Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) |
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Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Horror |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Production Commentary Featurette-Making Of Featurette-A Director's Perspective Storyboard Comparisons-Film In Storyboard / Storyboards Only Gallery-Photo-31 Alternate Ending Deleted Scenes-6 Theatrical Trailer-3 |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2002 | ||
| Running Time | 90:20 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (72:37) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Andrzej Sekula |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Universal Pictures Home Video |
Starring |
Kari Matchett Geraint Wyn Davies Grace Lynn Kung Matthew Ferguson Neil Crone Barbara Gordon Lindsey Connell Greer Kent Bruce Gray Philip Akin Paul Robbins Andrew Scorer |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Norman Orenstein |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
I watched the prequel to this movie - Cube - about two years ago, following a friend's recommendation. The original movie was a mind-bending thriller, which I enjoyed - although never fully understood. It was an intelligent and novel film, featuring a totally unique premise and some innovative new ways to despatch the protagonists. The only thing more impressive than the plot was ChrisT's surgical dissection of the mathematical flaws in the storyline. Fans of Einstein may wish to re-read Chris' mind-bogglingly smart review here ;-).
Cube 2: Hypercube is, a little like Evil Dead II, more of a re-make than a sequel. It features more of the same, but with a presumably bigger budget and some super-dooper CGI effects. That is not to say it's bad - it does actually develop the concept a little further - but simply that it is unlikely to make much sense to those who haven't seen the first film, yet will provide a little too much deja vu to those who have.
At the start of the movie, we gradually get to meet a number of people who awaken to find themselves trapped within a seemingly endless maze of cube-shaped, identical rooms. A vast three-dimensional series of fluorescent rooms, each interconnected by a small hatch in the centre of all four walls, ceiling and floor. As the characters bump into each other, they band together in a desperate attempt to discover why they are there, and more importantly, how to get the hell out!
As the band of eight misfits - a mysterious blind girl, a dotty old lady, a young computer geek, a knife-wielding bully, an industrial designer, a psychologist, a Colonel and a lawyer - progress through the series of rooms they begin to realise that the Cube is even more complex than they first suspected. It is not a three dimensional maze at all...it is actually a four dimensional maze. Length, breadth and depth are further complicated by the introduction of a time axis to the mix. The makers of this cube have managed to develop a structure in which parallel timelines can exist, and indeed, fatally interact with each other. The characters too are not what they seem at first - they each seem to know more about their predicament than they are willing to reveal...
The bulk of the film charts the progress of the hapless victims as they become increasingly confused and desperate for escape - as indeed will many members of the viewing public. There are some quite commendable elements to this film - not least the outstanding sound design. The special effects are generally seamless with the Cube being genuinely convincing as an endless maze of interconnected rooms. The acting is in the main quite acceptable, although for some reason I had the feeling that the voices had been dubbed from Croatian or some such European language. The characters are all a bit "cookie-cutter" and the performance of the mad old lady (Barbara Gordon) was just a tad hammy and grating for my taste. Kari Matchett (Cypher) plays the lead role of Kate and she is rather good, and rather pretty to boot. Overall, however, the flick fails to really satisfy. The final scenes ultimately reveal the truth behind the Cube, but you still cannot help feeling that the whole thing is little more than a half-baked rehash of the (far superior) first movie. Probably worth a rental for fans of Cube, but a fair proportion of you are likely to be unimpressed by this multi-dimensional offering.
The video quality of this transfer is very good, being without significant flaw.
The video is presented 16x9 enhanced at 1.78:1 which is marginally different from the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is generally razor sharp throughout, with no significant grain or pixelization evident (other than some deliberate grain in the opening shots, for example around 2:11).
There are few dark scenes in this film. The majority of the action takes place in the very brightly lit rooms of the Cube. Every wall plus the floors and ceilings are lit from behind, so the film has an almost clinical, hyper-real feel to it. The main use of black is in the dark touch-panels on each of the doors, and these are wonderfully dark and glossy. The contrast is well balanced so the omnipresent white backgrounds never become overly stressful to the eyes. Where needed (in some of the later scenes) shadow detail is perfectly satisfactory. The few primary colours which do creep in (mainly from clothing) are all crisp and solidly rendered, and come out very cleanly against the white backdrops. Skins tones are just fine throughout.
There are no significant signs of MPEG compression artefacts. Due to the fairly strong backlighting which is so prevalent, there sometimes appears to be a hint of edge enhancement present. This is never distracting, and may simply be the backlighting rather than true edge enhancement. I noticed absolutely no issues with aliasing on my (progressive scan) system. There is an occasional instance of either telecine wobble or camera shake (probably the latter), most noticeable when the room is shown without occupants (for example at 47:48, 50:00 or 58:25).
