Stuck

Brandi Boski (Suvari) is an overworked, hard-partying nursing home assistant who accidently steers her car into the path of a homeless man, Tom Bardo (Rea), hitting him head-on. Not wanting to jeopardize a possible promotion at her work, Brandi drives her car home rather than seek help for the homeless man who is still Stuck in the windshield. What happens next is beyond belief as Tom pleads for his life and Brandi tries desperately to cover up the crime she has committed. (Stacey Pendry)

Special features include four featurettes: Driving Forces: Director Stuart Gordon And Writer John Strysik (eight minutes), The Gory Details: Special Effects And Make-Up (nine minutes), Ripped From The Headlines: Behind The Scenes And Actual News Footage (17 minutes), and Interviews And Exclusive Footage From AFI Dallas International Film Festival (25 minutes), the theatrical trailer, and up-front previews.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD shows limited resolution, with a smeared, soft appearance throughout. Black levels are elevated, giving the picture a noticeably washed-out appearance. Colors are also pale and desaturated. Contrast in general is very low. Shadow delineation is relatively poor, with details in the darker portions of the picture flat and crushed. Fleshtones are not defined well, with distinctions between various hues difficult to interpret. Dirt and noise can be noticed on occasion, especially in darker scenes. Compression artifacts are noticeable throughout, although they aren't the biggest distraction, and while minor, edge enhancement can detract. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows better resolution than the DVD, but it is still not as sharp as the better releases are. Black levels are still elevated, but shadow detail seems to be improved. The same problems with fleshtones and contrast are apparent in this version, but compression artifacts are cleaned up. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack heavily favors the front three screen channels, with the surrounds used frequently but at low relative levels. The LFE is rarely used, and while deep bass is delivered nicely in the front full-range channels, it can sound somewhat flabby and poorly defined. Phantom imaging is rarely incorporated, even across the front stage, and dynamic range is just adequate. Dialogue sounds overly forward and bright with poor articulation. The noise floor is relatively high, and there is occasionally a strange, metallic echo audible throughout the presentation. Clipping distortion can also be heard. The Blu-ray Disc's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio™ encoding provides improved overall fidelity, with the metallic echo and clipping cleaned up, but fidelity is still limited. Dynamic range is also improved over the DVD's encoding. (Danny Richelieu)