Horror In Space
I hadn’t seen Event Horizon before receiving this Blu-ray for review, but it was one of the many films that came out in the late 90s that I had always wanted to see ‘someday.’ Laurence Fishburne has long since been one of my favorite actors and Sam Neil is no stranger to excellent performances either.
Sam Neil plays Dr. William Weir, an elite scientist who designed the Event Horizon, a spaceship with the ability to travel at near light speeds. In the year 2040, the ship was sent to explore our solar system but mysteriously disappeared. Now, in 2047, the ship has reappeared and Neil is eager to investigate it and its findings. He is granted permission to board the Lewis & Clark, another spaceship with Captain Miller, played by Fishburne, at the helm. The Lewis & Clark and her crew specialize in space rescue operations although this particular mission is their most dangerous yet.
All the while, Weir is haunted by ghastly images of humans with their eyes burned out. As the crew draws closer to, and eventually aboard, the Event Horizon, things really start to get spooky. The handful of crew members aboard the Lewis & Clark begin having visions of their worst nightmares, the Lewis & Clark sustains serious damage, and things only get worse from there when Weir is overcome, possessed really, by the evil of the Event Horizon. As such, Weir begins to kill the other crew members who are desperately trying to get the Lewis & Clark operational again so that they can leave the haunted Event Horizon.
Event Horizon does a fine job of providing a suspenseful, thrilling film. There are several disturbing scenes that add to the intensity with the acting and script working in the film’s favor throughout. Given its intensity and shock value, I’m not so sure that I would really watch it often, if again, as it just wouldn’t be as good the second time around.
Event Horizon On Blu-ray
The Blu-ray release of Event Horizon comes with the expected 1080p picture and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. You’ve seen better quality Blu-ray releases, but at the same time I wouldn’t say that Event Horizon disappoints. In fact, Event Horizon looks pretty darn good, just don’t expect a pristine picture that you would get from more recent films on Blu-ray.
The same goes for the audio package. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track does a fine job of getting you immersed in the intensity by making the always enjoyable dialogue of Sam Neil and Laurence Fishburne clear and crisp while still hitting all of the spine tingling notes from the score.
As far as extras, there isn’t anything new here, but I love the lengthy, detailed ‘making of’ feature. That said, you get:
-Audio Commentary with Director Paul WS Anderson and Producer Jeremy Bolt
-The Making of Event Horizon – This five part beast of a making of feature runs one hour and forty-three minutes. It’s in SD, but is very informative and interesting.
-The Point of No Return: Filming Event Horizon – An eight minute collection of four featurettes, all in SD with audio commentary by the director.
-Secrets of Event Horizon – Three deleted scenes running about ten minutes, in SD.
-The Unseen Event Horizon – A collection of concept art, an unfilmed rescue scene (about three minutes), and storyboard art with audio commentary by the director.
And with that…