Review of Chain Reaction

Introduction

Chain Reaction is pretty much a typical piece of Hollywood action-film-by-numbers fluff. There are explosions, chase scenes, conspiracy theories and guns. All these ingredients add up to a predictable film, but at least there`s some brief entertainment value here and there.

On to the disc itself.

Video

An anamporphic 1.85:1 transfer is on show here. It`s pretty good, but not perfect, as there are some quite grainy scenes and definitely some dirt on the print. Given that this film is only about 5 years old, you would have expected a bit better.

There are plenty of special effects and big explosions going on here, so plenty for the eye to watch out for. There are also quite a few dark scenes in alleyways and warehouses, which come across fairly well.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack here, perfect for the big action film. Lots of explosions, some very deep bass during the reactor scenes, and quite a bit of work for the surrounds to do. Despite being scored by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, the musical soundtrack is not that good, and certainly not up to his high standards.

Features

Don`t get too excited - just a 10 minute or so bog standard making of featurette. Worth a quick glance, but there`s nothing exciting in it and you won`t be rushing back.

And that`s it. No trailer, no biographies, nothing else.

Conclusion

Even with the very watchable Morgan Freeman on board, this is just another Saturday night popcorn movie, lots of bangs and flashes, but not much else if you dig beneath the surface. If you`re looking for a couple of hours of no-brain entertainment, then this would suit. Freeman gives a good performance considering what he had to work with, but no-one else is really worth mentioning.

The disc doesn`t do the film any favours, being quite a bare-bones effort. The sound is good enough, the video isn`t all that bad, but the distinct lack of extras means that any fans of this film won`t be rushing out to buy the disc.

Apparently Fox are releasing a new version in region 1 later in the year, possibly with a dts soundtrack and more extras. If you want to buy the film, I`d suggest waiting for that version.