Poseidon
March 2007 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: HD DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Remakes are a touchy business. No matter what the original source, in the case of movies they will always be compared to the original. In this case, that would take us back to 1972 and The Poseidon Adventure, a film mostly remembered for Shelley Winters’ brave swimming scene.

The plot setup here is the same as before. A ten-story-high cruise ship, The Poseidon, is steaming along under sunny skies. It is New Year’s and in the grand lobby the crew is hosting a party. Merriment abounds, but there are a few personal frictions. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a monster rogue wave appears. Without advance warning the crew cannot turn the ship into the wave and it is hit broadside, turning it upside down. Many people are killed immediately because the lobby floor is now its roof and it is a long fall between them. A handful of survivors, led by Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas, endeavor to get to the bottom of the boat, in this case by going up, where they can possibly find escape through the propeller tubes.

The small band encounters difficulty along the way. Some of them live and some of them do not, and I will not spoil your viewing by telling you who makes the cut. Not that you would care, anyhow. The main problem with this movie is that it is cold and unemotional. We feel little for the characters to begin with, so when they start having difficulties, we feel little for them then. The action feels "by the numbers." I wonder how much this has to do with the digital effects, which in many cases look digitally created. It was hard for me to believe that there was so much danger in a ship that looked like it was built by a computer. There was more tension in the first movie, with its realistic sets and lack of computer animation. This one seems like a video game at times.

You might well ask, then, why I have given a 3.5 rating to this film. That rating is for the HD DVD, not the movie, for this HD is done up right, the way it should be. First off, the transfers are first rate. The picture is sharp with rich, deep color and fine contrast. It is detailed enough to unmask many digital effects, such as the opening pan around the ship, as well as the computer-generated rogue wave. The sound is excellent. There is plenty of solid bass to make all the explosions exciting, yet there is clarity in the center dialogue channel. The surrounds are active. Even when the action slows, which is seldom, you can hear the creaks and groans of a dying vessel all around you. The Dolby TrueHD tracks all sound completely natural and free of any constriction.

The extras include an "In-Movie Experience," and it is one of the best on HD DVD. Josh Lucas is the host and as the film goes on, he pops up in a picture-in-picture box, as do many of the other actors and production crew. There are also pop-ups with trivia facts. The whole act is well coordinated. The experience does deepen understanding of the film making process, even if it doesn’t make the movie better.

In addition to the "In-Movie Experience," there are several interesting production featurettes. The best of these is a half-hour program on the History Channel about rogue waves, what they are and how they develop. It is rather unsettling to think that even on a calm day, a hundred-foot wave can just suddenly appear. This is the kind of factual extra that lends credence to the feature, answers many audience questions, and entertains.

Poseidon is not a great movie, but the DVD features almost make it seem like one. I am tempted to advise you to rent it and to watch the movie first with the ‘In-Movie Experience" activated. Then watch the History Channel program.

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