DVD Review: The Cell

Serial killer Carl Stargher (D’Onofrio) likes to videotape the deaths of his female victims as they drown in a glass cell. And that’s not the worst part of his methodical killings. When he enters a schizophrenic seizure, the authorities, including FBI agent Peter Novak (Vaughan) call on child psychotherapist, Catherine Deane (Lopez). She has been able to enter the minds of coma victims via a radical therapy, and agrees to taking a shocking mindtrip into the dark corridors of the Stargher’s psyche with hopes of saving his final victim. The Cell offers a new twist on the science-fiction thriller crashing at the gates of a madman’s inner sanctum with eye-popping imagination. (Suzanne Hodges)
DVD Picture: The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD exhibits an absolutely surreal picture that is a beautiful transfer. Colors are eye-popping, with fully saturated hues, superbly balanced fleshtones and deep, endless blacks. Detail and definition are excellent, throughout, with exemplary contrast and shadow delineation. It can’t be ignored that there is, in fact, some edge enhancement noticed, as well as occasional pixelization, but these distractions are minor. (Suzanne Hodges)

DVD Soundtrack: The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel discrete soundtrack delivers a remarkable soundfield listening experience, along with compelling creativity. Fidelity is first-rate and the tonal balance is perceptually neutral—it should also be noted that the DVD soundtrack has been re-equalized for home theatre playback. In general, the split surrounds are subtly to moderately engaged, although there are a few moments where they become energized. Much of the audio is of a quiescent nature, and holosonic imaging is apparent throughout, albeit generally tending to be of a subtle nature that is nonetheless noteworthy and an effective component of the soundtrack’s role in the storytelling. The significant point to be made about the surrounds is that, along with the screen channels, a soundfield is rendered throughout which is impressively spacious, as well as involving, effectively drawing the listener into the momentum of the film. The various POV sequences have a subtle, yet surreal element of sound design and active dimensional engagement that is creatively interesting, and at times, a bit unnerving. One particularly interesting sound effect crafting is in Chapter 12, with the rendering of a horse’s heart beating against one of the panes of glass. The dialogue production is commendable, with natural-sounding voices, and spatial integration that is noteworthy. The music occurs with occasional moments, and has been nicely recorded and spread throughout the soundstage. Deep bass is notable, and at times is presented with significant penetration. The .1 LFE is actively exploited for this soundtrack. Overall, this is intriguing, very well-crafted movie sound that delivers exemplary fidelity, and is sure to please and engage. (Perry Sun)

This Disc Contains The Following WSR Superb Qualities:
Collector Edition
Reference Quality
Superb Cinematography
Superb Color Fidelity
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality

DVD-ROM Review

DVD-ROM Enhancements Rating: Superb

DVD-ROM Review: The Cell presents a very weird main menu, which is very fitting for the film. Once the slow moving introduction finishes, you are given links to the six subsections of this title, being Play the Movie, Original Website, Script to Screen, Hot Spot, Game Demo, and Help. The script is presented almost exactly like Body Shots and the other recent New Line releases, with easy to read print, and a window dedicated for playing the scene you are reading. This script also has print capability, for the entire script or scene by scene. After the amazing, but lengthy, introduction, you are brought to the Web site's menu. From here, you can select Superego, ID, and Ego. In the Superego section, you can find a diagram of the brain, specifically telling you what each part of the brain does. The ID section includes six downloadable screensavers and eight desktop images in a variety of resolutions. Also in this section is an apathy test, which tells you how well you experience emotions. In Ego, the only section available directly off the DVD, you can find cast and crew biographies, a story write-up, and documentation on the production notes and behind-the-scenes action. Also included on this disc is a demo for the game Cataclysm. Why this demo is on this disc, I have no clue, since it really has nothing to do with the film at all. If you play the movie from the PCFriendly software, it loads quickly to the DVD-Video main menu, which works very well using a mouse. Everything is well done on this title, and it has a lot of elements to it as well. I really did not have any problems, besides the odd choice of a game demo included.

Picture: 5
Dolby Digital Sound:5
Critics' Composite Score: 2

Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio

This review courtesy of WidescreenReview.com