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FOX

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Andrew Davis
Cast:
Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman, Rachel Weisz, Fred Ward, Kevin Dunn
Writing Credits:
JF Lawton and Michael Bortman

Synopsis:
Two researchers in a green alternative energy project are put on the run when they are framed for murder and treason.

Box Office:
Budget
$50 million.
Domestic Gross
$20,550,712.

MPAA:
Rated PG-13.

DVD DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Spanish Dolby Surround 2.0
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
Korean
Cantonese
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
Spanish
Portuguese
Chinese Simplified
Czech
Greek
Hungarian
Korean
Chinese Traditional
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Thai

Runtime: 106 min.
Price: $16.99
Release Date: 2/13/2007

Bonus:
• Trivia Track
• Trailer and Previews


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Chain Reaction [Blu-Ray] (1996)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (June 10, 2015)

Call it a case of the “sophomore slump” - sort of. Okay, 1993’s The Fugitive wasn’t director Andrew Davis’s first film. Heck, it wasn’t even his initial success, as he’d done fairly well with a couple of Steven Seagal offerings, 1988’s Above the Law and 1992’s Under Siege. However, The Fugitive put Davis on the map; not only did it earn a boatload of money, but it also was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, an honor that doesn’t usually greet action flicks.

Apparently 1996’s Chain Reaction wasn’t even Davis’s follow-up to The Fugitive. I checked on IMDB and he made a comedy called Steal Big, Steal Little in 1995 – boy, did that one slip under the old radar! In any case, Reaction marked the director’s return to the action field he’d plowed so successfully in 1993, so I had big expectations for a terrific flick.

Unfortunately, when Davis returned to the genre, he came back without his imagination. In Chain Reaction we find a near-remake of The Fugitive. One might think that a rip-off of a film based on a TV show is a bad thing, and one might be correct; while Reaction has its moments, the lack of inspiration clearly harms it.

At the start of the film, we learn that some researchers working out of the University of Chicago have developed an alternate energy source. Since it comes from water, this would literally solve any kinds of energy crises, and it seems to be a revolutionary idea. However, someone doesn’t want it to get out, and early on, we see a giant explosion that serves as an attempt to cancel the project.

Student machinist Eddie Kasalivich (Keanu Reeves) barely escapes, and he’s soon targeted as the culprit behind the sabotage. Of course he’s innocent, but Bigger Powers are at work here, and they use him as the convenient scapegoat to cover their tracks. As such, Eddie and fellow researcher Dr. Lily Sinclair (Rachel Weisz) hit the road as they attempt to keep one step ahead of various parties and also stay alive.

Essentially, Reaction gives us The Fugitive with a younger lead, a romantic interest, and a more revolutionary technology as its plot device. In the older film, the prime factor was a flawed drug whose side effects needed to be kept under wraps by the baddies; this was a believable motivation but it doesn’t compare with the world-altering impact the new fuel seen in Reaction would have.

Unfortunately, the broader scope of the technology in Reaction comes to be a bad thing, as it makes some of the film’s characters look naïve and/or stupid. Some characters opine that if the new fuel is introduced too rapidly - i.e., immediately - that the impact upon the world’s economies would be catastrophic, and I’m inclined to agree. There’s a whole lot of money involved in our current energy sources - to simply eradicate them overnight would likely toss the world into a tizzy.

However, our protagonists take the insanely optimistic view that “the people can handle it”. Sure, the people are ready – who wouldn’t be darned hyped for some free fuel?

But that’s not the point. If the world suddenly concluded that gold was worthless and created an economic standard based on corn chips, things would likely become rather topsy-turvy, so the shift from oil to water as fuel would be equally calamitous.

Unfortunately, Chain Reaction prefers to gloss over things in a simple manner as it creates a routine tale of good and evil. The villains in The Fugitive were more complex and realistic, while those of Reaction stick largely to the “evil organization” bent. It makes them less compelling and means that the movie lacks much depth.

Weisz’ character seems to exist for no reason other than to add some romantic interest with Reeves. Maybe Davis thought The Fugitive suffered because its protagonist didn’t go after any babes and this was an attempt to rectify that. Unfortunately, Weisz has little to do in the film other than complicate matters for Reeves; inevitably, she gets taken by the baddies and used as bait to lure him into their traps.

