|
|
 |
Awake
R1 - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: Rob Fields (1st March 2008). |
|
The Film
 When I got "Awake" (1:24:02) on DVD, the first thing that I did was to watch the theatrical trailer so that I could get an idea of what was to come when I would actually watch the film itself. Just watching this trailer alone suddenly sent a couple of thoughts through my mind. This story's been told before. I'm talking about the story where something happens to a character leaving them paralyzed for most of the story and then he or she is powerless to do anything to stop whatever fate has in store. The first story that comes to mind is "Autopsy Room 4", a short story from the mind of Stephen King (from "Everything's Eventual"). This guy is wheeled into the title room after trying to get through some golf. He is alive, but the people about to cut him open don't know this. He can't move a muscle. He tries and tries to make any kind of a noise, but is thwarted at every attempt. Does he live? Do the autopsy people learn that he's alive? I'm not telling. What I can reveal was that something was hiding in the golf bag that shouldn't have been in there to begin with. Then there were two different series of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955-1962 and 1985-1989), each featuring an episode entitled "Breakdown". The premise of both episodes was the same. The main character gets into a bad automobile accident and ends up paralyzed. In one episode, the man manages to get people to notice that he is alive through one specific body function that a dead man could not possibly do. In the other, he is not so fortunate. Now, I am presented with a similar story. This time, it is a movie that was released theatrically, same sort of situation here. A man becomes paralyzed. This time it's through a disturbingly real phenomenon called "anesthetic awareness". What is this? Surgery patients become completely paralyzed for the purpose of being operated on. The horror of it all is that they are actually awake and conscious. In this case, Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is able to feel all of the pain that he is going through during his open-heart surgery. Not only that but he can also hear everything : including a plot to kill during the surgery itself. This film also features Jessica Alba, Lena Olin, and Terrence Howard. The question of course will be whether or not Beresford survives. My lips are sealed. If you want to find out, you're going to have to see the movie for yourself : assuming you didn't already see it on the silver screen. I liked that the mystery is not too predictable, but it's not all that hard either. I guess when it comes to these kinds of films, it like Randy said in "Scream" (1996) : "If it gets TOO complicated, you lose your target audience." No, it's not too complicated. Like any mystery thriller such as this, you need to keep your eyes open : WIDE open. Okay, maybe you might have figured some things out, but how did they come to happen that way? I like that they used flashbacks to fill in the blanks. If you guessed right, then congratulations to you. I also liked the homage done for the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" story. To tell you what that is would be a spoiler. You will just have to watch to find it for yourself. There is a clue in the upper paragraph. For a Hollywood movie, I thought the story was very well done. The downsides? Hayden Christensen seems to be quite mono when it comes to his acting. Okay, it worked for his Anakin Skywalker character in Episodes 2 and 3 of "Star Wars" (2002 and 2005). In one of the critical scenes, he learns about certain aspects of his potential murder, but he doesn't convey enough feeling to support it. When he says his lines, they're also delivered in a monotone manner. To try and put it in simple English, he uses the same tone of voice for when he's happy and when he is also emotionally distraught. If this were a radio drama, you may not know for sure unless the narrator explained everything clearly. Fortunately, this didn't totally take away from my enjoyment of the film but be careful, Hayden, or you could end up being another Richard Gere. The other actors were able to carry their roles just fine. My final word: If you want to see a film version of Hitchcock's "Breakdown", then this is about as close as you're going to get. At least until they make a real film version of "Breakdown" (highly unlikely), or even King's "Autopsy Room 4" (possible). While this may not be classified as a horror film, what Clay Beresford went through is quite the horror film in the real life sense. I'd probably have to say that "Awake" is at least worth a rental.
Video
The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen format (2.35:1 ratio). The transfer is excellent. While there may be some grain in the darkness or overly lit scenes, don't panic. These are only to bring out the dream sequences and flashbacks. Far from these, the picture is perfect. Even the video extras look just as good. It's too bad that only the film and the menus are 16 x 9 enhanced.
Audio
The film features an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack. The mix does quite well to convey the soundtrack with the appropriate scenes. You can tell just by hearing the music that either something's about to happen or it's a flashback sequence. At least it doesn't telegraph what's to come. Also, hearing the sounds of the surgery being performed was enough to make a shiver go down my spine, mostly the scalpel cutting into Beresford's chest. Oooh! Creepy! There are optional English and Spanish subtitles available.
Extras
Genius Products has included an audio commentary, the film's theatrical trailer and some bonus trailers, a featurette, 4 storyboard-to-film comparisons, and 7 deleted scenes (with optional commentary) make up the Special Features presented on this DVD. All extras have optional English subtitles (except for the trailer reel before the Main Menu and the audio commentary tracks). There is a feature length audio commentary track by writer/director Joby Harold. He goes into details about the scenes that he is talking about. He even tells you how many times the title of the movie appears in the film. People who want to know more about the film that was not covered in the other special features can utilize this track for this purpose. A pleasure to listen to. There is a single featurette here called "Under the Knife & Behind the Camera: The Making of Awake". It runs 13 minutes and 12 seconds. Here you will see interview segments from the cast and crew. There is also some behind-the-scenes footage and some clips from the film itself. If you did not see this movie at the theater, do not watch this featurette beforehand since there are spoilers. The actual behind-the-scenes footage is in Fullscreen format, while the film clips and interview clips are in letterboxed Widescreen format (differing ratios). There are 4 storyboard-to-film comparison which runs 8 minutes and 44 seconds total. The storyboard is on the top half of your screen while the actual scene runs in conjunction on the bottom half. The scenes included are: - "Coming Home" which runs for 1 minute 42 seconds. - "Before the Surgery" which runs for 1 minute 28 seconds. - "A Broken Heart" which runs for 3 minutes 55 seconds. - "The Memory" which runs for 1 minute 37 seconds. There are 7 deleted scenes. You can play them individually or together with the ‘Play All' option (9 minutes and 29 seconds). Furthermore, you can also play the scenes with optional audio commentary by writer/director Joby Harold, who gives the details as to why the scenes were cut. The scenes are detailed below (Note: They are not 16 x 9 enhanced.): - "Clay and Jack" runs for 34 seconds : They are walking together. Clay gives Jack a hard time about not telling his mother about the wedding. - "Dracula" runs for 1 minute 43 seconds : More of the Halloween party. Dracula finds Jack outside and talks to him. Then Jack's mother comes to get him and suggests a poker game. - "The Checkbook" runs for 2 minutes 55 seconds : In this extended scene, Jack comes clean to his mom about his engagement to Samantha. When he leaves the room, Lilith offers to buy her off. She is then busted by her son and they argue briefly. - "Grim Reaper" runs for 1 minute 9 seconds : As Clay is being wheeled to the operating room, a man runs towards him dressed as Death himself, complete with sickle. - "First Date" runs for 1 minute 13 seconds : Extended flashback date scene. - "Last Train Home" runs for 52 seconds : Clay is on the train to heaven and looks at the others on the train with him. - "Christmas Eve" runs for 1 minute 7 seconds : Clay's father comes home. This scene leads up to the flashback of Clay as a kid discovering the truth about Santa Claus. The disc also includes the original theatrical trailer for the film, which runs for 2 minutes 26 seconds. Rounding out the extras are a collection of bonus trailers for: - "Truth anti-tobacco" PSA which runs for 1 minute 4 seconds. - "The Great Debaters" which runs for 2 minutes 31 seconds. - "Cassandra's Dream" which runs for 2 minutes 16 seconds. - "The Aura" which runs for 1 minute 47 seconds. - "1408" which runs for 2 minutes 31 seconds.
Overall
|
|||||
|