Unstoppable (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	91:42
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	David Carson
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Wesley Snipes Mark Sheppard Stuart Wilson Jacgueline Obradors
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	Louis Febre

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    Wesley Snipes plays Dean Cage, a traumatized former Army Special Ops soldier who gets mistaken for a government agent at a roadside diner while waiting for his girlfriend. A renegade government agency injects Cage with a hallucinogenic mind-control drug that allows them to alter his reality with simple suggestions. Finding himself on the run, Cage must search for the antidote before his foes, inner demons and the drug-induced illusions destroy him.

    Unstoppable is a moderately entertaining direct-to-DVD action film that has an interesting central concept. Combining elements of The Manchurian Candidate & Jacob's Ladder, the filmmakers conjure up an interesting premise that is reasonably plausible given today's political climate. Unfortunately, a lack of strong direction and limited budget turn what could have been a decent thriller into a generic exploitation quickie. What ultimately makes the film watchable is a decent cast led by Wesley Snipes. Why Snipes is appearing in direct to video fodder is anyone's guess, especially considering the huge success of the Blade films. I suspect that like Stallone and Seagal et al are aware, there is a lot of money to be made in action quickies that can easily be filmed between higher profile projects. Snipes gives a solid performance as Dean Cage, the strung out ex-Special Forces operative and is ably supported by Stuart Wilson (Lethal Weapon 3) and Jacqueline Obradors (Six Days Seven Nights). Director David Carson (Star Trek Generations) provides a number of reasonably entertaining action scenes and the special effects are adequate, but his use of flashbacks are poorly realised and become distracting as the film progresses.

    Unstoppable is definitely a step up from most direct to video tripe.

Video

    Unstoppable is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    The film's transfer has acceptable sharpness levels. I did not notice any unwanted aliasing or edge enhancement during the film. Shadow details are solid with strong blacks and detailed background information. There were no low level noise problems to be found.

    Colours were vibrant with no image bleeding apparent.

    There were little to no film artefacts present during the film.

    Overall, this is a very reasonable transfer of a mediocre film

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Unstoppable has been given a solitary track in English Dolby Digital 5.1.

    Dialogue levels are strong with no discernable audio sync problems.

    Louis Febre provides the film's score and does a reasonable job. The score is never intrusive and tends to underplay the on-screen action instead of overwhelming it.

    The 5.1 mix has a very well constructed surround channel presence. Directional effects are well rendered and give the rear channels a busy workout.

    The subwoofer adds the requisite bass and reverberation.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    All versions of this film appear to be the same.

   Unstoppable is reasonably well made as far as direct to video fodder is concerned. The disc looks and sounds great, but is totally lacking in extras. Definitely a rental at best.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall