|
PRIMER
DVD Review by David Blackwell
DETAILS: 77 minutes, two audio commentaries, theatrical trailer
STUDIO: THINKFilm/ New Line
RELEASE DATE: 4-19-2005
"The permutations are endless."
Time Travel is one of my favorite subjects. PRIMER is one of those films you want to watch more than once. It's a cleverly
written sci-fi movie filmed for $7,000 (before all the post-production costs are factored in). PRIMER follows two brilliant
engineers who accidentally create a time machine and then their journeys hours back into time create some interesting twists
like physical effects on their bodies (and not just psychological). To talk about the plot more might ruin the trip of a movie
known as PRIMER. It is best to be discovered. It is a thinking person's sci-fi film. Definietly worth rewatching
to try and figure out everything in the movie's plot.
VIDEO: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
image detail is good, but the print used for this transfer has flaws. You see grain throughout the film (it is due to transferring
the digital video to be blown up to 35 mm film). I would love to see a future release of PRIMER to go back and use the original
digital video tapes it was shot on and make a new transfer for this film.
AUDIO: English Stereo Surround Sound
Subtitles: English, Spanish
The audio is OK, but it doesn't light me on fire. Dialogue is clear though.
SPECIAL FEATURES: The extras amount to two very interesting audio commentaries and the original theatrical trailer. The
first audio commentary is by actor/writer/director Shane Carruth. He mentions one scene turned out really grainy after they
transferred it to film. The two commentaries are full of info from references to the locations they shot on (including some
they didn't have permission to shoot on). The second audio commentary with the cats and crew reveal how no budget it was and
the guerrilla tactics used in getting PRIMER done.
FINAL ANALYSIS: PRIMER is one of the best sci-fi movies made on no budget and it should be seen by anyone who want to see
an intelligent sci-fi film and not just the action-adventure sci-fi that usually get made.
this DVD Review is (c)12-8-2005 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link
to the review). Look for additional content at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
|
