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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Cellular (2004)

Cellular (2004)

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Released 12-Apr-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Introduction
Main Menu Audio & Animation
Dolby Digital Trailer-Rain
Audio Commentary-Filmmakers'
Deleted Scenes
Featurette-Celling Out
Featurette-Dialing Up Cellular
Featurette-Code Of Silence: Inside The Rampart Scandal
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2004
Running Time 90:06 (Case: 94)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (62:47) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By David R. Ellis
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Kim Basinger
Chris Evans
William H. Macy
Eric Christian Olsen
Jessica Biel
Jason Statham
Richard Burgi
Eddie Driscoll
Eric Etebari
Adam Taylor Gordon
Bryan Holly
Brendan Kelly
Mircea Monroe
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $34.95 Music John Ottman
Lior Rosner


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired
English Audio Commentary
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Cellular is one of the new-age style of thrillers that uses a gimmick as its key plot device. Much like Panic Room or Phone Booth (the latter of which was also penned by Cellular scribe Larry Cohen) the film revolves around a piece of everyday modern equipment - in this case a cellular, or as we know them here in Australia, mobile phone. The film is almost a natural progression from the antics of Colin Farrell, when he was trapped by the sniper in the phone booth due to the stationary nature of the fixed land line. This time the chief character is Ryan (Chris Evans) and like any trendsetting twenty-something he has the latest in cellular technology at his fingertips, allowing him to move about at will.

    The story begins by introducing us to Jessica Martin (a rather disinterested Kim Basinger it must be said), a teacher living in a leafy Californian suburb. Her day starts much like any other as she sees her son Ricky (Adam Taylor Gordon) off to school. But within a few minutes of the opening credits her fortunes take a nosedive, when her home is invaded by a group of armed men. After killing her maid to prove that they mean business, the group, led by the ice-cool Greer (Jason Statham) kidnap Jessica and dump her in an old house in a isolated location. Jessica is locked in the attic and cannot escape, but with the remains of the recently smashed-up phone, she can manage to make a random phone call to a mobile phone number.

    The desperate Jessica, still with no idea why she has been kidnapped, manages to contact Ryan (Chris Evans) and finally convince the initially sceptical young man she is in danger. While at first not wanting to get involved, Ryan finally agrees to take his phone to the local police station and let them hear the story firsthand. The cop at the station, an about-to-retire officer Mooney (William H. Macy), thinks there might be something in the story and sends Ryan up to the detectives floor. This will not be the last that officer Mooney hears of this case.

    With no detectives around and a signal about to drop out, it is up to Ryan to put a plan into action to rescue Jessica. Will he make it before his battery or his prepaid service runs out? Only time will tell.

    This is a film that sets a cracking pace (the action is off and running after a little more than three minutes), but also requires the viewer to ignore a few of the gaping plot holes (like how lucky it is that Jessica manages to randomly dial up a mobile phone number in the same city as her). Leave the brain at the door and enjoy.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Another recent film is served by decent video transfer. Overall this is good effort offering plenty of well-saturated colours and lots of detail.

    It is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is also 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is nice and sharp with only a couple of minor traces of edge enhancement on some of the more dimly lit scenes. There are no problems with shadow detail and there is no low level noise.

    As mentioned, the colour palette is bright and vivid when required, capturing the sun drenched tones of the Californian beach culture. Skin tones are consistent and blacks are solid.

    There are no compression artefacts, and the transfer is free from any Aliasing" href="http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/VideoArtefacts/VideoArtefactsAliasing.html"> aliasing or other film-to-video artefacts. A handful of small spots in the form of film artefacts are about the only blemishes.

    English subtitles in two flavours are the only choices here, one for the film and the other for the commentary track. Both are accurate and well placed on screen.

    This is a dual layered disc that is formatted RSDL. The layer change occurs quite late in the film at 62:47.

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

Audio

    There is a superb selection of soundtracks for you to choose from here and thankfully all are English.

    There are three different tracks for the main film, these being a Dolby Digital 5.1 effort encoded at the higher bitrate of 448 Kb/s, a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo  soundtrack encoded at the bitrate of 224 Kb/s and a lovely dts soundtrack encoded at the lower bitrate of 768 Kb/s. Rounding out the selection is an English commentary track. Both 5.1 surround soundtracks are excellent. They are solid, with heaps of low end punch and good reach across the full dynamic range. They both fill the full listening space for much of the film, utilising all 5.1 channels consistently.

    The dialogue is perfectly balanced, clear, and easily understood. It is very prominent in the overall soundtrack, and there are no problems with audio sync.

    The score is credited to John Ottman and is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the film. It captures the funky mobile phone culture of the younger generation to perfection.

    As mentioned there is significant surround channel use for much of the film. All manner of streetscape sounds, crashes and bangs, and the thumping score fill the surround channels consistently throughout. Easily one of the better surround tracks I have heard for some time.

    The subwoofer is also used consistently. The score in particular cops a fair hammering at the lower end of the range.



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

Extras

Main Menu Introduction

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Dolby Digital Trailer

    Rain.

dts trailer

    Piano.

Audio Commentary -  David Ellis (director), Tawny Ellis (producer) and Annie Ellis (assistant stunt coordinator)

    A real family affair here with director David Ellis joined by daughter Tawny Ellis and sister Annie Ellis. In keeping with the theme of the film, David Ellis calls other cast and crew members on their cell phones. These include New Line boss Bob Shaye, producer Lauren Lloyd and writer Larry Cohen. This of course breaks away from any real screen specific commentary, lending more to it than the usual mundane description of what is happening on the screen.

Deleted Scenes

    Two alternate or extended scenes and three deleted scenes are available and can be played with or without commentary from the director. The first alternate scene is a slightly different intro to the film (1:25), while the last scene is a slightly longer ending (1:25). The other three deleted scenes run for between 0:33 and 1:05.

Featurette - Celling Out

    A reasonably interesting 19:35 featurette dedicated to the mobile or cellular phone. Find out how it was invented, why it is called cellular technology and why it boomed around the world. A worthy inclusion.

Featurette - Dialing Up Cellular

    A making-of that hovers between being an outright fluff piece and one that shows some interesting behind-the-scenes activity. Worth persevering with for 25:54.

Featurette - Code Of Silence: Inside The Rampart Scandal

    A 26:59 documentary not really relevant to the film but interesting nonetheless showing how art often imitates life. I don't want to discuss what it is about since it gives away a significant plot element of the film.

Theatrical Trailer

    A funky and cracking trailer that offers an explosive full Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Runs for 2:10.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    From the information I can find, the Region 4 disc is a clear winner here. While identical in terms of extras, the Region 1 disc lacks the dts soundtrack so nicely featured on the Region 4 disc.

    The Region 2 UK disc is identical to the Region 4.

Summary

    Cellular is a competent and moderately successful thriller that is delivered at a cracking pace. It features a fairly unbelievable plot with some significant suspension of belief required, but if you leave your brain at the door, it should prove a good night's entertainment.

    The video and audio are excellent, with the highlight being a crunching dts soundtrack.

    The extras are numerous.

 

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Darren Walters (It's . . . just the vibe . . . of my bio)
Monday, April 25, 2005
Review Equipment
DVDDenon DVD-3910, using RGB output
DisplayLoewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
AmplificationHarmon/Kardon AVR7000.
SpeakersFront - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10

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