Aeon Flux (Widescreen Special Collector’s Edition) (2005)

by | Apr 21, 2006 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

Aeon Flux (Widescreen Special Collector’s Edition) (2005)

Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Pete Postlethwaite, Frances McDormand
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Video: 2.40:1 Enhanced for 16:9 widescreen
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DD 2.0, French DD 5.1
Subtitles and Captions: English, Spanish and English Closed Captions
Extras: Commentary track by Charlize Theron and Producer Gale Anne Hurd; screenwriter commentary track; five featurettes (“Creating a World: ‘Aeon Flux’”, “The Locations of ‘Aeon Flux’”, “The Stunts of ‘Aeon Flux’”, “The Costume Design Workshop of ‘Aeon Flux’”, and “The Craft of the Set Photographer on ‘Aeon Flux’”); Theatrical trailer; Previews
Length: 93 minutes
Rating: ***

Charlize Theron stars as the title character in this live-action adaptation of the MTV animated series. [Which we also reviewed Here.]  The year is 2415 and it has been some four hundred years since the earth was nearly decimated by a killer virus.  The planet’s surviving residents all live in the utopian city of Bregna.  Bregna is ruled by Trevor Goodchild, an ancestor of the man who created a cure for the virus.  The Monicans are a rebel group trying to overthrow the totalitarian government of Bregna.  Aeon Flux is an agent for the Monicans and she is assigned to kill Goodchild.  In her efforts to carry out the assignment, Aeon uncovers secrets that could impact the future of the world.  I have not watched any episodes of the original animated series, and therefore am unable to comment on how true this movie was to that series.  With that caveat in mind, I thought this was a decent, futuristic sci-fi film.  The stylization of the movie reminded me of recent films like ‘The Matrix’ trilogy.  There was plenty of action, lavish landscapes, interesting costumes, and even a couple of cool weapons/gadgetry to enjoy.  The acting was pretty stiff, but I think this had more to do with the script rather than any lack of effort by the cast.  Fans of the animated series will likely want to add this DVD to their collections and I recommend others check it out as a rental first. [As a fan of the animated original, I disagree…Ed.]

The overall video quality of the DVD is excellent.  Images are crisp with razor- sharp detail.  Colors are vibrant and accurate with well-saturated hues.  Picture defect mastering is solid with no major flaws or compression artifacts.  The overall audio quality is very good and the soundtrack mix actively incorporates all of the discrete channels.  Dialogue is natural sounding and properly positioned in the center channel.  The surround channels are moderately utilized for both the sound effects and the techno-inspired music score.  The low frequency effects channel is deep and taut. 

Reference equipment used for this review: A/V Receiver- Sherwood Newcastle R-965; DVD Player- Oppo Digital OPDV 971H; Video Scaler- DVDO iScan HD+; Video projector- Studio Experience Cinema 17SF; Projection screen- Vutec 103” SilverStar; Speakers- Acoustech 5.1 channel speaker system; Tactile Transducer- Clark Synthesis Gold; Cables and Wires- Better Cables.com

– Calvin Harding, Jr.

 

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