Blu-ray Review: I, Robot

[Jon Liu]

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.

[GoatMother]

Thanks for the review. I'm definitely going to have to rent or buy this eventually.

Currently I'm watching Man on Fire. If you haven't check that one out it is and audio feast and the movie is great so far.

[Peench]

I dug iRobot. I'm apparently a robot nerd or something but I thought it was creepy enough and cool enough for good entertainment.

[Jon Liu]

Goat, I saw Man on Fire on standard DVD, I'm interested in seeing how it looks and sounds on Blu-ray.

Peench, I guess I am a robot nerd, too. Most robot movies are very enjoyable to me. I suppose that's why I am really looking forward to Pixar's Wall-E this summer!

[GoatMother]

If you enjoyed the movie enough IMO it is well worth it. PQ is very good just the audio as I said is really oustanding.

Yeah, Wall E looks like it will be very enjoyable and I have no doubts it will be top notch audio and video based on Ratatuoille.

[namehater]

hey jon, first off i wanted to let you know that appreciate these reviews, thanks!

secondly, every movie i have seen on blu-ray dont seem to have as good of picture quality as hd-dvd. my BD player is my ps3, ran with hdmi/dvi. my hd-dvd player is my xbox360 w/ addon player, hooked up via component. ive seen a good number of hd-dvds and just about every one seems to have very nice video quality, a few of the blu-rays that ive seen are- one missed call, alvin and the chipmunks, AVP requem.

have the blu-rays that ive seen just have bad quality? is my hdmi/dvi cable the suck?

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by Jon Liu

Goat, I saw Man on Fire on standard DVD, I'm interested in seeing how it looks and sounds on Blu-ray.

Peench, I guess I am a robot nerd, too. Most robot movies are very enjoyable to me. I suppose that's why I am really looking forward to Pixar's Wall-E this summer!

Man on Fire is a good Blu-ray...

[Jon Liu]

Name, those aren't necessarily the best for visual quality.

There are plenty out there, actually I can point you to a thread that would be perfect for ranking the Blu-rays for their visuals.

Linky

So you can see Alvin and the Chipmunks is pretty good, but there are better. Usually the horror movies like One Missed Call don't fare well simply because of the content. Dark sequences don't show off the visuals as well. But, definitely check out the stuff in Tier 0 if you are looking for some great visuals!

[namehater]

well, now im really baffled! alvin and AVP are in tier 1 and didnt impress me like hd-dvd's do, maybe the movies ive seen on hd-dvd are tier 0 quality

thanks for the link tho, do you agree with what you have seen from that list? it would be nice to have a trustworthy source to look at when considering a purchase

[Jon Liu]

For the most part, I agree, but there are several I don't agree with. For example, after seeing AVP Requiem, I would probably rank it Tier 2 material given the nature of the film and how little you can actually see during the movie because it is so dark. Alvin and the Chipmunks might be a different story, but I've not seen it yet.

Those are more "general" rather than to be taken literally. What appeals to some may not necessarily appeal to all, so take it sort of with a grain of salt.

Check out some of the Tier 0 movies and see what you think.

I'm curious, Name, what TV do you use?

[namehater]

im not 100% sure of the model, but after some google love, this seems to be the model off the specs i know for sure about it

Sony KP-51WS510 Specs. Projection TVs Specifications.

i really want to upgrade to an LCD, i tried a 62" dlp and didnt like the picture quality, our set was inherited from my wife's father when he passed away, i guesstimate the tv to be about 4yrs old, probably with original bulbs

[Lord LouDog]

The Sci-fi purist in me has to hate this movie. Sure things blow up, sure it is a high paced action movie, but Mr. Asimov would be very, very sad.