Static 3-D Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Static 3-D Blu-ray Review

When a thriller places all of its chips on a surprising, final reveal, that can be a risky move by the director. Such is the case with Static, from writer-director Todd Lewis, and starring Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Sarah Shahi (Chicago Fire), and Sara Paxton (Shark Night). The real problem with the film is that most audience members will likely figure out the big reveal within the first few minutes.

Studio: Other

Distributed By: Other

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC, 1080P/MVC, 480P/MPEG-2

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Audio: English 5.1 DD, English 5.1 DTS-HDMA

Subtitles: English

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 23 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD

3-disc Blu-ray case

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer), BD25 (single layer), DVD-5 (single layer)

Region: ABC

Release Date: 10/22/2013

MSRP: $29.95

The Production Rating: 2.5/5

Jonathan Dade (Milo Ventimiglia),a popular novelist, and his wife, Addie (Sarah Shahi), are grieving the tragic loss of their young son while living in a secluded home. Although they are trying to cope, Jonathan manages to finish his latest novel. After a celebratory dinner at home, a mysterious woman, Rachel (Sara Paxton), comes knocking on the door late at night, claiming she has a flat tire and that there are men dressed in masks chasing her. Jonathan and Addie take her in, offering her a room for the night, until the masked men break into the Dade’s home and begin hunting the three of them down, all resulting in a big showdown (and reveal) during the final act.Static really wants to be in the same league as other psychological thrillers such as The Sixth Sense, but the screenplay by Todd Levin, Gabriel Cowan, and John Suits and editing by Suits and Jon Wagner reveal too much too soon, and Levin’s pacing is just slow enough for this audience member to quickly lose interest in the story and characters.

Video Rating: 3.5/5 3D Rating: 2.5/5

Static is packaged with a 3-D Blu-ray disc (which will play back in 2-D on a non-3-D set-up), a 2-D Blu-ray, and a DVD. Shot digitally in native 3-D using the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the 1080p MVC/AVC encode retains the intended aspect ratio. The opening and closing shots are vibrant and beautiful, but the color scheme for much of the film is muted, since the majority takes place indoors, at night, during a power outage. There are some minor compression artifacts, but these seem to be inherent in the source material, since these are noticeable on all three discs.The real head-scratcher is why the filmmakers shot Static in 3-D to begin with. While the opening and closing shots have some nice depth, once we go indoors, and the power goes out, the depth of field is reduced drastically, and in many shots, items in the distance appeared to have some convergence issues, at least on my Samsung 60F7100 television. The 3-D is contained well-behind the front plane, and items never protrude outwards towards the audience.

Audio Rating: 3.5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is mostly front-centric, adding in a few discrete effects. Dialogue is clear and understandable, even when he characters are forced to whisper to each other.

Special Features Rating: 2/5

Audio Commentary by Gabriel Cowan, Andrew Orci, and John Suits: Pretty much a by-the-numbers commentary by the film’s writers, producers, and editor, discussing how many of the actors became involved in the film and where some of the locations are.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Possibly worthy of a rental for fans of off-beat thrillers, but once you figure out what is really going on here, the suspense becomes pretty much deflated.

Reviewed By: Todd Erwin

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