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Darkest Hour (The)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (24th May 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** In this suspenseful sci-fi thriller, a group of young Americans visiting Moscow wage a desperate fight for survival in the face of an apocalyptic alien invasion. Composed of pure energy, the invisible extraterrestrials show no mercy as they incinerate helpless human beings merely by touching them. The small band of survivors armed only with their courage and ingenuity, join forces with an eccentric Russian scientist, who may hold the key to stopping the alien onslaught. But with time running out and hope fading, they may only get one chance to save themselves... and the planet.
Video
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment have released this 3D version of "The Darkest Hour" on to Blu-ray in the United Kingdom using the original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The transfer receives an MVC encode, and is 1080p. As expected for a recent movie from a major studio, the transfer is pretty good, even if the 3D can be a little disappointing. So let us start with the 3D effects. To be honest, there are not too many pop-outs here despite plenty of situations where they would have been perfect. This doesn't mean there are no pop-outs at all, though the ones we do have are not as effective as hoped (see the alien on the bus scene for an example). Whilst this lack of pop-outs will disappoint those who enjoy gimmicky 3D, there is at least some praise to be had for the reasonable levels of depth shown throughout, most notably during panning shots of the Moscow landscape getting destroyed. I found the earlier nightclub scene to perhaps be the best shot of internal 3D with depth perception as the characters attempt to escape the aliens particularly good. The details were strong throughout the transfer, with shadow details rarely succumbing to crush and no major issues detected. There was some slight aliasing on a jumper during the nightclub scene, but nothing worth more than a quick mention. Colours are good, and the slightly darker palette of the 3D due to the glasses does not make anything feel unnatural. There are no signs of damage, and no compression issues. A solid effort all round. The disc is region A/B encoded, and the film is uncut running 89:16.
Audio
The following audio options are included: - English DTS-HD Master 5.1 - French DTS 5.1 - Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 - Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 For my viewing, I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and although it isn't reference material, it is very good. The sound designers have done an excellent job in making the viewer feel as though they too are in a city that has lost huge swathes of its population, with a distinct level of creepiness as characters try to sneak around cars through darkened streets. Small subtle effects are utilised well, with footsteps and clanking metal well directed. The sound effects during the action-packed scenes have the right level of impact, whether it be the aliens killing innocent civilians trying to get away, or the tumbling of buildings. There are no issues with the track such as drop outs, crackles, or background hiss. Subtitles are available in Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English HoH, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
Extras
There are no extras included on this release. Do note that earlier pressings that come with a DVD do include some extras.
Overall
3D = B-
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