Hummer Sequence: A deleted scene that runs about 2 1/2 minutes.
- Scene Evolution: Over 50 minutes of various behind the scenes features. Bonusview enabled (can be played back while watching the movie with Blu-Ray profile 1.1 or higher).
- Babylon Babies: This is the name of the book that inspired the movie. Thus this 11 minute featurette is about the author and he talks about stuff from the book.
- Arctic Escape, Flight of the Hummers, and Fit for the Screen: These are featurettes on various stunt sequences in the movie. The first two are about specific action sequences while the last one is about the fight and stunt choreography. Total runtime is just shy of 30 minutes.
- Babylon A.D. Commercials: A series of "made up" commercials. Also Bonusview enabled.
- D-Box Support: If any of you actually have these moving chairs in your home theater now you can plunk this Blu-Ray in your system and get all shaken and rattled and whatever the heck that expensive chair does for your enjoyment.
Babylon A.D. should have been much better than what we got. How much better? Overall story overhaul for the second half of the movie better. Still if you really, really love cyberpunk movies you may still enjoy this one a lot from just the atmosphere alone. Action junkies MAY like it. If you absolutely need a full and well rounded story in order to enjoy movies then you're out of luck.
Description of Babylon A.D. [Blu-ray]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: UN
Release Date: 6-JAN-2009
Media Type: Blu-Ray
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