{"id":5827,"date":"2013-07-03T06:31:49","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T13:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=5827"},"modified":"2021-06-16T22:54:30","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T05:54:30","slug":"review-upsidedown-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2013\/07\/review-upsidedown-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Upside Down Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Upside Down<\/i><\/b> threw away so much potential that it could have been a cult classic but instead we get a jumbled screenplay and finished product that seems to be missing some key scenes. It also doesn\u2019t help that our two protagonists are barely together early on making Adam\u2019s journey so hard to follow because it\u2019s not immediately obvious why he is so enamored with her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nUpside Down (2013)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Genre(s): <\/b>Science Fiction, Romance, Drama
\nMillennium | R \u2013 107 min. \u2013 $29.99 | June 25, 2013<\/p>\n

MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/span>Directed by: <\/b>Juan Solanas
\nWriter(s): <\/b>Juan Solanas (screenplay), Juan Solanas, Santiago Amigorena and Pierre Magny (adaptation and dialogue)
\nCast: <\/b>Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst, Timothy Spall<\/p>\n

Theatrical Release Date: <\/b>March 15, 2013 (limited release)<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:
\n<\/span>Features: <\/b>Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Storyboards
\nNumber of Discs: <\/b>1<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/b>English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/b>1080p\/Widescreen 2.35
\nSubtitles: <\/b>English SDH, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/b>44.8 GB
\nCodec: <\/b>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/b>A<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 2.25\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m certain the 5+ production companies and numerous producers who put up the $60 million price tag were hoping for a high concept version of Inception<\/i> (meets The Fountain<\/i>) but instead Upside Down<\/i><\/b> is a tattered mess. Sure, it is a great concept and ideas but the screenplay is a mess.<\/p>\n

The story opens with a ridiculous narration by Jim Sturgess, with a distracting inflection and seemingly channeling Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge<\/i> talking about *love*, outlaying the law of physics present in the movie and how two planets have locked together over each other (?) and on this other planet, they have double gravity. However, there\u2019s a balance between the two and residents of the one cannot visit the other. The entire scheme is apparently run by GGAC (The Generic Greedy Assholes Corporation). See, they mine certain materials and are able to produce cheap energy on their side but sell it back to the bottom-dwellers at so expensive of a rate, the people cannot pay for it. And from time to time, valuable material called anti-matter drops from the upper crust population but this is of course illegal and the law enforcement cracks down hard on those folks.<\/p>\n

We meet a boy named Adam living in an orphanage after the death of his parents. But the orphanage allows him to spend weekends with the only living relative, his aunt. It\u2019s never explained why he\u2019s not living there full-time as when we see the aunt, she seems relatively young and takes good care of the kid. Adam enjoys wandering the area and finds some kind of vortex where the peaks of mountains in the bottom world comes close to upper world. When he throws a paper airplane to the upper world, it is discovered by a girl named Eden.<\/p>\n

Without much of a word, we fast forward some time and Adam (JIM STURGESS) and Eden (KIRSTEN DUNST) are more grown up and having typical gooey-eyed romantic conversations. Using a rope, Adam is able to get Eden into his side (using some kind magic bee potion or some BS like that) and the pair prances around the forest until the law comes for them, guns out and shooting. Before Adam is able to get Eden back to her side, she falls a good distance and we see blood coming from the back of her head. The law takes Adam\u2019s aunt into custody (as she created the potion), never to be seen again, and burned her home to the ground.<\/p>\n

Fast forward ten years later, and Adam is living in a dingy apartment, like everyone else down below I suppose, and works at some kind of manufacturing center, developing new technology using scraps recovered from up above. One day Adam sees Eden on television, taken from a signal up top, and all those feeling come flooding back. Even though he\u2019s got no real plan and being down below cannot get in contact with her, Adam is determined to at least try and see if that love can be rekindled.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s only passage way is to work on the \u201c0\u201d floor where bottom workers and top workers are together. His in was a make-up cream that shaves years off the face but needs work. This also grants him access to the valuable anti-matter material which is necessary to get up top but has a nasty side effect of burning into flames if not kept at a specific temperature. Although everybody is pretty much clinical, Adam is befriended by an up topper named Bob Boruchowitz (TIMOTHY SPALL), a pleasant fellow and the two strike up a quick friendship doing favors for one another such as Adam getting stamps for Bob available only below and Bob getting a tailored suit from above.<\/p>\n

With the pieces together, Adam sets out to go to the upper world and after making contact, discovers Eden received more than a bump on the head ten years ago, but all-out amnesia, not being able to remember anything from her childhood. So what\u2019s to become of our star-crossed lovers? Will the GGAC foil his plans and stop at nothing to… do something to him?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll make this plain and simple: Upside Down<\/i><\/b> had an incredible concept and some impressive visual effects, unfortunately somebody forgot to work on a functional and competent screenplay. Setting aside the terrible narration and Sturgess\u2019 peculiar accent\/inflection, it seemed as if this 100-minute sci-fi\/romance was missing at least 45-minutes of material to connect the stories and characters… namely our two leads!<\/p>\n

One of the glaring issues going against the film is the fact Adam and Eden barely spent 10-minutes together before being torn apart and we\u2019re supposed to accept Adam will go through heaven to hell and back for this woman? Why? Other than the fact Eden is a lovely looking woman, there\u2019s nothing magical about her to make the audience care about Adam\u2019s journey and ultimately what happens to him once he achieves his goals. Certainly some of the blame can be placed on the casting process of getting Kirsten Dunst in the role, but I find it hard to do so as her character was so underwritten, outside of a select few great actresses (Rachel McAdams among them), I don\u2019t think the movie would turned out better with a different actress.<\/p>\n

For his part, Jim Sturgess was perfectly fine in the main role… well, outside of the narration, of course. It\u2019s not as meaty of a part as it should have been but he does as much as possible with very little to work with. It\u2019s hardly a master performance but like Dunst, it\u2019s difficult to lay the film\u2019s problems at his feet.<\/p>\n

Where Upside Down<\/i><\/b> goes, well, upside down, is with the direction by Argentinean born Juan Solanas making his biggest feature debut after helming a few other French-financed movies. Although the film had a relatively hefty, and surprising, $60 million budget, it seemed like a steep price for what was supposed to be high concept (not unlike The Fountain<\/i> which was far better and more emotional). I have to assume the numerous French production companies didn\u2019t want to pony up more money because it\u2019s obvious, at least I hope it is, that there were scenes cut out making for a horribly editing picture that made for an unnecessarily confusing narrative. Now THAT I lay at the feet of Solanas as he also wrote the script.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll briefly touch the subject of physics, which is not my strong suit. I would be willing to place the idea of two planets interconnected together in the \u201csuspension of disbelief\u201d category but when your main character wistfully narrates the rules of the game and the rest of the film sets out to ignore and\/or contradict anyway, it makes for a hard pill to swallow.<\/p>\n

Even now, days after viewing Upside Down<\/i><\/b>, I have to shake my head and just the amount of potential for something special flushed down the drain. Seeing the poster, this could have met the high standards of others in the genre like the aforementioned Fountain<\/i> or even the highly praised Gattaca<\/i>, but instead it\u2019s a mess of a film and what\u2019s left over are some impressive visual effects and decent performances from Sturgess and Timothy Spall in the comedic relief slot.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s truly a damn shame.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 3.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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

Behind the Scenes (25:10; HD)<\/span><\/b> \u2013 This is a decent BTS featurette with interviews by the filmmakers\/cast talking about the origins, story and showing how some shots were done.<\/p>\n

Deleted Scenes (1:45; SD)<\/span><\/b> only has a couple of unfinished scenes that were removed.<\/p>\n

History of the World (2:46; HD)<\/span><\/b> is the original title sequence in storyboard form with commentary by Juan Solanas.<\/p>\n

Juan and Jim (0:17; HD)<\/span><\/b> is some silent B&W footage of the two on the set. Not entirely sure what the point was including it, but it\u2019s there…<\/p>\n

Preliminary Sketches<\/span><\/b> shows off some artist conceptual drawings.<\/p>\n

Tango Storyboards (1:41; HD)<\/span><\/b> are the boards, along with the actual scene for the dance sequence featured in the movie.<\/p>\n

Missing Forest Storyboards (1:51; HD)<\/span><\/b> is a sequence that never got filmed.<\/p>\n

Sage Mountain Previz (2:51; HD)<\/span><\/b>, Office Previz (3:01; HD)<\/span><\/b> and Final Shot Previz (2:55; HD)<\/span><\/b> are pre-visualization sequences for key scenes in the movie.<\/p>\n

Previews<\/b> \u2013 Brooklyn Castle<\/i>, The Iceman<\/i>, What Maisie Knew<\/i>, Straight A\u2019s<\/i>, Stuck in Love<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Millennium releases Upside Down<\/i><\/b> on a 3D\/2D combo disc. The 2D transfer actually looks excellent with good detail levels and a warm texture throughout. Having not seen it in theaters \u2013 and fact is, not many have \u2013 it probably is on par with the director and DP\u2019s intentions. The 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and 1080p HD transfer looks beautiful and one of the better parts of the movie on the whole.<\/p>\n

As far as the 3D transfer goes, it\u2019s not bad showing some good depth and really making use of the few action scenes where characters leap from great heights or run through corridors in a pursuit\/chase. The colors are still fairly vivid and not especially dark as you sometimes would find with 3D transfers. All around, it\u2019s a good 3D presentation that might not wow you, still notable none-the-less.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

AUDIO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track on the disc is just as impressive as the video transfer. The lossless track shows off some incredible range from the opening title sequence, and Sturgess\u2019 laughable narration, to general dialogue are crisp and quite clear. The action\/thriller elements also show nice depth while the front and rear channels come to life with lots of ambient noises like rain showers or idle and off-screen chatter. Benoit Charest\u2019s score, with Mark Isham\u2019s theme, also sounds wonderful making use of all available channels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OVERALL \u2013 3.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Upside Down<\/i><\/b> threw away so much potential that it could have been a cult classic but instead we get a jumbled screenplay and finished product that seems to be missing some key scenes. It also doesn\u2019t help that our two protagonists are barely together early on making Adam\u2019s journey so hard to follow because it\u2019s not immediately obvious why he is so enamored with her. The Blu-ray at least does have notable video\/audio transfers and the features, albeit superficial, offers a goof selection to watch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Movieman
\n<\/i>Published: <\/b>07\/03\/2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upside Down threw away so much potential that it could have been a cult classic but instead we get a jumbled screenplay and finished product that seems to be missing some key scenes. It also doesn\u2019t help that our two protagonists are barely together early on making Adam\u2019s journey so hard to follow because it\u2019s … Continue reading “Upside Down 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":[2166,215,1281,2165],"class_list":["post-5827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","tag-jim-sturgess","tag-kirsten-dunst","tag-timothy-spall","tag-upside-down"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827","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=5827"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26634,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions\/26634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}