Eagle Eye appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a largely solid presentation.
Sharpness always looked quite good. From start to finish, the movie seemed concise and accurate, with few signs of softness on display.
Jagged edges and shimmering were absent, but some slight edge haloes appeared. In addition, source flaws failed to occur.
To the surprise of no one, the film opted for a standard orange and (mostly) teal palette. Across the board, the colors fit with the design and came across well.
Blacks seemed deep and firm, while shadows showed good clarity and delineation, though a few shots appeared slightly dim. Nonetheless, the movie held up well.
With all its action scenes, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Eagle Eye boasted many opportunities to shine. It took advantage of these to create a vibrant soundfield.
You name an action element and it likely appeared here: gunfire, trains, car chases, helicopters, missile launches, and plenty of other exciting pieces cropped up often throughout the movie. The track managed to mesh the elements well and made this an involving setting.
That meant plenty of surround usage. The back speakers became nearly equal partners, as they provided tons of unique information. The whole package blended smoothly and created a consistently lively sense of place and action.
In addition, the movie offered excellent audio quality. Speech sounded natural and concise, so I noticed no edginess or other distractions. Music took a backseat to the effects, but the score was vivid and full.
As expected, effects played the most important role here. Those elements appeared vibrant and accurate. They showed clean reproduction and packed a good punch, as low-end response made fine use of the subwoofer. All in all, the movie featured a terrific soundtrack.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? Audio showed a bit more range and heft, while visuals appeared tighter and more dynamic. As expected, the Blu-ray delivered a nice step up in quality.
The Blu-ray replicates the extras from the 2-DVD “Special Edition”, and we find a three-minute, five-second featurette called Road Trip: On Location with the Cast and Crew. It provides comments from director DJ Caruso, producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, production designer Tom Sanders, and actors Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan.
They tell us that they visited a bunch of sets and things moved quickly. We get a few other very minor production notes, but there’s very little substance here. We see a couple of mildly interesting shots from the set, but this is nothing more than an advertisement.
Three Deleted Scenes run a total of three minutes, 31 seconds. These include “Ethan’s Wake” (0:36), “Minuteman” (1:13) and “Twins” (1:46).
“Wake” offers a longer glimpse of Jerry’s estranged relationship with his family, while “Minuteman” gives us a bit more exposition in terms of plot complexities and some characters. “Twins” fleshes out Jerry’s relationship with his brother a wee bit more as well, though it simply extends an existing scene.
None of these seem particularly interesting. “Minuteman” probably appears the most useful, as it gives us decent details.
However, it’s unnecessary, and in the context of the full film, I expect it’d slow down the drama. All of these cuts were good ones.
In addition, an alternate ending goes for one minute, eight seconds. This scene gives the movie an opening for a sequel – a really, really stupid opening for a sequel. I’m quite glad it got the boot.
Four featurettes follow. Asymmetrical Warfare: The Making of Eagle Eye runs 25 minutes, 32 seconds and includes Kurtzman, Orci, Caruso, LaBeouf, Sanders, Monaghan, director of photography Darius Wolski, 2nd unit director Brian Smrz, and special effects coordinator Peter Chesney. The show covers the movie’s development, cast and performances, stunts and practical effects, cinematography, set design, and a smattering of other elements.
As an informational piece, “Warfare” seems unremarkable. It tosses out a decent array of facts about the production but lacks much substance.
However, it compensates with quite a few good shots from the set. These add zest and make the show more interesting.
Next comes the five-minute, 58-second Eagle Eye On Location: Washington DC. It features remarks from Caruso, Kurtzman, co-producer Pete Chiarelli, actor Michael Chiklis and Library of Congress Director of Communications Matt Raymond.
As expected, we go to the National’s Capital and check out the segments shot there. It provides a pretty mediocre take on that subject, though we do get some more nice footage from the shoot.
Is My Cell Phone Spying On Me? lasts nine minutes, 14 seconds and provides comments from Monaghan, Chiklis, LaBeouf, Kurtzman, Caruso, Chiarelli,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Asst. Professor in the School of Information Studies Michael Zimmer, Electronic Privacy Information Center executive director Marc Rotenberg, and producer Edward McDonnell.
“Spying” offers a look at the technological aspects of the movie’s plot. It seems superficial but still provides enough facts to give me the creeps.
For the final featurette, Shall We Play A Game? fills nine minutes, 22 seconds. It gives us a chat between Caruso and WarGames director John Badham. Essentially they discuss Eagle Eye and its connection to other films, WarGames included. It’s fun to see Caruso with his mentor, and they turn this into a reasonably stimulating conversation.
A Gag Reel goes for seven minutes. For the most part, this consists of the standard collection of mistakes and chuckles. It does include a few fun improv moments, though.
In addition to the film’s theatrical trailer, we find a Photo Gallery. It offers 40 images that come from the set and from the film. It’s a completely pedestrian collection.
If you can tolerate the many stretches of logic in Eagle Eye and just go with the flow, you’ll probably enjoy it. The movie hits snags, but it compensates with an intriguing story and plenty of exciting action pieces. The Blu-ray offers very good picture and audio along with decent supplements. Though the movie threatens to go off the rails at times, it entertains.
To rate this film, visit the DVD review of EAGLE EYE