Megafault (2008/Asylum DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Film: D
To try and get a little of the money out of Roland
Emeriti’s hit 2012 (a 2009 release
that opened far better than anyone expected), the very bad cable TV film Megafault (2008 and inspired by older
bad disaster releases) with bad digital effects in another natural disaster
film where anything that can crumble does.
This includes the teleplay.
David Michael Latt directed this dud that appeared on the
SyFy Channel (the unnecessarily renamed Sci-Fi Channel, possibly marking a new
era of decline there) in a sorry project that wastes Brittany Murphy, Eriq
LaSalle and Bruce Davidson. The title
refers to fault lines so bad, they break the earth’s crust and people will
die. The biggest “fault” is that it was
ever greenlit in the first place. This
is amusingly dubbed “Special Director’s Cut”, but don’t believe it. Just skip it.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is soft throughout
with bad digital effects and a generally flat look, while the Dolby Digital 5.1
mix is a joke being to loud and harsh throughout when it is not weak and has a
poor soundfield throughout. This has
supposedly been issued on Blu-ray, but we cannot imagine that playing back much
better. Extras include a cast/crew
feature length audio commentary, trailers and making of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
