War
Of The Worlds: Goliath
(2012/Anderson Merchandising Blu-ray 3D w/Blu-ray 2D)
3D
Picture: B- 2D Picture: B Sound: B Extras: A Animated
Feature: A-
In
a parallel universe, World War I was interrupted by Martian invaders,
but they lost in the end, not because of weapons or numbers, but
because of germs. 15 years later, mankind has recovered, the
survivors have been getting ready for the Martian's second invasion.
Rebuilt on the reverse engineering of alien technology and weaponry,
mankind is protected by A.R.E.S., a planetary defense force made up
of soldiers from all around the world, with tripod GOLIATHs and
armored airships. A new generation of young soldiers are called into
service to stop the alien threat in Joe Pearson's War
Of The Worlds: Goliath
(2012).
Inspired
by H.G. Wells' classic War
Of The Worlds book,
this is a different retelling of the story, sounding more than a bit
like the classic combined with another classic, Starship
Troopers.
Humankind has recovered after the first alien invasion and turned
into an industrial steam punk-like society with giant mecha. While
A.R.E.S is a united multi-cultural force, the countries are still
un-united and wage war against each other. Unfortunately, that's
when the Martians returns, they were not ready. The story follows
the story of a traumatized captain and his crew as they infiltrate a
Martian base and then retake New York.
This
was a very interesting retelling and revision of the oft filmed
classic where humans have 3-legged mechas and armored zeppelin
airships. It mixes both 2-D and 3-D animation in an interesting mix
and takes place in a world where Theodore Roosevelt is the leader of
the resistance. The Martians were tentacle aliens in triped walkers
with ray-guns attached to the body and this one goes overboard with
the technology and manages to juggle it all. Adrian Paul leads the
voice cast.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 MVC-encoded 3-D - Full Resolution digital High
Definition image has all some issues that hold it back a bit and is
watchable, but the 1080p 1.78 X 1 2D digital High Definition image
transfer (on a separate disc) is simply more consistent and the
somewhat simple animation is not overly so. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is also well-done, the same
on both versions of course and has a consistent soundfield
throughout. Extras
include a Making Of featurette, stories before the war, movie in
story boards, meet the voice actors, the Lovers, and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
