Blu-ray Review: The Hollow Man

THE MOVIE: 3 3/4 stars out of 5

The Hollow Man-Directors cut stars Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Caine, a brilliant scientist and the leader of a secret Pentagon financed research team that was conducting experiments that would enable them to render living beings invisible and then bring them back. The initial subjects of the experiments were animals, ranging from dogs to apes. Apparently, it was easier to make the subjects invisible than bring them back. A break through lead to a successful effort to restore the test subjects which in turn leads Dr. Caine to test the process on himself with predictably disastrous results. While it was easy to render him invisible, there was a problem bringing him back. As his team worked on modifying the process to restore him, they failed to realize the effect that his invisibility would have on his sanity. Dr. Caine has a nervous breakdown and turns on his team with murderous results. The film co-stars Elizabeth Sue as Dr. Caine’s ex-wife and research partner Linda and Josh Brolin as Matt, another of the research team and Linda’ secret lover.

While parts of the film are rather predictable, it is a good action thriller and well worth a couple hours of your time. I would rate it a rental however. If your local video store rents Blu-Ray discs, check it out. I do not issue money back guarantees however.

THE VIDEO: 4 3/4 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1, this is an excellent encode, better than I would have expected. Color rendition is excellent with very natural looking skin tones. Blacks are deep and solid rendering an excellent three dimensional image. The only drawback to the image that I saw was a very slight softness which dropped my score just a tad from perfect. The encode is not as sharp as the best encodes out there, such as the two best I have seen, Hot Fuzz and Bourne Ultimatum, at least in regards to live action films. However it comes darn close. An excellent looking release from the folks at Columbia/Sony.

THE AUDIO: 5 stars out of 5

I have no issues at all with the audio track on this release. Presented with an uncompressed 5.1 track at 48 kHz/24 bit, this is a great sounding movie. The sound is smooth and open with excellent bass response. This is another track where you can crank up the sound without a hint of listener fatigue. Dialogue is clear and well mixed, never getting lost in the sound field which is totally immersive, especially in the lab, where you can hear the entire space reproduced in your room with subtle decay and echos. This is one beautiful sounding audio track. I can’t imagine it sounding any better. Very well done.

IN CONCLUSION

This is one excellent looking and sounding release from Columbia Pictures. The release is of top quality on both fronts. While the film is quite predictable, it is nonetheless well worth the effort and a solid rental candidate on a dreary day like today.

For more high-def news, please click: TVPredictions.com.