{"id":4453,"date":"2012-07-05T07:51:38","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T14:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=4453"},"modified":"2021-05-31T14:04:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T21:04:07","slug":"review-impostor-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2012\/07\/review-impostor-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Impostor Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Impostor<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t a terrible film, at least not as bad as some have made it out to be, but it does come across amateurish in its style (Fleder seems to love using angles), but the acting isn\u2019t too bad and the production design and, given the budget, visual effects is OK. This isn\u2019t the kind of film that will challenge your brain and compared with other Philip K. Dick adaptations, it\u2019s a mid level release.<\/p>\n

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\nImpostor (2002)<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nREVIEW NAVIGATION<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Movie<\/a> | Special Features<\/a> | Video Quality<\/a> | Audio Quality<\/a> | Overall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Genre(s): <\/strong>Science Fiction, Drama
\nEcho Bridge | PG13 \u2013 95 min. \u2013 $14.99 | July 17, 2012<\/p>\n

MOVIE INFO:<\/span>
\nDirected by: <\/strong>Gary Fleder
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Philip K. Dick (short story); Scott Rosenberg (adaptation), Caroline Case and Ehren Kruger and David Twohy (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Gary Sinise, Madeline Stowe, Vincent D\u2019Onofrio, Tony Shalhoub, Mekhi Phifer<\/p>\n

Theatrical Release Date: <\/strong>January 4, 2002<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:<\/span>
\nFeatures: <\/strong>Featurette, Short Film
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), English (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.85
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>NA
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>22.9 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 2.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>At a time when the Earth has been at war with an alien force for over a decade, the latest work of government scientist Spencer Olham (GARY SINISE) promises to save the planet. But suddenly, Olham himself is accused of being an alien spy and is thrown headlong into a disorienting nightmare as a fugitive from the law. With the help of an underground refugee (MEKHI PHIFER) with the promise of valuable medication, he must make it into the city and prove that he is not a spy all the while alluding the tenacious Hathaway (VINCENT D\u2019ONOFRIO).<\/p>\n

Quick Hit Review:<\/strong> I should first note that this Blu-ray is only of the PG-13 rated, 95-minute cut and not the R-rated 102-minute director\u2019s cut. Having not seen that cut I can only comment on this version and being what it is, a low-rent sci-fi flick, it\u2019s not awful but nothing about it distinguishes it from others in the genre.<\/p>\n

This is yet another feature film adapted from a short story by sci-fi genius writer Philip K. Dick and comparatively speaking, it\u2019s in the midrange of his adaptations with Blade Runner<\/em>, Minority Report<\/em>, A Scanner Darkly<\/em> and maybe The Adjustment Bureau<\/em> being in the top tier, Screamers<\/em> and Total Recall<\/em> in the middle and Paycheck<\/em> and Next<\/em> at the bottom. Where does Impostor<\/em><\/strong> fit in? I\u2019d say in the middle as it\u2019s aptly made with some decent visual effects, given the budget at least, and some good performances all around.<\/p>\n

The cast includes Gary Sinise in the main role and although I\u2019ve never considered him to be leading man material \u2013 always seems to do better in a supporting role like in Forrest Gump<\/em> or Ransom<\/em> \u2013 he\u2019s suitable in the role, albeit someone like a Russell Crowe or Edward Norton might\u2019ve been a better fit (and since it was shot in 2000-01, those two were certainly attainable). The others like Madeline Stowe and Mekhi Phifer is OK for their thankless parts while Vince D\u2019Onofrio is apposite in the antagonist slot even when the character isn\u2019t very well written and is pretty one-dimensional.<\/p>\n

Directed by Gary Fleder, who previously has helmed numerous high-profile projects like Don\u2019t Say a Word<\/em> and Kiss the Girls<\/em>, does fine with the material handed to him (from writers David Twohy and Ehren Kruger), there\u2019s nothing remarkable about his direction or even the future-scape created by the visual effects team and production designer; it\u2019s fairly generic.<\/p>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 1.25\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The only features included, both of which were ported over from the DVD, is an Original Short Film (37:41; SD)<\/span><\/strong> which is just a shorter version of the movie and includes some footage not in the final film (at least I think so); apparently the idea was, this was to be one part of a three part trilogy. According to IMDb, the other two, which eventually became feature-length films, were Mimic<\/em> and Alien Love Triangle<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Also included is a standard Behind the Scenes Featurette (11:53; SD)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Miramax, through Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, brings Impostor<\/em><\/strong> onto Blu-ray with a nice 1080p transfer, although I can\u2019t say it\u2019s anything overly impressive. The picture itself seems clean with no noticeable amount of dust or scratch marks, the black levels seem to be even and the artifacting is kept at a minimum. That said, it\u2019s still not finely detailed compared with other releases from that time (2001\/2002) and the picture can come across a tad soft in places. Even so, it\u2019s a decent transfer but don\u2019t expect to be blown away.
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AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Similarly, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track gets the job done, efficiently and effectively but again, it\u2019s nothing to write home about. The majority of the film is dialogue driven with some action sequences thrown in for good measure, and in those instances, it\u2019s nice and clear. When we do get into the action, the lossless track does pick up some providing depth and a little rumble especially at the end.<\/p>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Impostor<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t a terrible film, at least not as bad as some have made it out to be, but it does come across amateurish in its style (Fleder seems to love using angles), but the acting isn\u2019t too bad and the production design and, given the budget, visual effects is OK. This isn\u2019t the kind of film that will challenge your brain and compared with other Philip K. Dick adaptations, it\u2019s a midlevel release. The Blu-ray offers up adequate video and audio transfers but the features do fall short. Given this only has a $14.99 SRP, you should be able to nab this for $5 at some point, which then would be worth it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Movieman<\/em>
\nPublished: <\/strong>07\/05\/2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Impostor isn\u2019t a terrible film, at least not as bad as some have made it out to be, but it does come across amateurish in its style (Fleder seems to love using angles), but the acting isn\u2019t too bad and the production design and, given the budget, visual effects is OK. This isn\u2019t the kind … Continue reading “Impostor Blu-ray Review”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[1168,1583,1584,1586,1585,1587],"class_list":["post-4453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-gary-sinise","tag-impostor","tag-madeline-stowe","tag-mekhi-phifer","tag-tony-shalhoub","tag-vincent-donofrio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4453"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26206,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4453\/revisions\/26206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}