Review of Event Horizon on blu-ray:

Movie: 3/5
Event Horizon was made with a budget of $60 million, and only brought in $26.6 million at the box office, making it quite a large box office flop. It recieved negetive reviews from majority of critics and audiences alike, but managed to secure a cult following, especially after it’s release on dvd.

Director Paul W.S Anderson does not have a good track record as far as talent goes. Pretty much every one of his movies have been average, cliche ridden shit. Event Horizon sets itself apart from the rest, and is without a doubt his masterpiece (not that I would consider this movie a masterpiece, but it’s very effective and well made!)

In the year 2047, a signal from the starship Event Horizon is picked up on Earth. The ship had disappeared without trace beyond Neptune in 2040; her loss was considered the worst space disaster on record. The ship has reappeared in a decaying orbit around the planet Neptune, and the rescue ship Lewis and Clark is dispatched to investigate. The ship’s crew is commanded by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) and carries the Event Horizon’s designer, Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill).

After the rumour of Event Horizon being able to travel faster than the speed of light is brought to attention, Dr. Weir explains that it can’t exactally travel faster than the speed of light, what it is capable of doing is bending space and time. To reach the nearest star, it would take the lewis and Clark 1000 years to reach it, but it would only take the Event Horizon 1 day to reach it using the power of what’s been built on board the ship.

Event Horizon is not the best science fiction or horror film, but it delivers the goods in a very exciting and thrilling ride. On the surface it may appear to be a sci-fi film, but in my opinion it’s not. It’s a flat out horror film, set in space. The best way to describe this film would be a mix of Alien, Hellraiser and The Shining, but never reaches such great heights as Alien or The Shining.

All the actors involved did a great job with what was obviously a physically exhausting experience to make. Sam Neil in particular gives one of his very best performances in this film.
Even though I described the tone of this film as a mix between Alien, Hellraiser and The Shining, it should only be embraced as creepy B-movie, not as a masterpiece.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, despite it’s flaws, and I thought it was an exciting journey to be on with the characters.

The film may not be the greatest, but god damn did the director and the camera man have some great idea’s when it came to the cinematography. I felt very uncomfortable during some scenes which were caused mostly by the camera work.

Where has the Event Horizon been? What is aboard the ship that puts the crew in grave danger?

Picture Quality: 4/5
Event Horizon’s blu-ray transfer doesn’t leave me with a whole lot to say. It’s neither eye popping, nor disappointing as a whole, however there are some really beautiful shots in this film which reveal very impressive clarity.
This movie was made during a time when CGI was not pretty, which is very apparent when various tools and objects are floating around the screen, but shots of the ships look very realistic which would of been part physical effects and part CGI.
A light layer of grain is present over the image throughout the film, but is never very intrusive or destracting.

Scenes involving bright colours look really nice in their intentionally out of the blue appearence.

Event horizon has a dusty kind of style to it, which is fitting when you remember that it’s mostly set on a ship that’s been lost for 7 years, but still I would of liked an image that was a little sharper. It looks MUCH better than the previous dvd releases, but it’s still not tip-top.

Audio Quality: 3.5/5 
The only way to describe the audio for Event Horizon is that it’s bi-polar. Scenes that are dialogue focused are quiet, and the sudden loud special effects or music are considerably louder, which is a little frusterating, but at least it does scare the crap out of you sometimes when you have the volume right up to follow the dialogue properly then BAM!
 
Extra’s: 4/5 
There’s a fair amount of special features on this release including:

-Audio Commentary with director Paul W.S Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt

-The Making of Event Horizon (103+ minutes)
This documentary is split into 5 parts, and actually runs longer than the film, and I found it insightful and interesting. Paul Anderson actually comes off as intelligent and passionate about film making, which is suprising considering the best film he’s done after Event Horizon was Alien vs. Predator… *cough*

I believe he could make some great stuff if he applied himself and worked a little harder like he did on Event Horizon.

-The Point of no return: The filming of Event Horizon (8+ minutes)
This is a four part feature where the director discusses the filming of several scenes

-Secrets (10+ minutes)
3 deleted and extended scenes, all with directors commentary.

-The Unseen Event Horizon (3 minutes)
Broken into 2 segments, we’re shown an un-filmed rescue scene through storyboard form of a rescue scene that was not included in the final cut of the film

-Conceptual Art (4 minutes)
Early sketches for the film, with directors commentary

-Theatrical Trailer (2.5 minutes)

-Video Trailer (1.5 minutes)

Overall:
The whole cast give a decent, believable performance, but the 2 leading men, Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neil in particular truly shine in this unnerving 90’s flick which is really gory. While on the topic of the gore, the director was actually forced to cut Event Horizon down from it’s original 130 minute long running time to this 95 minute long version which as it is, is quite disturbing. The reason for the forced cut was because the test audience and critics were repulsed by the ultra-violent nature of that version. So what we are left with is an effective psychological horror film. Perhaps one day the original version will get released, but for now, this version stands on it’s own two feet as a worthy addition to any sci-fi or horror fans blu-ray collection.