Eve of Destruction (1991)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1991
Running Time	96:05
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Duncan Gibbins
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Gregory Hines Renée Soutendijk Michael Greene Kurt Fuller John M. Jackson Loren Haynes Nelson Mashita Alan Haufrect Maryedith Burrell Norman Merrill Craig Oldfather Greg Collins Eddie Matthews
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$14.95	Music	Philippe Sarde

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/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 French Spanish Dutch	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Dr Eve Simmons takes Eve VIII, a female military surveillance android modelled on her own likeness, on test manoeuvres in the metropolitan area. However, Eve VIII is damaged during a bank robbery and begins to malfunction. Eve VIII is now trapped in Battlefield Mode with no override command. Anti-terrorist specialist Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines) is brought in to try and stop Eve VIII as it goes on a rampage of destruction, trying to eliminate the emotional scars from its creator's past. McQuade's efforts to stop it are hampered by its built-in nuclear weapon that is on a countdown to detonation.

    Eve Of Destruction is a low budget Terminator knock-off with a feminine slant. Released in 1991, the film had a brief theatrical engagement in the United States before heading straight to video in the rest of the world. Eve was obviously made to cash in on the release of James Cameron's Terminator 2. However, that's where comparisons end. Cameron's film was a juggernaut of sight and sound with an exceptionally strong story thread. Eve Of Destruction's screenplay lacks cohesion and only exists in order to hastily string together a number of set pieces. However, there are a few bright spots scattered amongst the wreckage. Gregory Hines plays the lead with conviction and is given several clever lines of dialogue. The climactic set piece in a subway transit station is reasonably well filmed and does contain a modest amount of tension.

    Dr Eve Simmons / Eve VIII as played by Renée Soutendijk is reasonably effective, but the logic and decision making of both characters is fundamentally flawed and reeks of poor penmanship. There have been dozens of Terminator rip-offs over the years - Eve Of Destruction is one of the less offensive ones.

Video

    Eve Of Destruction is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    For a budget release the transfer is reasonably sharp. There is a slight aliasing problem found in the opening 5 minutes, but it quickly dissipates. Shadow details are reasonable with only a few patches of grain found during the two night time sequences.

    Colours are natural with no image bleeding, however they do appear slightly washed out.

    There are film artefacts scattered throughout the transfer, but they are not overly distracting.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The film has been given three audio tracks in English, French and Spanish. All are 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround.

    Dialogue is clear at all times with no audio sync issues.

    The film's score is not intrusive and does contain an increasing tempo which elevates what little tension there is on-screen.

    Surround channel usage is minimal. The rear channels mostly consist of ambient noise with sporadic directional effects like gunfire thrown in for good measure.

    The subwoofer adds enough bass to liven up the action scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    The R4 version of the DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The R1 version of the DVD is full frame.

    The clear winner is R4.

    Eve Of Destruction is a harmless B grade sci-fi time waster. The cast are decent, and there are a few well staged action scenes scattered around. The transfer is reasonably solid - just don't expect extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall