The Enemy (Rental) (2001)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	94:27
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Tom Kinninmont Charlie Watson
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Luke Perry Olivia d'Abo Roger Moore Tom Conti Horst Buchholz
Case	?
RPI	Rental	Music	Gast Waltzing

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    A group of terrorists attempt to kidnap a scientist's son and use him as a bargaining chip for a genetically engineered biological weapon known simply as 'The Enemy'.

    After faking his own death, retired military geneticist George Ashton moves to Canada to live with his son Mike (Luke Perry). Mike is unaware of his father's former career but when an attempted kidnapping results in his assistant being killed, questions must be asked. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, Penny Johnson (Olivia d'Abo) is assigned to protect Mike and his father but the investigation is clearly being controlled by Robert Ogilvie (Roger Moore), a British officer. As the investigation proceeds and Mike learns more about his father's former life, it becomes clear that one of the men running the case may be behind it all.

    This B-grade direct-to-rental release is let down by its often ridiculous plot, predictable script and poor acting. Unfortunately there is very little to recommend this film and I feel that very few viewers will find any positives in it.

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is slightly soft throughout but this is probably due to the low production values of the original source material and not a fault of the transfer. The transfer displays no problems with shadow detail during the dark segments of the film. No low-level noise was detected at any stage during the transfer.

    The colour palette displayed by this transfer always appears to be accurate and is able to capture the often bleak grey Canadian environment.

    No MPEG artefacts were detected at any time during the transfer, but a number of aliasing artefacts were detected. Some examples may be seen at 12:00, 49:46, 57:33, 58:02, 78:17 and 88:17. All of these artefacts are very minor and are never distracting to the viewer.

    A number of minor film artefacts may be seen throughout the transfer. Some examples of these may be seen at 1:03, 10:37, 19:19, 19:23, 20:26, 21:12 and 22:32. Each of these artefacts are quite minor and are only slightly distracting to the viewer.

    No subtitles are provided on this disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times.

    During a single scene at 5:14, some obvious dialogue synchronization problems appear but this seems to be due to ADR work and not a problem with the transfer. No dropouts were detected at any time during the transfer.

    The score by Gast Waltzing makes its presence felt throughout and it always seems to fit the on-screen action well.

    The surround and subwoofer channels are used effectively throughout the transfer for both effects and the score.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The non animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer (2:04)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Subtitles

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack

    The Region 4 versions of this film is the clear winner unless you require subtitles.

    The Enemy is a disappointing direct-to-rental release that is let down by all parties involved.

    The 16x9 enhanced transfer is of high quality and displays very few artefacts.

    The two audio tracks provided are of acceptable quality and they are able to easily reproduce the numerous inexplicable explosions.

    The only extra provided on this disc is a basic trailer.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall