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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.
Ben 10: Alien Swarm (2009)

Ben 10: Alien Swarm (2009)

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Released 2-Dec-2009

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Audio
Featurette-Behind The Scenes
Music Video
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2009
Running Time 66:24 (Case: 70)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Alex Winter
Studio
Distributor
Cartoon Network
Madman Entertainment
Starring James Krieg
John Turman
Ryan Kelley
Barry Corbin
Vicki Lewis
Alex Winter
Dee Bradley Baker
Galadriel Stineman
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Michael Wandmacher


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

    'Like totally whatev' - Kevin Levin

    Ben10: Alien Force is the teenage version of Ben 10. Both are animated cartoon series made for the Cartoon Network in the US. The story of Ben10: Alien Force involves a teenager, Ben Tennyson who found a strange watch when he was younger (in the original series). This watch is called the Omnitrix and allows him to change into various aliens to battle threats to earth (mostly from other alien life forms). He is ably assisted by his cousin Gwen, former enemy Kevin E. Levin and Ben's Grandpa Max, who is a member of a secret organisation called The Plumbers, who fight aliens. There were two spinoff movies from the original Ben 10 series, one animated (Secret of the Omnitrix) and one live action (Race Against Time), however, this movie Ben 10 : Alien Swarm is the first movie to be spun off from the new series.

    This is a significantly better movie than the previous live action effort, with better effects, a better written story and much tighter direction (from the same director, Alex Winter, who you will remember as Bill of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure).

    The story here involves Kevin (Nathan Keyes) being approached by people trying to sell him alien technology, however, it seems to be a trap when a girl, Elena, from Ben's (Ryan Kelley) past shows up during the transaction claiming that she needs help to rescue her father. Her father is a disgraced member of The Plumbers who was found to have stolen alien technology from the vaults. Grandpa Max (Barry Corbin) threw him out of The Plumbers accordingly. The rest of the team don't trust Elena but Ben decides to defy his Grandfather and try to help her. The alien technology is some computer chips which actually seem to be alive and have the ability to fly around in great packs or swarms. These chips also seem to be able to infect people, turning them into zombies. Fans will be keen to know that during the story Ben turns into Big Chill, Humungosaur and a new character Nanomech who can change his size to be really tiny. Of course, Kevin, Gwen (Galadriel Stineman) and Grandpa Max are soon involved as well.

    Fans of the series will certainly enjoy this film and my young Ben 10 fans were much keener on this new film than the original one.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite sharp and clear. There was no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was very good.

    The colour was very good with no major issues to report.

    Artefacts included some edge enhancement and some minor MPEG artefacts esp. during fast movement such as at 55:40.

    There are subtitles in English in yellow. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read.

    There is no layer change.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is surprisingly good for a television production.

    This DVD contains two audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score by Michael Wandmacher does a fine job without intruding. There are also rock and hip-hop songs which fit the youthful nature of this production.

    The surround speakers were well used by the 5.1 track providing lots of directional effects sycg as loud cars, explosions music and lots more.

    The subwoofer was also well used for music, action scenes and tension noises.

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

Extras

    .

Menu

    The menu is still but includes music and a nice spider design cursor.

Reversible Slick

    The other side has different pictures and no OFLC markings.

Behind The Scenes (2:02)

    Non 16x9 enhanced. Quick look at stunts and props but really just a TV promo.

Music Video - There For Tomorrow 'A Little Faster' (3"06)

    Non 16x9 enhanced. Decent enough rock tune.

Other Trailers

 

R4 vs R1

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

     The Region 1 version is exactly the same as our local version except the local version adds the 2.0 track.May as well say its a draw. This is also available on Blu-ray in the US.

Summary

    A good quality live action movie spun of from Ben10- Alien Force.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    A small selection of very short extras are included.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-NS708H upscaling to 1080p, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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