Into the Blue (2005) |
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Into the Blue (2005) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Dolby Digital Trailer Audio Commentary-John Stockwell (Director) Featurette-Diving Deeper Into The Blue Deleted Scenes-With Optional Director's Commentary Featurette-Screen Tests Trailer-The Fog, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, MirrorMask |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2005 | ||
| Running Time | 106 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | John Stockwell |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Paul Walker Jessica Alba Scott Caan Ashley Scott Josh Brolin James Frain Tyson Beckford Dwayne Adway Javon Frazer Chris Taloa Peter R.V. Bowleg Jr. Clifford McIntosh Adam Collins |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Paul Haslinger |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English English for the Hearing Impaired Dutch Hindi Dutch Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
Set in the picturesque Bahamas, diving bums Jared (Paul Walker) and Sam (Jessica Alba) invite best friend Bryce (Scott Caan) and his girlfriend Amanda (Ashley Scott) to go scuba diving during their vacation visit. The foursome finds both an ancient and valuable sunken ship, and a recently crashed plane with 800 kilograms of cocaine on board. Ignoring the cocaine in an effort to secure the salvage rights to the buried treasure, their luck runs out when the local drug dealers discover their secret. Now the friends have to deliver the sunken cocaine while protecting the existence of the priceless shipwreck.
Into The Blue was eviscerated by critics when released in 2005 and rightfully so. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that this film is a guilty pleasure of the highest order. Sure the film's screenplay is only two steps removed from High School level competence and the acting is sometimes laughable. But let's face it, folks - people willing to fork out hard-earned cash to see a scuba diving thriller with Paul Walker and Jessica Alba in the lead are not looking for Shakespeare.
Simply put this film is a no-brainer that makes no allusions as to what it is - pretty people looking for treasure while dodging bullets and sharks - but it’s better than you’d imagine. For one the director of photography should be commended as the film is absolutely gorgeous to look at in every sense of the word from the beautiful undersea setting and camerawork to the unquestionable physical prowess of the cast. The film showcases these attributes with an unwavering zeal. Director Stockwell does a reasonable job in pacing the film, timing each shock or plot twist fittingly to cover up for the obvious narrative inadequacies.
Ultimately Into the Blue is an extremely routine thriller with a number of well staged action sequences including several fairly brutal shark attacks. It also just happens to be visually stunning in places and with that I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jessica Alba's costume designer.
Into The Blue has been presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.
This was one of the first films cannibalised by Sony when they took over MGM/UA management and as a result the transfer is near perfect as are most of Sony's releases. The transfer is basically faultless with no aliasing or edge enhancement problems. Shadow details are very strong with very little grain and no low level noise issues.
Colours are striking and showcase the underwater photography to great effect.
The transfer is blemish free, with no video or film artefacts present
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Into The Blue has been given two audio tracks. The first is a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. The second is a 2.0 Dolby surround audio commentary track.
Dialogue is clear and there are no audio sync issues, save those resulting from additional ADR sessions in post production.
The film's music is forgettable but never intrusive. As is the norm with such releases the score is laced with the occasional chart topper.
The 5.1 Surround Channel Usage is above average, with directional effects particularly well rendered. Rear channel activity is constant and well balanced.
The Subwoofer adds enough bass and reverberation to enhance the more robust sequences adequately.
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NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
All versions of this DVD are currently the same.
Into The Blue is without question one of 2005's guilty pleasures. It's plotless, pointless, and shamelessly exploitive, but fun. The disc looks great and for those die hard Walker and Alba fans there are a number of extras.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using Component output |
| Display | LG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Sony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony HT-K215 |
| Speakers | fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie |