{"id":4836,"date":"2012-10-24T14:42:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T21:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=4836"},"modified":"2021-05-31T15:46:29","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T22:46:29","slug":"review-chernobyldiaries-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2012\/10\/review-chernobyldiaries-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Chernobyl Diaries Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Chernobyl Diaries<\/em><\/strong> is a film that uses cheap scares to further a thin and lame story which puts some of the worst episodes of \u201cLost\u201d to shame. In any case, to go along with a dumb plot and average performances, the Blu-ray doesn\u2019t exactly have the greatest audio\/video transfers and the features are paltry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nChernobyl Diaries (2012)<\/strong><\/p>\n


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

 <\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Horror, Suspense-Thriller
\nWarner Bros. | PG13 \u2013 86 min. \u2013 $35.99 | October 16, 2012<\/p>\n

MOVIE INFO:<\/span>
\nDirected by: <\/strong>Bradley Parker
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Oren Peli (story), Oren Peli and Carey Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Ingrid Bolso Bordal, Dimitri Diatchenko, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Devin Kelley, Jesse McCartney, Nathan Phillips, Jonathan Sadowski<\/p>\n

Theatrical Release Date: <\/strong>May 24, 2012<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:<\/span>
\nFeatures: <\/strong>Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, DVD Copy, UltraViolet Digital Copy
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>2<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.78
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, French, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>16.2 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 1.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chernobyl Diaries<\/em><\/strong> begins like one of many of those \u201cfound footage\u201d flicks that have permeated and invaded cinemas since The Blair Witch Project<\/em>. Thankfully, after the first few minutes, it transitions to standard filmmaking, though the handheld nature still gave it a found footage vibe. However, found footage or not, it doesn\u2019t matter because either way this was not a well made picture.<\/p>\n

The thin story follows friends \u2013 Paul (JONATHAN SADOWSKI), his brother Chris (JESSE MCCARTNEY), Chris\u2019 girlfriend Natalie (OLIVIA DUDLEY), and unattached hottie Amanda (DEVIN KELLEY) \u2013 as they explore the Ukrainian nightlife when impulsive Paul signs them up for an \u201cextreme tour\u201d of the abandoned city near the Chernobyl disaster. Leading the tour is a former (IIRC) Ukrainian Special Forces soldier Uri (DIMITRI DIATCHENKO) and joining the group are newlyweds Michael (NATHAN PHILLIPS) and Zoe (INGRID BOLSO BERDAL).<\/p>\n

Yep, now that we get this bland band of merry men (and women) together, Uri takes them to an abandoned housing project but has to take the scenic route when the road in has two guards who, with no explanation, will not allow to pass. So taking the bumpy road, the tourists get some lovely pictures as well as get a glimpse at something in the water.<\/p>\n

Upon arriving into the creepy town, they explore around for a bit before going into an abandoned building, where they discover they\u2019re not alone when… a friggin\u2019 bear charges at them down a hallway. It would seem one of the writers was a fan of \u201cLost\u201d because this was so random and has absolutely no payoff later other than being a cheap, quick scare.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s really what sums up Chernobyl Diaries<\/em><\/strong>: One long movie filled with cheap scares filling in empty spaces where plot or character should have been. I understand why Hollywood would go after such a project from writer Oren Peli as he created one of the hottest and most profitable franchises with Paranormal Activity<\/em>. However, I suspect this was a project he either had placed at the bottom of a drawer or churned out on a boring, rainy afternoon; it\u2019s a similar situation Kevin Williamson was in after the success of Scream<\/em> that Columbia immediately bought I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/em>. I don\u2019t know if Chernobyl<\/em><\/strong> was written before Paranormal<\/em>, but it\u2019s obviously a lesser effort of the pair.<\/p>\n

Not that it matters much, but how does the cast stack up? I guess based on the limited material they had to work with \u2014 2-dimensional characters and a lame\/inane\/thin plot \u2014 they weren\u2019t awful (what a compliment). Obviously this being a low budget affair, according to Wikipedia it was $1 million, you\u2019re not going to get top Hollywood talent (Jesse McCartney is the only name I recognize).<\/p>\n

All in all, Chernobyl Diaries<\/em><\/strong> might have been a good idea in principle and on paper, but the final product instead was a boring and inane story that attempts to use \u201cspooky\u201d music and cheap scares to set the tone rather than doing the hard work of actually thrilling audiences. Now, it\u2019s certainly not a horrible film and I have seen much worse, but that\u2019s not saying much.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 1.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This release comes with a glossy slip cover.<\/p>\n

Short Feature: Uri\u2019s Extreme Tours Infomercial (1:19; HD)<\/span><\/strong> is a fake commercial for the fictional extreme tour business.<\/p>\n

Short Feature: Chernobyl Conspiracy Viral Video (2:25; HD)<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 This is a dumb feature which portends that events in the movie were, in part, real.<\/p>\n

The set also includes a Deleted Scene (0:48; HD)<\/span><\/strong>, an Alternate Ending (1:50; HD)<\/span><\/strong> which does differ from the theatrical version (and not quite as lame), and a retail DVD Copy<\/span><\/strong> and an UltraViolet Digital Copy<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Preview<\/strong> \u2013 The Dark Knight Rises<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Warner Brothers unleashes Chernobyl Diaries<\/em><\/strong> upon the masses with a 1080p high-def transfer. The film, presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio (from a 1.85 AR in theaters), looks fine but it\u2019s not exactly the most detailed Blu-ray I\u2019ve come across. Still, the colors seem to be well balanced and black levels don\u2019t show off any flaws. I consider this transfer to be satisfactory especially given the low budget nature.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

AUDIO \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The disc comes with an adequate but low-key 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. As one would expect, most of the film is filled with a combination of dialogue and blood-curdling screams in between which we get some that so-called atmospheric score.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

OVERALL \u2013 2.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Chernobyl Diaries<\/em><\/strong> is a film that uses cheap scares to further a thin and lame story which puts some of the worst episodes of \u201cLost\u201d to shame. In any case, to go along with a dumb plot and average performances, the Blu-ray doesn\u2019t exactly have the greatest audio\/video transfers and the features are paltry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0The Movieman<\/em>
\nPublished: <\/strong>10\/24\/2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chernobyl Diaries is a film that uses cheap scares to further a thin and lame story which puts some of the worst episodes of \u201cLost\u201d to shame. In any case, to go along with a dumb plot and average performances, the Blu-ray doesn\u2019t exactly have the greatest audio\/video transfers and the features are paltry.   … Continue reading “Chernobyl Diaries 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],"tags":[1723,1724],"class_list":["post-4836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","tag-chernobyl-diaries","tag-jesse-mccartney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836","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=4836"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26299,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions\/26299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}