Next
Paramount Pictures, 2007 (2007 Release)
Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Violent Action and Some Language
Video: 1080p High Definition (2.35x1)
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby True HD; English, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus; French 2.0 Dolby Digital Plus
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese; English SDH
Street Date: September 25, 2007
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The Feature:
In Next, Nicholas Cage is Cris Johnson, a.k.a. Frank Cadillac--a Vegas magician who can actually do one trick very well. It is not really a trick, either: he can see two minutes into the future. From the perspective of someone who lives in Vegas, Johnson can eek out an existence playing the tables at low stakes, but he is haunted by a vision of a woman, played by Jessica Biel, and dogged by a hard-nosed FBI agent played by Julianne Moore. Biel teaches children on Indian reservations and is an all-around nice person; Cage and Biel's stories intersect when he runs across her in a diner. Moore is on the hunt of nuclear terrorists, and she wants to co-opt Cage so he can use his talents to track down a bomb before it explodes.
Based loosely on a story by Philip K. Dick, Next actually surprised the Friday Night Family and entertained us to the point of applause. At more than one point in the movie, we commented that we had no idea where the story was going, and that was a good thing. Although the gimmick of seeing short-term in the future was exploited brilliantly in Minority Report, this variation worked just as well, probably because it was present day science fiction. Once you accept the notion that the Nicholas Cage character can keep one step ahead because he is psychic in just the right way, the story really does fall into place instead of fall apart.
Next disappeared at the box office--I vaguely recall seeing a trailer for it, but the movie fizzled. That's a shame. My crowd found it to be perfect Friday night entertainment, where the story was not overly serious, the bad guys generally got theirs, and the good guys almost always prevailed. There was almost an exploding helicopter, too.
But this is a Philip K. Dick story, and just like Total Recall, it does try to mess with you a bit. That worked, though. I think Next will hold up to scrutiny for a subsequent viewing, and I would certainly recommend it for an entertaining evening's rental. Unfortunately, with a suggested retail price on HD DVD of $40, even the discount prices are a little steep. Paramount--make your HD DVD's $20 street price, and I won't complain.
The Video:
The video is 1080p high definition in the 2.35x1 aspect ratio; the picture impresses, from the stylized views of what the Matrix movies would call Bullet Time, to the eye-popping visuals of the Grand Canyon. This could almost double for Planet Earth at times, or CSI when the bright lights of Las Vegas are in the picture.
The Sound:
Paramount impresses with a full complement of sound options, including a 5.1 track in lossless Dolby TrueHD, 5.1 tracks in both English and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus, and a 2.0 French track in Dolby Digital Plus. There is plenty of bang in this soundtrack, and a thumping good time from the subwoofer perspective.
The Extras:
The extras amount to four relatively short video featurettes that are typical EPK fluff pieces, and the theatrical trailer. Although the associated interview footage and most of the production footage is in high definition, the one segment where HD would matter, filmed at the Grand Canyon, includes standard definition footage shot at the canyon itself. The SD footage is pillarboxed with blurry edges--I would much prefer simple black pillar bars. Meanwhile, there is no commentary track, only a hint of storyboards during the documentary featurettes, and minor interviews that shed little light on the making of the film. I guess this is appropriate for a movie that had such a minor impact in the box-office, but I would have liked to have seen more.
The Original DVD:
I never want to buy it, although the SD package is a good $10 cheaper than the HD package on Amazon right now. Tsk, tsk.
The Final Word:
Next was an entertaining flick, but the overall package on HD is over-priced. Still, the picture and sound almost make it worth the cost.
Buy Next on HD DVD from Amazon and sign up for Amazon Prime for unlimited 2-day delivery for one year!
Listen to this review (MP3 - all platforms)
The Feature:
In Next, Nicholas Cage is Cris Johnson, a.k.a. Frank Cadillac--a Vegas magician who can actually do one trick very well. It is not really a trick, either: he can see two minutes into the future. From the perspective of someone who lives in Vegas, Johnson can eek out an existence playing the tables at low stakes, but he is haunted by a vision of a woman, played by Jessica Biel, and dogged by a hard-nosed FBI agent played by Julianne Moore. Biel teaches children on Indian reservations and is an all-around nice person; Cage and Biel's stories intersect when he runs across her in a diner. Moore is on the hunt of nuclear terrorists, and she wants to co-opt Cage so he can use his talents to track down a bomb before it explodes.
Based loosely on a story by Philip K. Dick, Next actually surprised the Friday Night Family and entertained us to the point of applause. At more than one point in the movie, we commented that we had no idea where the story was going, and that was a good thing. Although the gimmick of seeing short-term in the future was exploited brilliantly in Minority Report, this variation worked just as well, probably because it was present day science fiction. Once you accept the notion that the Nicholas Cage character can keep one step ahead because he is psychic in just the right way, the story really does fall into place instead of fall apart.
Next disappeared at the box office--I vaguely recall seeing a trailer for it, but the movie fizzled. That's a shame. My crowd found it to be perfect Friday night entertainment, where the story was not overly serious, the bad guys generally got theirs, and the good guys almost always prevailed. There was almost an exploding helicopter, too.
But this is a Philip K. Dick story, and just like Total Recall, it does try to mess with you a bit. That worked, though. I think Next will hold up to scrutiny for a subsequent viewing, and I would certainly recommend it for an entertaining evening's rental. Unfortunately, with a suggested retail price on HD DVD of $40, even the discount prices are a little steep. Paramount--make your HD DVD's $20 street price, and I won't complain.
The Video:
The video is 1080p high definition in the 2.35x1 aspect ratio; the picture impresses, from the stylized views of what the Matrix movies would call Bullet Time, to the eye-popping visuals of the Grand Canyon. This could almost double for Planet Earth at times, or CSI when the bright lights of Las Vegas are in the picture.
The Sound:
Paramount impresses with a full complement of sound options, including a 5.1 track in lossless Dolby TrueHD, 5.1 tracks in both English and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus, and a 2.0 French track in Dolby Digital Plus. There is plenty of bang in this soundtrack, and a thumping good time from the subwoofer perspective.
The Extras:
The extras amount to four relatively short video featurettes that are typical EPK fluff pieces, and the theatrical trailer. Although the associated interview footage and most of the production footage is in high definition, the one segment where HD would matter, filmed at the Grand Canyon, includes standard definition footage shot at the canyon itself. The SD footage is pillarboxed with blurry edges--I would much prefer simple black pillar bars. Meanwhile, there is no commentary track, only a hint of storyboards during the documentary featurettes, and minor interviews that shed little light on the making of the film. I guess this is appropriate for a movie that had such a minor impact in the box-office, but I would have liked to have seen more.
The Original DVD:
I never want to buy it, although the SD package is a good $10 cheaper than the HD package on Amazon right now. Tsk, tsk.
The Final Word:
Next was an entertaining flick, but the overall package on HD is over-priced. Still, the picture and sound almost make it worth the cost.
Buy Next on HD DVD from Amazon and sign up for Amazon Prime for unlimited 2-day delivery for one year!
Posted: Fri - September 7, 2007 at 11:31 PM |
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Published On: Sep 08, 2007 03:24 PM
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Published On: Sep 08, 2007 03:24 PM
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