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Blu-Ray : Recommended
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Release Date: February 18th, 2014 Movie Release Year: 1990

Darkman: Collector's Edition

Overview -

Doctor Peyton Westlake's (Liam Neeson) attempts to clone body parts via computer are disturbed when his laboratory is torched by a gang of thugs, with Westlake left for dead. Horribly disfigured, he uses his equipment to survive, reinventing himself as Darkman. Obssessed with revenging himself on sadistic gang leader Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake), Darkman is torn by his love for former girlfriend Julie (Frances McDormand), and struggles to reconcile the two, warring sides of his personality.

OVERALL:
Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Region A
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
96
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
English DTS-HD Master 2.0
Subtitles/Captions:
English
Special Features:
TV Spots
Release Date:
February 18th, 2014

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

'Darkman' was Sam Raimi's first superhero movie and his first Hollywood movie. Raimi had tried to get the rights to Batman and The Shadow, but since that proved unsuccessful, he created his own hero. The script harkens back to a simpler time, before grittiness, realism, and adult themes took over comic books in the mid-'80s. Here, the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and the characterizations don’t get much deeper. There's no examination of motives or exploration of themes. Just some thrills and chills to entertain, and it will if that's all the viewer expects from it.

Liam Neeson is Dr. Peyton Westlake, a scientist working on a formula to create synthetic skin. His girlfriend is Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand), an attorney who discovers a memo that reveals real-estate developer Louis Strack, Jr. (Colin Friels) is involved with criminal Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake). Durant and his men go looking for the document and to expedite their search they blow up the Westlake's lab.

Westlake is thought to be dead, but instead has 40 percent of his skin burned off. He undergoes an experimental operation to sever his pain receptors. Not so coincidentally, what he really needs is synthetic skin. In the most interesting element of the story, the formula for the skin only lasts 99 minutes and with the aid of computers can be created into the likeness of anyone. This allows Westlake the possibility to reestablish a relationship with Julie and also to disrupt the operations and seek revenge against Durant and his men.

The movie has some very good action scenes, particularly the ones involving an unfinished building and a helicopter. The camera is frequently in interesting positions as it moves around and captures what's going on. The framing is reminiscent of a comic book and director of photography Bill Pope and his team do a good job executing Raimi's vision.

While it has some good qualities and elements, 'Darkman' is flawed and may lose some people. The movie suffers from being a bit corny at times and falls apart if too much thought is applied to elements of the story. Neeson and Drake ham it up but don't get much memorable from it. It's unfortunate that Drake's character is a generic villain because a hero can only be as good as his nemesis. If he had been given a more compelling character, it could have made the movie more interesting. Also, it's a tad unbelievable to see the way Westlake is able to impersonate people just from applying synthetic skin. He not only takes on the look of their face but physical attributes of their body as well

The tone shifts about as if either Raimi wasn't sure what to do or because higher-ups were trying to force things to happen. There's some good action, but the humor deflates the tension of some scenes, and there's never any real sense of danger for the leads. There's a love story but there's no chemistry between them. (Editor's note: Is it just me, or does all of this sound like the Raimi-penned 'Spider-Man 3?' Another thing that doesn't work are the false teeth Neeson wears as part of his post-burn costume. They look incredibly fake and are distracting when he talks since they don't match what would be his mouth moving.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Scream Factory brings 'Darkman' to high definition on a Region A BD-50 Blu-ray disc. It comes with a standard blue keepcase that has a reversible cover and is housed in a cardboard slipcover. The disc boots up directly to the menu screen without any promotional advertisements.

Video Review

Ranking:

The video is presented with a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Once I saw that the image skewed towards pink, evident most predominantly in fleshtones and whites, I knew the video had not received a new transfer.

Blacks are frequently strong, though our hero travels in shadows a lot and on occasion the blacks crush and delineation is lost. Colors are bright, most evident at the carnival and the orange of flames.

The image isn't always sharp because DNR was used, removing a lot of detail and textures. Faces look smooth, and there's not much evidence of grain. However, the image improves in close-ups, like the scene of Westlake's hands getting fried. Contrast isn't as consistent as it could be.

Audio Review

Ranking:

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is adequate but doesn't deliver the immersive experience expected for an action/superhero movie, and doesn't greatly differ from the 2.0 track.

Although vehicles pass across the channels, there's limited surround ambiance, missing opportunities presented by the carnival and the gunfire. The opening battle is underwhelming because the weapons and car crashes lack power due to the subwoofer not delivering much.

Danny Elfman's score comes across louder than the dialogue, which is always clear. Most of the louder moments aren't very loud in relation to the other elements, causing the audio too sound flat.

Special Features

Ranking:

The previous release had no supplements, but the Blu-ray comes with plenty of exclusives (at least as far as I can tell). See below.

The previous 'Darkman' release was worth a rental, but Scream Factory delivers a Collector's Edition that lives up to the designation with hours of Special Features certain to delight the film's cult following. Even without a current interview with Sam Raimi, I think what they offer in telling the story of the film's creation is worth five stars. This is recommended.