DVD Review: ‘MONSTERS’

  

One film that I didn’t get to check out last year that was getting all sorts of accolades was Gareth Edwards’ Monsters. Michael reviewed the film prior to its wide release and today, I give you a review of the DVD which was released on Tuesday. 

 

The Movie: 

Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) is a photographer is for an unnamed publication in Mexico.  The boss of the publication has a daughter, Sam (Whitney Able) that needs to make it back to the States.  Therefore, the boss gives Kaulder the directive to escort her back and makes sure she gets home safe.  Between the USA and Mexico is a section of land called the Infected Zone. 

Inside this Infected Zone lies some….you guessed it, monsters.  These squid-like creatures are quarantined into the borders of the two countries.  The film pretty much follows these two as they venture through the Infected Zone which can be interpreted as echoes into immigration if you look into it deep enough.  I am happy to report that if this was a commentary that the director wanted to make, it is barely noticable. 

The film is not really a monster movie as you might believe.  The quotes that reference this are misleading and may sway you into disliking the film.  However, there is a good film that really comments on our existence.  Kaulder makes a living off of tragedy by photographing it.  He knows it is not something he should do but he is forced to in order to make a living.  While the character of Samantha is there to raise questions on if he is truly happy at what he does or if he is just going through the motions and possibly the consequences on what is left after the end of his working day. 

Monsters is a dramatic film.  Yes, it has monsters in it and the creature design, from what you can see, is pretty well designed.  The fact that it was shot on Sony EX3 cameras on a miniscule budget with visual effects and other jobs being done all by one man is pretty amazing.  For a film that was shot with $15k, this film really puts other films to shame in look and story. 

Video Presentation: 

The film’s source is a 1080p digital output (The film was shot on Sony’s EX3 Cameras).  Obviously some  post-production color modifications have been made to make the movie more film-like.  The video on the DVD is pretty top notch.  All the colors seem to be in the right places.  The only complaint that I had were that some of the night scenes looked pretty dark.  However, due to the source, this may be intentional or unavoidable. 

Audio Presentation: 

I think it was pretty apparent that the sound presentation would need to be pretty well rounded for the home mix.  Magnolia/Magnet’s audio track is Dolby Digital EX which for 5.1 systems means that a pseudo 6th channel is added.  The sound is great on this disc, which is what the film needs as much of it is very reliant to make the viewer believe that the monsters actually inhabit the environments the characters experience through the film. 

Bonus Material/Special Features: 

Unfortunately, I was only given the 1-Disc DVD so there are 3special features. 

• HDNet: A Look at Monsters
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Commentary by director Gareth Edwards and stars Scoot McNairy & Whitney Able

The feature HDNet: A Look at Monsters is pretty pedestrian but it features some insight on how working around such a tight budget was. 

The Deleted Scenes are worthwhile and even shows you the raw camera footage before the film processing look was applied.  I thought it was good to watch this for any aspiring filmmakers. 

The commentary is insightful and fun.  Edwards and his actors have a good time while also providing tidbits and share stories about their experiences.  Edwards has a very personal and revealing – as far as the movie is concerned – commentary on this track. 

Overall: 

It’s a film you should probably rent before blind buying it.  However, if you fully read this review, you know you aren’t going to get a action-packed monster/horror film.  Honestly, I really can only recommend the 1-disc to anyone who doesn’t want to splurge the extra couple of dollars to own the 2-disc DVD or Blu-Ray as I think Blu-Ray or the 2-Disc DVD is the only way to go if you want this in your collection.