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Prey
R1 - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (27th February 2007). |
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The Film
 "Inspired by actual events", that's what the cover of this DVD reads. The word to take note of is "inspired", the filmmakers will almost always take dramatic license when making these kinds of films because sometimes true life is just a bit boring and we all don't have an editor handy to cut out the boring parts and go straight to the good stuff. "Prey" has a lot of those moments like that throughout its run time; and sometimes you'll stare at the screen trying to make sense as to whether what just happened actually indeed happened, no matter how ridiculous. Tom Newman (Peter Weller) is in Africa working on a new dam project, he decides to bring his kids Jessica (Carly Schroeder) and David (Conner Dowds) along with his new wife Amy (Bridget Moynahan) to Africa so they can spend some time together. While working on the dam stepmother Amy takes the kids on a safari, in an effort to see more wild animals the guide decides to take them off the main road. This turns out to be a big mistake because the guide ends up a lion's lunch and the family is stuck in the truck with nowhere to go and no one knows where they are. Meanwhile, the lions, who have had a taste for human blood, decide to stalk the three remaining humans. "Prey" certainly has an interesting premise and for the most part it's a rather entertaining thriller, you can consider it "Jaws" (1975) in the savannah (only not as great), with the hungry lions circling the family. The filmmakers pull on those tense moments in an effective manner building towards the finale when good 'ol dad saves the day with a crazy South African hunter, Crawford (Jamie Bartlett). In typical hero fashion dad makes good and the pesky lions are taken care of and even stepmother gets in on the action (more on that later). The best parts of the film are of the three trapped in the truck, there's a certain guilty pleasure in seeing people in tough situations trying to handle things, especially when you have a family dynamic such as this: Stepmother who's trying to connect with the new kids in her life, the daughter who hates the new mother and is rebellious about the relationship and finally the younger son who is just there to whine about how he's thirsty. In fact you may find yourself rooting for the lions, depending on how annoying you find Carly Schroeder's character. As you can probably tell the characters are as hollow and uninteresting as they come; I guess that's why I had such a good time watching them try to get out of this horrible predicament. Within about ten minutes into the film you can pretty much telegraph the entire thing, all the way down to how the traumatic experience will ultimately bring them closer together. Nature buffs will probably find something to complain about such as why are the lions hunting in a wooded area? They normally hunt in wide open spaces, why is the male lion doing any of the killings when the female lions are generally the hunters etc. I guess the production couldn't afford a wildlife expert to tell them these things. Innacuracies aside the movie does have a few good things going for it, Bridget Moynahan does a more than decent job of keeping the film from falling into the category of farce, the film's editing is tight and moves the story along at a steady pace so there's no boring bits. However those good things are left in the dust, because nothing can prepare you for the ridiculous ending. The over-the-top climax sees stepmother Amy surviving an explosion. What? The film makes a drastic u-turn and as it turns out Amy is one hardcore woman that seems unaffected by large explosions that by right should have killed her. I have no idea how the filmmakers though they could get away with this? They may as well just have her fight off all the lions during the course of the film, at least that way her survival at the end wouldn't have come as a surprise. Granted the film would be a total joke as a result. "Prey" is a below average thriller that has a few positive marks but not enough to save it from its dire climax, I can see why this film got a straight-to-video release.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this anamorphic transfer is a fine effort, the image is sharp and displays fine detail well. Colors are well balanced however skin tones veered towards the orange far too often. Blacks were deep and solid with shadow detail remaining consistent. Some edge-enhancement can be seen as well as a few moiré patterns that emerge.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is included, dialogue was clear and distortion free, ambient surrounds were effectively mixed into the sound space feeling natural. The sound effects for action scenes were aggressive with the score bringing everything together. Overall this is a competent mix that will likely please most people. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Genius Products have included a series of start-up bonus trailers that can be skipped, they are for: - "Killshot" which runs for 2 minutes 1 second. - "The Aura" which runs for 1 minute 47 seconds. - "Feast" which runs for 2 minutes - "Pulse" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Unknown" which runs for 2 minutes 9 seconds.
Overall
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