Film artefacts are surprisingly common for such a recent film. They crop up fairly frequently as fleeting black specks and the very occasional scratch. They are probably made more noticeable by the unforgiving set design - almost every scene is very brightly lit, so the black specks really stand out. They are not significant enough to ruin the transfer, but they are quite noticeable.
Disappointingly for such a modern film, there are no subtitles on offer.
This disc is in a single sided, dual layered RSDL format with the very brief and non-disruptive layer change cropping up at 72:37.
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The overall audio transfer is very good and is probably the single best thing about the film.
The main English audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 encoded at 448 kbps and I listened to this in full. There is a secondary Dolby Digital 2.0 track (encoded at 224 kbps) on offer, which I sampled briefly. This is acceptable but does not pack the punch of the very nice 5.1 mix.
There are no problems with audio defects such as hiss, pops or dropouts. Dialogue is always clear and audio sync never lapsed noticeably. Strangely, though the audio always appeared to be in sync, I couldn't help feeling at various points that the dialogue felt "dubbed". Perhaps this is the result of ADR work - for me the dialogue occasionally felt somewhat "detached" from the actors.
Original music is credited to Norman Orenstein, whose previous work is unfamiliar to me. He appears to have done a fair amount of his work on television series but acquits himself well here. The music and effects blend together to provide a very fitting, tense and predominantly futuristic, post-industrial vibe.
The overall soundstage for the film is frequently highly enveloping, alternating with periods of near silence. The dialogue is well located in the centre channel and the main speakers deliver a very satisfying spread of sound across the front stage. The surround channels are well used almost constantly, providing a highly active surround presence. There are numerous opportunities for disembodied cries for help, plus nicely industrial whooshes and chirps from the door panels - every opportunity is fully exploited. The surrounds are used with the front speakers to deliver a number of impressive panning effects - a particularly good example can be heard at 12:58 as the sound chases around the speakers and passes directly overhead. There are some nicely localised effects also, for example at 17:56 where the sound is heavily located along the right side of the room.
The subwoofer gets a workout throughout the picture, without being overly dramatic about it. It supports the bass beat of the musical soundtrack very well and also contributes a satisfying bottom end to some of the more industrial spot effects.
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Perhaps surprisingly for a relatively minor flick, there are a substantial number of extras present.
The animated main menu is nicely themed around our favourite geometric shape, and is supported by a loop of the music from the film. It allows the options of playing the movie, selecting the audio track, choosing one of sixteen chapter stops or viewing the following extras:
Mark Sanders (editor) and Ernie Barbarash (producer) provide a fairly interesting and revealing commentary. For fans of the film this is worth a listen as they talk quite informally and informatively. Thankfully the director is not present, as based on his contribution to one of the later extras, his thick accent would really bog down the commentary track.
Is it just me or are these things useless? Thirty-one stills presented as a slideshow with accompanying music and (if left to run) lasting 4:21.
A theatrical trailer, presented 16x9 enhanced at 1.78:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps, and running for 1:31. Also included are two "International Clips" (running for 0:17 and 0:32) presented non 16x9 enhanced at 1.33:1.
A number of different versions of scenes presented letterboxed (not 16x9 enhanced) with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps:
We see a short (2:49) comparison of a scene with the original drawing shown fullscreen and the final film clip visible in a small window. The Angle button allows you to toggle the small video window on and off.
Two pieces are provided in this section, each presented non 16x9 enhanced at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps:
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
There are some differences in the various releases of this film around the regions. The most significant differences seem to be:
The Region 1 release gains:
There are conflicting reports of the Region 2 release, but some say it gains:
The (alleged) DTS audio track may tempt some towards the Region 2 release, but the Region 4 already has a great Dolby Digital audio transfer anyway. There are also (conflicting) suggestions that the Region 2 release misses a few of the minor extras. The difference between the Region 1 (reported) 1.85:1 transfer and our own (measured) 1.78:1 may be significant to some. If you really must own the film, the Region 4 will probably suffice unless you need the English subtitles.
Cube 2: Hypercube is not a bad film. It is, however, not as imaginative as its predecessor, and despite the great audio and very good video transfer is not as entertaining overall. Fans of the first film may want to check this one out to see how things have developed - I would suggest you rent before you buy.
The video quality is very good.
The audio transfer is very good.
Extras are surprisingly plentiful.
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| Extras | |
| Plot | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Harmony DVD Video/Audio PAL Progressive, using Component output |
| Display | Sanyo PLV-Z2 WXGA projector. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-SR600 with DD-EX and DTS-ES |
| Speakers | JensenSPX-9 fronts, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 surrounds, Jensen SPX-17 subwoofer |