Blu-ray Review: I, Robot
By
Jon Liu
Video Format: 2.40:1 1080p
Audio Formats: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish, French Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, James Cromwell, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Release Date: March 11, 2008
General
In the year 2035, robots have integrated and become a large part of human life. Scientist Alfred Lanning (Cromwell) is mysteriously thrown out of a window and the only suspect is a robot, named Sonny, voiced by Alan Tudyk. On this murder case is Del Spooner (Smith), a police officer who has refused to adapt to the idea that robots are an essential part of humanity. Spooner and his disdain for robots makes it hard for the rest of the precinct to entrust his instincts and leads. On his path to find out who murdered Lanning, he meets one of Lanning’s fellow scientists, Susan Calvin (Moynahan), who aids him in finding out the truth behind the murder.
Tech Specs
Video: Fox did a great job with the video transfer of this release. The original DVD was a reference quality disc so it was apparent that the original print would yield a great High Definition release. With the amount of CG in this film, I was worried that the High Definition release would be marred with a softening/blurring that often occurs with CG in films today. I am happy to report that this isn’t the case and the amount of detail in this transfer is very good. Resolution remains very sharp and distant and far shots look very crisp. Blending between live-action and CG sequences and characters looks natural. The color palette is slightly muted, but there are still plenty of instances for colors to shine through. Black levels remain rich and dark and contrast looks great throughout the entire movie.
Audio: The original DVD was used as one of my home theater demos for a long time. So naturally I was looking forward to hearing the new DTS-HD MA track on this release. In every aspect this release improved upon the standard DTS track on the original DVD. The sound design in this film is so immersive. With all the whining and whiring of robots in the environment, it gives good opportunity for surround usage throughout. With the robots, humans, and vehicles all interacting, this track certainly makes good use of surround cues to give a sense of the busy pace of the city. As action sequences pick up, the dynamic range expands and engulfs the listener further into the movie. Low frequency in this movie can be downright scary, at times. One of my favorite demo sequences is the car sequence in the tunnel. It is the prime example of fantastic dynamic range, directional surround usage, room-shaking LFE, and perfect dialog clarity within an action sequence.
Extras
There’s a good amount of extras here, but I noticed that Fox decided to leave some extras out from this release. I find it kind of odd, and it’s likely due to space on a single Blu-ray Disc. Though if this is actually the case, then they should’ve opted for a 2-disc release of this film. Regardless, the amount of extras is still insightful and well worthwhile. Here’s what was included: 3 sets of feature-length audio commentaries, 4 different featurettes/documentaries, deleted and extended scenes, and trivia. Most of these can be accessed directly from the film by pressing one of the color buttons on the remote control: yellow, green, red, or blue.
If you don’t access the features from the movie directly, you can opt to sift through the menus to get to each feature. I don’t necessarily recommend this solution because it can be a long, arduous task to get to some of the features.
Overall Impressions
This one of my favorite Will Smith movies. The whole idea behind it seems plausible to me. As technology advances, the possibilities that robots will coexist seem real. What’s more, as technology starts to integrate more into our lives, a lot of the same moral issues brought up in this movie become apparent. Aside from that, I think that Smith and his co-stars do a great job. Alan Tudyk projects emotions fantastically to portray Sonny as very believable. Coupling a movie that I greatly enjoy with video and audio presentations like the one on this disc puts this release on my recommended must-own list.
