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Jason X
Studio: New Line Cinema
Year: 2001
Rated: R
Film Length: 93 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
Subtitles:
I know, I know! You are probably asking yourself
why is Ron wasting his time doing a review of a
film like Jason X? To be honest, New Line
has been putting out some incredible DVD transfers
as of late, and I was interested in seeing how good
this highly-touted digital transfer really was.
More on that in a moment.
Actually, I grew up rather liking the Friday The
13th series. The first few films were very
well done and quite frightening. By the middle of
the series, however, the stories became credulous
as the filmmakers found more ridiculous ways to
bring Jason Voorhees back to kill more teenagers.
Seems like things in the past 12 years haven't
really changed. Just when you thought there was
nowhere else to go, director James Isaac and
screenwriter Todd Farmer have boldly gone
where no Voorhees has gone before -- outer space!
And talk about things that never change...outer
space has its share of horny teenagers.
Set in the year 2455, when the Earth has long
since become uninhabitable for human life to exist,
a team of scientists come upon the Camp Crystal
Lake Lab facility (catchy name!) to discover two
cryogenically frozen people. One of them is a
very sexy young girl (no doubt!) named Rowan
(Lexa Doig)and the other is a large, monstrous
fellow wearing a hockey mask. No folks, there
was no kinky sex before cryogenics -- this is
none other than Jason Voorhees.
The two newcomers promptly thaw out about the
massive spaceship, and though Rowan warns everyone
about Jason's troubled past, some of the crewmembers
view Jason as a money-making motherload. Of course,
there were probably refunds being asked as Jason
has a grand old time slashing his way through
youthful scientists, gung-ho soldiers, and meddling
supervisors.
I'm not quite sure whether this film was intended
to work as a horror film or a comedy that spoofs
itself. It seems to fail on both accounts. There
isn't anything really scary here, though I must
admit the killings were awfully gruesome. One chick
that was dressed like Brittany Spears had her head
frozen in liquid nitrogen then smashed like a
roman vase. Ouch! That's gotta hurt!
How is the transfer?
Okay, so I had to sit through this mind-numbing
film only to be mesmerized by the transfer. In
fact, this transfer was the only thing preventing
me from going into a coma state. It's a truly
brilliant transfer thanks to the fact that the
movie was originally shot on film but then
transferred frame by frame to Hi-Def digital.
The results are remarkable. You have a picture
that is completely free of any grain, noise and
blemish. Colors are vibrant -- especially scenes
shot with beautiful blue filters -- with deep
blacks that add texture to the picture. The
transfer has a sort of glossy look to it that you
don't normally see on most DVD transfers. It's
a shame so much effort was put into making this
film look this good, but that should show you how
far we have come with digital technology.
The 5.1 DTS track is pretty amazing in itself.
As usual, I find that the DTS track adds an overall
spaciousness to the soundtrack. In this case you
get a sense of feel to the large, empty cargo ship.
Watching this movie makes you think you just stepped
into the JASON SIMULATOR RIDE at movie theme park,
as the bass levels through the LFE channel are so
intense that you feel like you are part of the movie.
Really, kids, the thunderous bass almost moved
me and my couch across the floor. Suffice to say,
there is great dynamic range here and the rears do
a fantastic job of supporting the film's many effects
from dripping water in a simulator game to machine
gun fire that emanates from just about every channel.
Special Features
New Line has opted to release Jason X under
their Platinum Series line. This means you can
expect that nothing was spared in the supplemental
department.
Where do I begin...
The DVD begins with a heart-racing collage of
character reactions as Jason swings and slashes.
A fiery explosion brings us to the Main Menu screen.
By selecting All Access Pass, you are brought
to the supplemental area.
First up is a feature-length commentary
with Director Jim Isaac, Writer Todd Farmer and
Producer Noel Cunningham. It's sort of difficult
to keep track of who is who, but essentially we
learn that Jason X came to be while another
project, Jason vs. Freddy was waiting in
the wings. The space setting gave the filmmakers
more options as to what they could do with weapons
of the future. The filmmakers also bring out the
fact that for the first time, everyone in the film
is aware of who each other is and aware that
everyone is being stalked at the same time. We
learn a little about the time consuming special
effects that were done. One shot of an exploding
ship took 22 days to render. There's an interesting
part of the commentary where we learn the difference
between gore that is acceptable and gratuitous gore
that will ultimately reap havoc from the MPAA. The
filmmakers were very careful with the gore sequences
based upon past films where the MPAA gave them a
ridiculously hard time with the material. Seems
that there was a lot of effort on the set between
film takes to continually scare the young cast by
having Jason leap out at them at unexpected moments.
For the most part this is a very lively and
information-soaked commentary. I think you'll
enjoy it.
The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees is not
a daytime soap opera. It's actually a sort of
retrospective of the Friday The 13th/Jason Voorhees
phenomenon. Noted critics praise the fact that
Friday The 13th was the creation of the
slasher genre. It's one of those spooky stories
that counselors used to tell around the camp fire.
In addition to this series, critics talk about the
similar type of films that came before it and after
it. Gore fans should actually have a lot of fun
watching this featurette that really gives an
in-depth look at low-budget fright house films.
It's filled with interviews of many of the Directors
involved with past projects -- including Sean S.
Cunningham. Of course, with all the positive
reaction from fans of this genre, comes some of
the negative feedback about the over violent nature
of these films. Finally, we are treated to a
brief make-up session and interview with Kane Hodder,
who has played the hockey-mask wearing menace in
the most recent slew of films. Quite a fun
featurette!
(length: approx. 30 minutes)
You know you have entered the realm of fluff-piece
promotional material when the cast members start
saying things like "this film is REALLY scary" and
"there were some fine acting moments". This is
the sort of bogus BS we get subjected to in The
Making of Jason X. It begins with Producers
Sean S. Cunningham and Noel Cunningham talking
about running out of ideas and finding something
fresh and innovative for the next Jason venture.
Amongst the things that were turned down was "Jason
in Africa" and "Jason in the North Pole". When
space became an option, Cunningham became very
excited. This time around the producers would be
able to use modern technology and futurist weapons
to fight the legendary monster. The featurette
shows us Jason hanging on wires as we watch some
of the green screen special effects work being done.
There's a wonderful explanation of the digital
process that this film went through that enabled
the filmmakers to have a better control on the
digital effects that they never had before. We
watch how specific digital shots were created
for the film. The rest of the featurette skims
through the set, costume and makeup designs. If
you take away some of the promotional BS, what you
have is a pretty cool and entertaining featurette.
(length: approx. 17 minutes)
Jump To A Death is sort of neat. As you
select various characters from the menu, you
automatically jump to the point in the film where
that character is killed. You can even select
a random assortment of killings if you wish to be
surprised.
In addition to the original theatrical trailer,
there are also trailers for Blade II, Final
Destination and Nightmare on Elm Street.
Final Thoughts
Okay, so it comes as no surprise that Jason X
is nothing more than the usual mindless slasher
fare filled with putrid dialogue and a feeble cast.
If you don't go into the film thinking it's
Shakespeare in the Park, you might actually
have a little fun with it. There are certainly
worse films out there if you can believe it.
Release Date: October 8, 2002