It all seems rather unconvincing, and I just can’t get away from the film’s overwhelming similarities to The Fugitive. In both, we have apparently sympathetic characters who seem to help our heroes but who have different agendas. In Reaction, Morgan Freeman takes on the role of Paul Shannon, a backer of the new energy project who has a mysterious agenda. I adore the work of Freeman, but he’s a dud here as he sleepwalks through his scenes.

Many folks love to bash poor old Keanu, but I rarely have any real problems with his work. No, he’s not one of the great thespians of his time, but when placed in the right project - such as The Matrix or Speed or even River’s Edge - he can offer more than acceptable work.

While I’m not sure I believe him as a college student - especially since there’s no apparent attempt to make him a grad student, which would better explain his age - Reeves seems fine in the role, as he delivers the part’s necessities. Since that means he has to do little more than run from people and survive, the demands remain minor, and he does okay.

Reeves also has to ride a motorbike, which leads to one of the film’s silliest moments. In an apparent attempt to outdo the famous train wreck scene from The Fugitive, during Reaction Reeves has to outrun a nuclear blast on his bike. Um… okay. Admittedly, it’s a fairly exciting scene, but the stretching of reality seemed a little extreme.

If Chain Reaction came with more excitement – even of the idiotic stripe – I’d probably enjoy it more. Unfortunately, it mostly seems like a plodding rehash of The Fugitive that lacks much zest.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture C+/ Audio A/ Bonus C

Chain Reaction appears in an aspect ratio of approximately :1 on this Blu-ray Disc. A release from the early days of Blu-ray, the image showed its age.

Sharpness was one of the inconsistent elements. Much of the movie showed reasonable to good definition, but it lacked the accuracy I expect from Blu-ray; while it displayed acceptable clarity, it was never impressive in that regard. I noticed no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes failed to mar the presentation. I also didn’t notice print flaws, but the aged compression left us with some artifacts that gave the movie a mildly gauzy look at times.

Reaction featured a rather subdued palette. Much of the movie worked from a metallic blue tone that kept the proceedings “cool”, but warmer colors occasionally appeared as well. The tones worked okay; they could’ve been clearer but they came across with fair clarity. Blacks were reasonably dense, and shadows showed decent delineation, though the softness and artifacts left them without much vivacity. In the end, I thought this became an average image.

The film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix offered a broad and engaging soundfield. All five channels got a fine workout throughout Reaction, as the different speakers provided a wealth of unique information.

Whether in big action scenes like chase sequences and the nuclear explosion - which made for a fine demo moment - or quieter atmospheric sequences, the mix was very active but also nicely realistic. It didn’t seem like an overtly showy track that tossed in sounds just to amp up the proceedings; instead, the audio worked well to keep us involved in the feature.

Audio quality was also excellent. Dialogue seemed warm and natural and showed no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility. Music got buried slightly under the rest of the mix, but I thought the score appeared clear and bright, with positive dynamics and presence. Effects were very crisp and detailed, and they showed no distortion or flaws.

In addition, those elements could boast some terrific bass at times. On occasion I was afraid the walls were going to crack due to the deep low-end heard during the movie. This whole mix impressed and gave us top-notch audio.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD from 2001? Audio was bolder and richer, while visuals seemed tighter and cleaner. Even with the Blu-ray’s drawbacks, it still worked better than the DVD.

New to the Blu-ray, we get a trivia track. This text piece discusses the science behind the story and other background elements, cast and crew, locations, stunts and effects, and other movie-related material. The pop-ups appear with reasonable frequency and give us some fun notes.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find additional promos under “Fox on Blu-ray”. This offers ads for Alien Vs. Predator, Broken Arrow, Commando, Phone Booth and Planet of the Apes.

Chain Reaction never becomes terribly successful as a movie. Oh, it has some exciting moments, but its Fugitive-rehash plot ultimately makes it tiresome, and the film peters out well before it ends. The Blu-ray brings us excellent audio but visuals seem lackluster and we find few bonus materials. Reaction left me cold in 1996 and that hasn’t changed; this remains a passable but mostly forgettable flick.

Viewer Film Ratings: 3.8181 Stars Number of Votes: 22
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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main