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 The Cell
DVD Review by Yanman |
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"Well, if she came to believe that Stargher's world is real then theoretically, her mind could convince her body…" Entering the world of a serial killer is a theme that the movies have done over and over again. Movies like Manhunter, Silence of the lambs, Se7en, Summer of Sam and others, all plunge us into the madman's underworld. What is our fascination with these sick people? Is it simply morbid curiosity, like when we pass a major car accident and just have to slow down to look? Or is it something else, something deeper inside, a dark place in our soul, is this what makes us watch? Well whatever it is that makes us want to "get into the mind of a killer"; The Cell is certainly the movie to take us there. Here you are literally transported into the mind of the killer. Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is a child psychologist that is involved in an experimental endeavor, which allows here to travel into another person's mind. She has been using this technology to travel into the mind of a comatose boy whose mind is alive even though his body cannot respond. The hope here of course is that somehow by interacting with the person's subconscious mind there might be a chance to bring the child out of his catatonic state. This is all well and good until dangerous serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) is captured, but only after he himself has slipped into a coma. In order to save the last woman Carl has kidnapped before her automated jail cell kills her, the FBI team led by Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) must somehow extract her location from the unconscious killer. What better way is there then to send a psychologist into the killers mind? Entering into the killers mind is like entering into someone's wildest dreams, or are these nightmares? Either way this world is a visual spectacle, something right out of Alice in Wonderland's wildest dreams. Can our heroes find the information that they need to save a life? Or will the powerful mind of a psychopath trap them? New Line's Platinum Series has been setting the standard for audio and video quality from the beginning of the format, and this DVD is no exception. The Anamorphic Widescreen video maintains a high quality throughout, with only the busiest and darkest scenes exhibiting infinitesimal amounts of film grain. This in no way distracts from the beautiful visuals that are displayed in this movie. If visuals are the hear of a film like this then audio is the soul, and this 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Soundtrack has plenty of soul. Even the menus are presented in 5.1. From the voices in our killer's head, to the screams of his prisoners, every sound rings in clean and clear. Add to the great audio and video mentioned above a plethora of extras like 2 feature length commentaries (One from the director and another from the production team), deleted scenes, a documentary, visually effect vignettes, an interactive brain map and more. While this is no one-disc record maker it certainly does earn it Platinum Series name, and comes in well above average on our star scale. There are movie that are destined to be controversially, and hopefully all movies about serial killers fit into this category. You are not really supposed to like one of the main characters, the killer, you are expected to loath him. Taking that into account this one achieves its goal, the acting and plot are plausible, the visuals are stunning. The DVD is certainly worth at least a casual viewing. Now where did I put my rubber suit…I'm ready to let Jennifer Lopez into my mind…anytime!
This DVD was reviewed on Yanman.com's Reference Theater #1, using a Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player, Toshiba TW56X81, and M&K 750 THX Speakers. Panamax protects all systems at Yanman.com. |
The Cell Here you are literally transported into the mind of the killer. Staring: Jennifer Lopez Directed By: Tarsem Singh Running time: 107 Mins Bonus Materials
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