Reviewed by Jim Clements

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Synopsis

Chris Hemsworth plays Nicholas Hathaway, a convicted cyber-criminal who gets furloughed from his prison sentence so he can help the CIA and FBI track down and stop a hacker who caused a meltdown at a Chinese nuclear power plant.  It is not long before they find that the attack on the Chinese power plant was no more than a rehearsal for a much larger series of attacks.  The story unfolds across the globe from Chicago, to LA, to Hong Kong and even Jakarta.

Specifications

  • Universal
  • 2015, Color, Rated R, 2 Hr 14 mins
  • DTS-HD Master 5.1, 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
  • Starring:   Chris Hemsworth, Wei Tang, Viola Davis and Leehom Wang
  • Directed by:  Michael Mann

Rating

  • Entertainment:
  • Video:
  • Audio:
  • Extras:
  • Violence: Yes
  • Sex: No
  • Language: No

Commentary

A quick check on-line reveals that this movie has received highly mixed reviews.  Most people either loved the film or hated it.  The haters cite a lot of reasons for their negative reviews and I must agree with two points – the pace of the film is extremely languid and the movie is way longer than it needs to be, clocking in at over two hours in length.  But I think I get what the film makers were trying to do with this piece so I am awarding the movie 3 stars.  The movie is dreamy and abstract, kind of like the way I would imagine the dark web.  I just don’t get why they cast Hemsworth in the lead role.  Hackers aren’t supposed to be dreamy, good looking guys who are experts in hand-to-hand combat.  Oh well, the times are a changin’ I suppose.  This Blu-ray is a solid rental choice for a rainy day.

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Technical

This movie was shot on video with a muted color palette.  There are also a few scenes with the shaky-camera effect and blanched contrast.  This was apparently all done to set the tone for the film and as part of the storytelling.  This is passed by the Blu-ray largely unabated.  I am deducting one star because there were a number of scenes with a soft image and I was not convinced that is was done purposefully in all cases.

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The audio was more impressive.  Voices were natural and easily understood while the background music sounded terrific.  There were a lot of scenes with gunshots, explosions and other effects that were well rendered.  Kudos too that the audio displayed a wide dynamic range which is better than I can say about many of the Blu-rays I have watched this last year.

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Extras

This is a two-disc set with the Blu-ray, a DVD and a Digital HD Ultraviolet code.  The on-disc extras are all in HD and include – “The Cyber Threat” a short piece on the real world of cyber criminals, “On Location Around the World” a piece about the importance of filming on location with additional information about the locations featured in the movie, and “Creating Reality” which covers the importance of character deveopment.