BLU-RAY
REVIEW: GATTACA
Special Edition
03/09/08
What if because of physical
or mental limitations, determined by your DNA, you were told
what you could achieve. While this is done now to a lesser
degree, the world depicted in Andrew Nicool’s Gattaca is not
far away. In his writing and directorial debut Andrew Niccol
has created a superb sci-fi movie of the not so distant
future.
In Gattaca Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) is a faith birth.
Which means he was born as nature intended, with no genetic
intervention. As a result, he suffers from myopia and a
congenital heart defect. These defects are never a good
thing, but in the society Vincent lives in where social
classes are determined by ones DNA these defects are
detrimental. The best Vincent can hope for is a job in
janitorial services. Vincent is what is known as an
in-valid.
Jerome Eugene Morrow (Jude Law) is born using the latest
genetic technology; a process by where all the
the genes carrying defects are removed from the parent’s
cells to insure the best possible genetic result. Despite
his genetic superiority, Jerome a star swimmer enters a
state of depression after losing the gold medal. A suicide
attempt leaves him paralysis from the waist down. Since the
incident occur outside the country, Jerome is still known as
a valid
Seeking to became a valid Vincent calls on the underground
world to buy an identity and is paired with Jerome. The deal
is that Jerome with supply blood and urine samples in order
for Vincent to pass the genetic test and in return Vincent
will provide a lively hood for Jerome. With this Vincent can
accomplish his dream and enters the space program. He is
easily accepted in the space program and the only criteria
was his new found DNA. As Jerome he starts a relationship
with fellow cadet Irene Cassini (Uma Thurman) who find
Vincent’s genetic profile impressive. However, a week before
Vincent’s schedule trip to Saturn's moon Titan, the mission
director is murdered and Vincent’s DNA is found, igniting a
thorough investigate of everyone.
The greatest thing about Gattaca is that the world depicted
is not far away from ours. It is easy to see that we are
heading in this direction. Take for example the testing that
a lot of elementary school children receive these days. The
exam establishes which classroom they will be seated in: the
smart class or the dumb class labeling the child forever.
Only those determined to break out of the label like Vincent
can manage to accomplish their dreams. Man is more than the
sum of his parts and cannot be easily quantified. The
message Vincent Freeman tries to convey is this: In this
world it doesn’t matter what you are or what you have; you
can achieved anything if you really want it.
Jude Law while not having as much screen time gives the best
performance of his career. I saw this movie back in 1997 and
it was refreshing to see Jude Law without all the hype and
tabloid muck. Ethan Hawke, while not as good a Jude Law,
gives a good performance. Uma Thurman was good, but not
great. The set design is impressive and it’s no wonder that
art director Jan Roelfs and set decorator Nancy Nye were
nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Art
Direction-Set Decoration, but lost out to Titanic.
The picture in Blu-ray looks spectacular. It is amazing to
see that with the proper equipment it is now possible to get
the theatrical experience at home. The colors used in the
movie are beautiful and the look of the movie is a real
delight. The audio is just as great. This translation blows
the standard DVD edition out of the water. The Blu-ray disk
includes the original featurtte and a new featurette where
the producers and the stars of the movie reunite to discuss
the movie 10 years later. It also includes a 15 minutes
documentary on the field of genetic engineering. The
documentary is very interesting and a must see for anyone
wanting to know more about genetic engineering. The disk
also includes six deleted scenes. Overall this is a disk
worth purchasing even if you own the standard edition.
VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
AUDIO:
English
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish: 5.1
Subtitles English/English
SDH/French/Spanish/Portuguese/Chinese/Korean/Thai
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Original Featurette
- The original featurette features interviews with Ethan
Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman discussing their characters
and the movie itself. Producer Danny DeVito talks about the
genius of writer/director Andrew Niccol, but oddly Andrew is
not interviewed. (6:52)
Welcome to Gattaca -New Featurette featuring
interviews with everyone involved in the movie expect Andrew
Niccol. Overall this is a nice behind the scenes for those
wanting to know the development process behind Gattaca.
Danny Devito discusses the casting of Jude Law for his first
American film. (22:00)
Do not Alter - A interesting documentary
narrated by Gore Vidal about gene engineering discussing the
breakthroughs made and the new controversial technologies.
(14:52)
Substance Take Outake - Funny outtake with the doctor
drinking a sample. (0:36)
Deleted Scenes - Six deleted scenes. The most
profound is Coda featuring a list of people that may have
never been born had genetic engineering alteration been
discovered early. The list includes Abraham Lincoln, Alberto
Einstein and Stephen Hawkins.
1.
Hard Walls
2. Farewell to Caesar
3. Eight Day Center (Original Version)
4. Mission Briefing
5. Investigator Exposed
6. Coda
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Milton Brayson
milton@smartcine.com
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