Blu-ray Review The Signal Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

The Signal Blu-ray Review

The Signal conducts its experiments on Blu-ray with an edition that makes this low-budget science fiction yarn look and sound as good as it can. Unfortunately, the movie is extremely confused as to what it’s really about, and the cast is unable to make the puzzle any less opaque for the viewer. On its surface, the movie appears to about what happens when a trio of students (Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke and Beau Knapp) are taken to a mysterious facility by a mysterious doctor (Laurence Fishburne) who never seems to answer a question with anything but another question. Or is that what’s really happening? Sadly, the movie fails to pay off what could have been an interesting premise, and the whole enterprise crashes under its own weight. The Blu-ray provides solid high definition picture and sound, as well as a commentary, some deleted scenes and about ten minutes of on-set footage.

Studio: Universal

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 1 Hr. 37 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy, UltraViolet

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: ABC

Release Date: 09/23/2014

MSRP: $29.98

The Production Rating: 1/5

The Signal has ingredients that could make for a really interesting science fiction thriller, which makes it all the more frustrating when the movie fails to come together. Even at a low budget, it smartly focuses itself into a small-scale situation. Three MIT students on the road get caught up in a quest to find a hacker and wind up in a strange research facility that seems to be dealing with something extraterrestrial. The story primarily centers on Nic (Brenton Thwaites), a smart guy dealing with increasing muscular dystrophy, his buddy (Beau Knapp) and his girlfriend (Olivia Cooke). Following the usual horror movie rules of the heroes walking into the old dark house, Nic and his friends do exactly that, and find themselves in an odd, sterile environment where they are questioned by the strange Dr. Wallace (Laurence Fishburne, channeling Morpheus from The Matrix). The situation grows stranger and stranger until it becomes clear that the filmmakers may not have thought their way completely through their scenario – as the various twists that start happening seem to be coming from different movies. If anything, the various revelations seem to be getting chosen for maximum flash rather than anything that makes logical sense. After about three or four of these twists, the natural reaction is to simply throw one’s hands up in the air.BIG SPOILERS HERE: If we try to do a Sherlock Holmes and go backwards with the story logic from the end to the beginning, the story really doesn’t make any sense. And that’s always the key test of any thriller – does the story work if you know all the pieces, or is it just a series of quick turns, eventually landing on the last, biggest twist? In this case, we have a situation where we’re looking at an alien abduction. As the filmmakers admit in their commentary, their whole idea was to tell such an abduction story in the frame that the abductees didn’t know they’d been abducted. And frankly, that doesn’t make much sense either. What we’re left with is a scenario where Nic and his friends are somehow on a spaceship that’s projecting a New Mexico-like environment for them, and where the aliens have been experimenting on them by giving Nic new alien metal legs, and giving his friends other enhancements. We have no idea why any of this is happening, or what any of that is supposed to mean. We have no idea what this has to do with the hacker signal that brought them to the aliens in the first place, or why the aliens would be interested in Nic’s legs. All we know is that everything leads up to Nic finally being able to show off the full abilities of those legs in a high speed run, and that we then get the twists of seeing who (or what) Dr. Wallace really is, and then the twist of seeing where Nic really has been all this time. But none of the clues really add up to anything. It’s just twist after twist, without a backbone to hold it together. The filmmakers’ commentary indicates similar flawed thinking to what was applied to the unfortunate 2010 movie Skyline - that they figure they’ll just answer any questions with a sequel. Right. It’s been 4 years since Skyline, and none of those questions have been answered either…The Signal was released on September 23^rd on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray includes the movie in high definition, along with a commentary, about ten minutes of deleted and alternate scenes, and about ten minutes of on-set footage. The DVD holds the same material in standard definition. The Blu-ray also includes the DVD edition in the packaging, along with instructions for downloading a digital copy.

Video Rating: 4/5 3D Rating: NA

The Signal is presented in a 2.40:1 1080p AVC encode (@ an average 30 mbps) that shows off the production in the best possible light. Location photography in New Mexico and elsewhere looks quite good here, and the inevitable CGI work is seamless.

Audio Rating: 4/5

The Signal has an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix (@ an average 3.2 mbps, going up to 4.3 in the big moments) that is fairly quiet for much of the time, but is punctuated by effective bursts of avant garde music and subwoofer hits. When the big depth charges hit in the late going, the mix really comes to life.

Special Features Rating: 2/5

The Signal comes with a commentary and about 20 minutes of bonus material, half of it consisting of deleted material.Commentary with William Eubank, Carlyle Eubank and David Frigerio – (AVAILABLE BOTH ON BLU-RAY AND DVD) – This scene-specific commentary finds the three writers in a happy mood as they watch their movie. Right away, they start talking about plot details, so if you’re concerned about being spoiled, it would not be a good idea to watch with the commentary on first. The main take-away from this commentary is how pleased these guys are with the movie, and their feeling of how well it works. Their comments over the final moments of the movie is nothing less than jaw-dropping.Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes – (10:07, 1080p) (AVAILABLE BOTH ON BLU-RAY AND DVD) – About ten minutes of deleted or alternate versions of scenes are presented here in high definition. This material holds nothing crucial, and it doesn’t make the situation any clearer. Also, the material is presented in a single assembly, with no option to choose individual scenes or skip. Behind The Signal – (9:22, 1080p) (AVAILABLE BOTH ON BLU-RAY AND DVD) – This is actually an assembly of on-set footage, taken while various scenes were filmed on the road or in the facility.Brilliant! – (0:17, 1080p) (AVAILABLE BOTH ON BLU-RAY AND DVD) – This is actually an outtake of one shot with Laurence Fishburne, at the end of which, he shouts out “Brilliant!” DVD – The Blu-ray packaging includes the DVD edition, which holds the theatrical version in standard definition with a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English, Spanish and French (@448 kbps) as well as the English DVS track. The DVD includes the commentary, the gag reel, and “A Fistful of Dirt…In Your Mouth” from the Blu-ray.Digital/Ultraviolet Copy – The packaging has an insert that contains instructions for downloading a digital or ultraviolet copy of the movie. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French for the film itself, as well as for the special features. A standard chapter menu is included for quick reference.

Overall Rating: 1/5

The Signal looks and sounds like a great low-budget science fiction movie, and its presentation on Blu-ray is solid in terms of high definition picture and sound. Sadly, the story here just doesn’t make sense, and the ultimate result at the end of the movie is a disappointing one.

Reviewed By: Kevin EK

Support HTF when you buy this title:

"Their comments over the final moments of the movie is nothing less than jaw-dropping."On one hand, I'm dying to know what they said - on the other hand, once was enough for me on this movie

This film had some really interesting ideas -- none of which were brought to fruition in a satisfying way. Self-indulgent crap.

Rented this from Netflix, I would not recommend a purchase. Too confusing, too many unanswered questions for me.