Alien
Nation
(1988/Fox/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: D Film: C
PLEASE
NOTE:
This Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at
Umbrella Entertainment in Australia, can play on Blu-ray players
worldwide and can be from the link below.
Showing
its age a bit on Blu-ray, the Graham Baker film Alien
Nation
(1988) that later spawned a television series. Mixing buddy cop
movie with some of social commentary akin to Planet
of the Apes
and maybe even a slight dash of Total
Recall,
Alien
Nation
features impressive production design and great special effects work,
but ultimately feels a bit dated and overall a bit silly to today's
standards. Though the film did some business in its time and has
gotten a cult following over the years spanning five television films
(launched by the genius of Bionic
Woman
creator Kenneth Johnson, interviewed elsewhere on this site) and
several comics and novels, I wouldn't quite rule out seeing a remake
of sorts in the not too distance future.
The
film stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, and Terence Stamp.
In
Los Angeles 1991 (ahem), UFOs have landed in the Mojave Desert and
start to mingle into the LA population. You can't go anywhere
without seeing these humanoid (though stronger and more intelligent)
beings known as Tenctonese, or 'Newcomers'. Like humans, some are
good and some are bad but in this instance they are mostly up to no
good.
One
of them, George Francisco (Patinkin), is a police detective with a
human partner named Matthew Sikes (Caan) who basically fits the
Anti-Hero description. George and Matt fight crime together, while
learning to respect the other's culture, and question each other's
whist fighting prejudice, as personified by the Purists, and fear, in
the form of the unseen Overseers.
While
the story isn't half bad, I feel like with a more visionary filmmaker
like James Cameron or Ridley Scott behind the lens, they could have
handled this material in a more visceral cinematic light then what
was produced here and probably would have helped make this film more
memorable (and profitable). For the time, the undertaking from a
production standpoint here is pretty impressive and it does feature
several big show pieces, so you have it hand it that when the majors
still knew how to take risks based on smart material.
Umbrella
has done a great job here with bringing this older Fox film to disc
with a 1080p high definition transfer with 2.35:1 widescreen and a
5.1 English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless track that can show the
age of the recording, but has been remastered surprisingly well from
the original 4.1 Dolby 70mm blow-up print's multi-channel surround
magnetic soundmaster. The film certainly hasn't looked better than
it does here with often fine color and some expected grain, so one
can see the kind of shoot that would make sense in printing 70mm
blow-up prints.
Surprisingly
no extras here. I would have liked to see something on the creature
design or special effects but maybe they are saving that for a future
release, who knows. At any rate, if you are a fan of the film then
you will want this release for the upgraded sound and picture alone.
If you haven't seen it and are a fan of '80s sci-fi then you will
enjoy some bits here. Revisiting the film several years later, I
didn't totally fall in love with it again or totally hate it. Fans
will be happy for now, though.
To
order this
Umbrella import Blu-ray or any of the companies other great releases
and hard-to-find exclusives, go to this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
