Evolution
List Price:
Our Price: $2.85
You Save: $6.10 (68%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.29 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Ted LevineBrand: MCA
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-12-26
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Evolution
DVD Review: Wow! What a Terrible Film!
Summary: 1 Stars
"Evolution", the latest film from director Ivan Reitman, has a handful of funny lines, but ultimately the film should be called "Regression".
Wayne Green (Seann William Scott), a wannabe fireman, is out in the Arizona desert, practicing for his big exam. Just as he sets a little shack on fire, a meteor hits. Harry Block (Orlando Jones, still best known as the '7-Up Guy' despite a handful of feature film roles), the community college geology professor, drags his friend, Ira Kane (David Duchovny), the community college biology professor, to the site. Kane soon realizes that the meteor contains organisms which are evolving very rapidly. Three days later, little alien creatures have begun to appear. The Army soon takes over and Dr. Allison Reed (Julianne Moore), of the CDC, becomes an unwitting liaison between the professors and the government. Soon, things get out of hand.
The story sounds promising. It could make a great summer comedy in the vain of "Ghostbusters", perhaps Reitman's most famous film. It has all of the elements of "Ghostbusters": otherworldly creatures, smart-alecky adults, some funny lines, loads of special effects. This is where the problem lies. "Evolution" simply recycles all of these characteristics without adding a new dimension. Duchovny plays the Ackroyd and Ramis roles, Jones the Murray role, Scott the Moranis role and Moore plays a pale comparison of the Sigourney Weaver role. "Evolution" also lacks a crucial element: character development.
Kane starts out as the scientific, smart, wise-cracking professor. At the end of the film, he is the same character. Throughout the film, we are supposed to recognize that he and Dr. Reed have a building sexual attraction. As neither character evolves, how can a relationship build between them. They start out as adversaries and don't seem to grow any closer.
The biggest flaw with all of the characters is that they are all the same. Good guys and villains alike are all bumbling, stupid and reckless. The trailer for the film contains a shot of Julianne Moore stumbling on some steps. This is repeated at least four times in the film. This is her major comedic contribution to the film. Scott has made a career of playing characters that have less than a full deck. He doesn't really add anything to the character this time. Jones has the majority of the funny lines, but many of the lines are based on character flaws which are really not given any depth. Bill Murray's Peter Venckmann was an extremely smart-alecky skirt chaser. The first scene featuring his character shows him testing a nerd and a beautiful student. The situation is hilarious. Remarkably, "Evolution" introduces Jones' character in much the same way with poor results.
As I watched "Evolution", I wondered how a film about aliens evolving very quickly could feel so long. I have to fault director Reitman for this. The film seems to plod along. Its difficult to pinpoint exactly why, but I have the sense that Reitman was going through the motions. There is very little sense of energy as the characters are running around.
"Evolution" also features one of the strangest product placements I have ever seen. "Pearl Harbor" had Coke bottles used for IVs. "Evolution" has... Well, to reveal it would spoil the ending. Hollywood seems to be in a phase in which they believe that a product placement is OK, as long as you make fun of it. Sorry, product placements this blatant are still annoying.
Description of Evolution
Synopsis:Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: PG13
Street Date: 08/24/04
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: no
Subtitlesno
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.
Based on the evidence in Evolution, one thing is perfectly clear: special effects have evolved, but director Ivan Reitman has reverted to primitive pandering. Equally obvious is the fact that Evolution is a de facto rip-off of Reitman's 1984 classic Ghostbusters, but this time there's no Bill Murray to deliver the best punch lines (we have to settle for fellow ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd in a broad supporting role), and the comedy has devolved into a grossfest including deep-rectal extraction of alien insects, fire-hose enemas into a giant alien sphincter, and a full-moon display of David Duchovny's naked posterior. Whereas Ghostbusters was a shrewd, irreverent mainstream comedy that combined gooey spectral ectoplasm with something resembling genuine wit, Evolution is a crude, juvenile romp in which all things slimy are elevated to comedic supremacy.
Granted, that's not always a bad thing. As latter-day ghostbuster equivalents, Duchovny, Orlando Jones, and Seann William Scott make a fine comedic trio, and Julianne Moore is equally amusing as a clumsy scientist and Duchovny's obligatory love interest. Despite the meddling of clueless military buffoons, they join forces to eradicate a wild variety of rapidly evolving alien creatures that arrived on Earth via meteor impact, and the extraterrestrial beasties (courtesy of effects wizard Phil Tippet and crew) are outrageously designed and marvelously convincing. For anyone who prefers lowbrow humor, Evolution will prove as entertaining as Ghostbusters (or at least Galaxy Quest), while others may lament Reitman's shameless embrace of crudeness. One thing's for certain: after seeing this movie, you'll gain a whole new appreciation for Head & Shoulders shampoo. --Jeff Shannon
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Lara Croft Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (Special Collector's Edition)JOLIE,ANGELINA; Release date: 2003-11-18; Published: 2003-11-01; DVD
Best price: $2.63
Price in other shops:
Saving Silverman (R Rated Version)SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2001-07-17; DVD
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops:
Rat Race (Special Collector's Edition)ATKINSON,ROWAN; Release date: 2002-01-29; DVD
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
The Fifth ElementSONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 1997-11-25; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
Road Trip (Unrated Edition)MCA; Release date: 2000-12-19; DVD
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops:
Tremors Attack Pack (Tremors/ Tremors 2 - Aftershocks/ Tremors 3 - Back to Perfection/ Tremors 4 - The Legend Begins)MCA; Release date: 2005-11-29; DVD
Best price: $5.96
Price in other shops:
Mystery MenUniversal Studios; Release date: 2000-01-11; DVD
Best price: $2.38
Price in other shops:
Eight Legged Freaks (Widescreen Edition) (Keep case packaging)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2009-11-03; DVD
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Widescreen Edition)BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2005-09-13; DVD
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2009-05-12; DVD
Best price: $6.80
Price in other shops: