Mercury Rising (HD-DVD)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B     Extras: D     Film: D

 

 

Bruce Willis survives because he is constantly underestimated as an actor, takes on a few commercial projects for every project with risk he takes on and most still have not caught on to his strategy.  Sometimes, it is because some of the films are so bad, you know it can only be for the paycheck.  One of the worst commercial films he ever did or ever will do is Harold Becker’s massive misstep Mercury Rising (1998) where he tries to protect a young mentally handicapped boy from an evil government official (Alec Baldwin) as the child has cracked a secret computer code worth a mint and much power.

 

Willis plays an FBI agent who is sick of the force, but whose pro-American loyalties and basic decency causes him to intervene and battle Kudrow (Baldwin, not the former female co-star of the dreaded Friends).  The Lawrence Konner/Mark Rosenthal screenplay is as formulaic as can be and not event he leads can save this turkey from instant implosion.  But what really takes the cake is how horribly and disturbingly directed the autistic 9-year-old is.  The performance is more about screaming and whining and it gets so bad, it develops a sick side that inadvertently caters to pedophiles.  What were they thinking?

 

The title refers to the code broken, but The DaVinci Code has nothing to worry about, though it reminds us that a good film about a code has not been made for eons.  This turkey may be one of the reasons why.

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 VC-1 digital High Definition image was shot by Michael Seresin though it is not a memorable shoot overall, this transfer looks good, with one simple explanation:  the film was shot in real anamorphic Panavision and not cheaper, cheesier Super 35mm with its inferior definition.  As much as I despise the film, this is an image with some demo-quality moments.  If you get the disc very, very, very, very, very cheap and you have HD-DVD, it is a good demo.  The same cannot be said about the sound.  The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sounds like a second-generation copy of the original DTS tracks that the film sported, but this does have a score by the great John Barry.  But even he cannot save this mess.  Extras include the featurette Watch The Mercury Rising, deleted scenes, theatrical trailer and full feature length audio commentary with Becker.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo