Pulse (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Featurette-Making Of-Creating the fear Featurette-Making Of-The Special effects of Pulse Featurette-Pulse and the Paranormal Deleted Scenes
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	84:13
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jim Sonzero
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Kristen Bell Ian Somerhalder Christina Milian Rick Gonzalez Jonathan Tucker Samm Levine Octavia Spencer
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$32.95	Music	Elia Cmiral

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Pulse is based on the Japanese horror movie Kairo and centers on a group of students who discover that a friend of theirs has unwittingly pirated a strange wireless signal that opened a doorway to another dimension allowing a terrifying evil to cross over into our world. As it spreads, everyone in its path is consumed, and the students must race to find a way to stop it.

    Much Like The Ring and The Grudge, Pulse is a remake of a Japanese horror movie. The Japanese version was a genuinely creepy and disturbing movie. This remake however is your typical glossy no substance Hollywood product that tries too hard to scare its audience. Typical of Hollywood, particularly in the horror genre, is the need for scriptwriters to have the main characters state the obvious denying the audience the use of their intelligence. There is a reason why certain horror films need to revel in the unexplained, and that's why the original which was often incomprehensible and disjointed worked so well.

    Add to this some awful dialogue and sub-par acting combined with gratuitous overuse of CGI and you have a film that squanders whatever promise it may have had. Adding insult to injury is the total lack of any nudity — something even the worst 1980s horror films knew they had to provide. All in all a very disappointing experience. My suggestion is check out the original instead.

Video

    Pulse is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer presented by Roadshow is simply excellent. The picture has a very sharp image that is basically faultless. Shadow levels are spot on with strong detailed images and solid blacks. There is not a hint of low level noise or compression artefacts. Grain is just as scarce.

    Colours are intentionally muted and add an otherworldly feel to the on screen drama.

    There are no film or video artefacts to speak of.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The film has been given a strong English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1.

Dialogue is always clear and never loses clarity during the on screen mayhem that overflows the film's soundtrack. There are no audio sync problems with this transfer.

    The film's music is more than appropriate and enhances the on screen action with panache.

    The 5.1 surround channel usage is excellent. Directional sound fields are given a tremendous workout. This is most apparent in the rear channels. Sound effects are hurled from one side of the room to the other with barely a lull in the action. A first rate 5.1 mix.

    The subwoofer gives a solid reverberation base to the proceedings.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Two audio commentary tracks

    The first of two coma inducing commentaries has director Sonzero and special makeup effects designer Gary Tunnicliffe discussing the film. Sonzero is under the apprehension he has made a masterpiece and feels the need to share his opinion. Complete waste of time. The second commentary features producers Mike Leahy and Joel Soisson along with visual effects supervisor Kevin O'Neil, editor Kirk Morri, line producer Ron Vecchiarelli and actor Sam Levine. Only slightly better than track one, and that's due to Levine who decides to make fun of the production crew. Again skip it unless you are a die hard fan.

Deleted and additional scenes

Creating the Fear: Making Pulse

    A seven-minute making off featurette focusing on the production crew. Not very well made, full of congratulatory back slapping and completely un-interesting.

The Visual Effects of Pulse

    A six-minute focus on the special effects. Far more interesting than the prior self-congratulatory love fest.

Pulse and the Paranormal

    A look at the idea that the dead can communicate with the living via electromagnetic energy. If you are into this type of phenomena there are a number of so called experts interviewed on the subject, which is far more interesting than the film itself.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    This title was released in R1 as an unrated version, but it is not clear yet whether the Region 4 DVD is also uncut.

    Pulse is another casualty in a long line of recent substandard Hollywood remakes. The disc looks and sounds fine, and for those desperate fans looking for extras, Roadshow has provided the goods.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall