Hollow Man (US)

Some people may watch films purely for the special effects - If you do then I`d recommend this DVD. Otherwise there`s no reason to rush out and buy this one. It`s probably worth the £3.25 from blockbuster and it should keep you entertained but I am not sure you will watch it again and again.

The visuals of the invisibility process are excellent, if anything too sharp but this is probably over critical. Fortunately you get treated to a couple of versions of the process during the film and this is a definite plus.

The story however just seems shallow. The opportunities for a film about an invisible man are immense and sadly the screenplay chose to focus on the sexual undertones /voyeurism. This may suit some but a few of the occurrences seemed highly improbable which with deeper and more detailed characterisation may have been more convincing.

I found it quite a claustrophobic film with most of the action happening in an underground lab. This may have been deliberate but invisible opens up so many opportunities in the outside world it is a shame these were not explored.

On top of all this there are some glaring inconsistencies (Kevin Bacon can`t breath through his nose) and the last 50 mins of the films are straight out of the US theory book of action films.

A/V
Picture was good and I enjoyed the audio. I have a pro logic set up and was impressed just with the extensive use of the left and right channels, it may be over the top for some but I liked it.

Features
Excellent.

In summary:

You may want to watch the effects again, particularly after seeing some of the features but don`t expect to wear your player out with this one.

An impressive collection of special effects, wrapped in an interesting (yet not unordinary) script.
The video transfer is awesome. The movie relies almost totally on the visual effects, so the transfer should`ve been perfect - and it is. There are no compression signs at all and all the special effects are beautifully presented.
The DD 5.1 soundtrack is very good. The surrounds are used to emphasize the gloomy atmosphere of the lab, the animal cages area and, of course, all the "big bang" scenes.
The menus are beautifully animated with sounds.
The extras include a commentary, a LOT of behind the scenes looks, some deleted scenes and explanations about the visual effects. The extras are very extensive.
I must admit that the first half hour of the movie irritated me badly. A lot of animals have been caged for this movie and eventhough I believe none of them were intentionally abused, I`m very much against the exploitation of animals in movies.
Bottom line - a great looking special effects movie that starts nicely but looses its momentum eventually.

Hollow man is a good attempt from director Paul Verhoeven and though it falters in some places (A little too predicitable) it is a silly enjoyable film with extremely good special effects. But again it isn`t Verhoeven`s greatest piece of work and suffers from going from a well thought out sci-fi film to a slasher horror film in the end.
The film is classic Paul Verhoeven with extreme violence and racy pervy scenes (Which he has become famous for-see Basic Instinct). The acting is alright with Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue struggerling with the flawed script from Andrew W.Marlowe. The picture and sound are top notch and the endless special features is what we have come to expect from Columbia Pictures.

Feature:

Hollow Man follows the story of Dr Sebastian Caine (played well by Kevin Bacon) as he turns himself `hollow` by being the
human test subject on his own experiment. Hollow Man also features some truly amazing special effects which weren`t created by ILM (Which is unusual these days in Hollywood) but special effects don`t make a film and well Hollow Man does falter with plotting. The script by Andrew W. Marlowe (Air Force One) is good but the plot a little thin. Director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop) directs with all his usual style, violence and the fact that Caine is also a pervert that is classic Verhoeven. Overall it`s an entertaining movie that doesn`t really warant a third or forth viewing.

Audio:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 is really good

Picture:

The picture is also very good, Hollow Man has recently been re-released as a Superbit but why when the picture and sound are so good?

Extras:

Hollow Man has been given the full work over by Columbia. A good and informative commentary and lot`s of behind the scenes featurettes focusing on Visual Effects and other aspects of making the film. The 3 deleted Scenes are alright, the extended rape sequence is the highlight of the show, but again these don`t warant a second viewing.