Review of Hollow Man

Introduction

Hollow Man is another take on that often asked question "what would it be like to be invisible?" Helping to ask the question this time round is Paul Verhoeven, which will probably give you a clue as to what you are in for. But will this turn out to be a "Robocop" or a "Showgirls"?

I don`t need to go into the plot, as it`s all outlined nicely in the paragraph above this review, so let`s get on with looking at the disc.

Video

An excellent 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is presented here, which allows every single one of the 500 plus special effects shots to shine. As you might imagine for a film about an invisible man (and invisible animals too), special effects are the key as to whether the film works on the visual level. And it works. Very well. The transfer itself is spotless, with detail levels very high and everything looking just right.

The special effects will probably make you go "wow" quite a few times during this film, and they really are pretty special at times. The transformation sequences are a great example (although for the human biologists out there it appears that pulmonary circulation was missed out when it comes to what you see on screen during those sequences). The lighting behind the hollow mask and some of the later corridor scenes are also good examples.

Audio

As well as good video, a film about a man who is invisible also needs good sound, as if you can`t see him then you`re only hope in locating him is by listening. Luckily enough the DD5.1 soundtrack provided on this disc does its job very well. During the commentary track (more on that later) Paul Verhoeven mentions that he doesn`t think you`ll be able to hear some of the effects without "expensive home cinema equipment". Believe me, you`ll hear them perfectly well on your home cinema set-up if you have DD5.1 capabilities. Maybe he doesn`t realise that these set-ups are affordable nowadays?

As the invisible man wanders around the room, he wanders around the speakers in your room, and pops up all over the place. There`s also another good sequence with a fly, and also with various other animals who are participating in experiments.

And there are some explosions too, which all sound very good, bringing speakers to life and injecting some rumbling bass into your room.

If that`s not enough for you, there`s also the fantastic Jerry Goldsmith score (is there any other type of Jerry Goldsmith score?) This also adds to the atmosphere, building tension at the right time, and staying silent at the right moments too.

Features

A reasonable selection of extras too. There are two commentary tracks, although one contains a lot more commentary than the other. The first one features Kevin Bacon, Paul Verhoeven and writer Andrew Marlowe. The three make an interesting combination. If you`ve ever listened to a Verhoeven commentary before you`ll know that he hardly stops talking, always wanting to impart information about how a shot was done, which bit was real, which bit was digital etc. etc. He also mentions deleted scenes, which you can find elsewhere. The other commentators contribute too, with Bacon talking about acting in a green suit and spending hours in make-up.

The second commentary track is basically an isolated 5.1 score interspersed with comments from Jerry Goldsmith, which is an interesting idea. It seems to be happening more and more on discs.

There are also three deleted scenes, with some brief words from the director. Interesting to see these but you can understand why they were left out as they don`t add anything. The film itself could probably have done with a little more trimming!

There are also three scenes which show you the before and after, with one part of the screen showing the scene as shot, complete with actor in black or green suit, and the other part showing the final scene in the film, with all of the effects added. Interesting to see these side by side, but perhaps a missed opportunity for a multi-angle feature?

There are also two sets of featurettes. The first one is just a bog-standard, paint-by-numbers behind the scenes effort which doesn`t tell you much. The second "set" is actually split up into lots of little sections which you have to navigate through. It would have been nice to watch these all in one go, as they range in length from a couple of minutes to about 10. There`s some more interesting information here, but also some repeats from the commentary track.

To finish we also get trailers and filmographies for the director and lead actors.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, Hollow Man lives up to its name a bit, because if you take away the specially created exterior, you`ll find nothing inside. Yes, the special effects are excellent, and the sound effects are also good. But you soon start to lose interest in the story as it quickly navigates its way into a dead end.

For some parts it gets a bit "Rear Window" (Verhoeven mentions this in the commentary), but then it just turns into some Alien/Aliens/Predator/Friday the 13th clone and you just know that you`ve seen it all before.

Technically the disc is very good, with excellent picture and sound, and a reasonable selection of extras of varying quality. But I just can`t imagine that you`d want to buy this film as there`s so little to it. Recommended for rental only.