BLU-RAY REVIEW

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Featured In Issue 125, November 2007

Picture4
SoundNR
WSR Score3.5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Paramount Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
13129
(MPAA Rating):
PG-13
(Rating Reason):
Intense sequences of violent action and some language
(Retail Price):
$39.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (HD-30)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
96
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2007
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
09/25/07
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Lee Tamahori
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital+ 5.1, Dolby Digital+ 2.0 Surround
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

Frank Cadillac a.k.a. Cris Johnson (Cage) is a magician playing in the slightly seedy showrooms of Downtown Las Vegas. All is not an illusion in his act though—this magician can actually see two minutes into the future. His special ability does not go unnoticed by government agent Callie Ferris (Moore), who is desperate to recruit Cris to stop a terrorist group that plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. Next is based upon the novel The Golden Man by Phillip K. Dick. (Stacey Pendry)

Special features include the following featurettes: Making the Best Next Thing (18 minutes), Visualizing The Next Move (eight minutes), The Next Grand Idea (seven minutes), Two Minutes In The Future With Jessica Beil (two minutes), and the theatrical trailer.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.36:1 DVD shows good resolution and a stylized color scheme that is maintained well throughout the presentation. Bright colors are very rarely used in the presentation, and when they are present, they are slightly under-saturated. Black levels are generally deep and shadow delineation is acceptable, with details in the darkest scenes presented nicely. Fleshtones have an orange hue, and edge enhancement, while relatively minor, can be noticed throughout. The HD DVD's H.264 AVC-encoded picture generally looks dimensional, with good, although fluctuating, black levels and adequate shadow delineation. Details are delivered well, but occasionally the picture can look flat and smeared. The color palette seems to be more varied, with more realistic fleshtones and much better saturation. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is generally relegated to the front three screen channels, with the surround channels generally presented at levels much lower levels than the front channels, which limits their effectiveness. Dialogue can often sound hollow, and dynamics often sound compressed. The front stage is adequate, and there are times when atmospheric effects around the room can create a believable sound-scape. The LFE channel is used from time to time, but without any real presence or punch. The HD DVD's Dolby Digital Plus encoding provides a slight increase in fidelity, which is accentuated even more in the lossless Dolby TrueHD encoding, although only slightly. (Danny Richelieu)