Stealth Blu-ray delivers great video and reference-quality audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
The world's three best pilots are partnered with a state-of-the-art, fully-automated, pilotless, super stealth warplane - inhuman and invincible. But once in the air, it goes haywire, leaving them with one final mission - bring it down.
Ah, to be a ten-year-old boy again. Underage to see this movie, yes, but that never stopped me
(or the theater's ticket-takers or the video store clerks, for that matter) from seeing those
oh-so-scary PG-13 and even (gasp!) R-rated films. I grew up on the likes of Aliens, The Terminator, and
RoboCop. I also
enjoyed pretty much anything and everything that could be construed as futuristic Sci-Fi (did I
ever love Jean-Claude Van Damme's Cyborg!), especially if it had lots of firepower behind
it (ever see the B-movie called A.P.E.X.? It was a bit after my
pre-teen "glory years" of movie-loving wonderment, but it fits the mold of those ridiculous Sci-Fi
actioners I liked to a "T"). Jet fighters were another favorite of mine; I collected many of the old
die-cast ERTL jets and helicopters, and forever proclaimed Iron Eagle ever-so-slightly
superior to Top Gun. The point
of all this is that, had Stealth been released
about 16 or 17 years earlier, or were I 16 or 17 years younger now, this is a movie I would have
absolutely adored. I'm still inclined to enjoy mindless action flicks like this one (as some despise
me for), but reality,
maturity, and the experience of having seen countless other movies
over my years leads me to the sad
conclusion that Stealth is "the bomb," but not in the modernized, positive version of the
word. It is a bomb in the traditional sense of a cinematic flop -- in this case a terrible
extravaganza
of loud noise and hyperactive edits with a haphazard plot so full of holes it may as well have been
machine gunned by the movie's fighter jets.
No, HAL, in that other movie, was my cousin. My name is UCAV.
In the near future, a new aerial weapon has been designed to kill terrorists. 400 of the finest
U.S. Naval aviators applied to be the first to pilot these new fighters, and as luck would have it,
Hollywood stars Jamie Fox (Miami Vice), Jessica
Biel (Next), and Josh
Lucas (Glory Road) were
chosen. After an impressive first training mission, this trio is informed that they have been
assigned to the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln where they will be joined by a fourth wingman,
much to
the chagrin of the pilots, because, well, four isn't a prime number. All aviators have their various
superstitions, I suppose. Arriving on the Lincoln, the Musketeers learn that their new
wingman is
actually the "future of digital warfare," one that for both the benefit of the three pilots and the
audience is described in terms of high tech mumbo jumbo that may or may not really mean
anything. In layman's terms, it's an "Unmanned
Combat Aerial Vehicle," or UCAV for short. Their first training
mission as a
quartet turns decidedly real when American intel learns that a few terrorists planning an
imminent attack on U.S. soil are meeting in a hardened building in Rangoon, Myanmar. After
successfully completing a mission against the terrorists, the UCAV is struck by lightning and begins
to develop a heightened awareness, a deeper artificial intelligence, and an itchy trigger finger
(which is always fun). Our trio of Hollywood Hotties must Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast™ the
latest
and greatest in Military Technology gone haywire once again.
One problem I had with Stealth was that I couldn't tell what in the heck was going on
part of the time. I don't think I've ever seen so many breakneck edits, split-second shots,
lightening-quick glimpses of dogfights from odd angles, random zooms, and shaky camera
movements as I did
here. If Stealth were not a movie, it would probably be the annual winner of the hotdog
eating contest. Olympic Sprinters, speed skaters, and other "blink-and-you-miss-them" athletes
are far too graceful a comparison. The sloppiness that is shoving one soaking wet hotdog after
another into your mouth in rapid succession is a much more apropos description of what
Stealth is like. Unfortunately, these quick, sloppy edits that come at you so fast they
may as well have gone plaid don't translate to a well-paced film. No, Stealth allows us to
wallow in misery for nearly two whole hours, which is probably about 35 minutes more
than a movie like this really needs. Sadly, the film isn't saved by its stars, either. Jessica Biel as
the future of the U.S. Navy? That's about as plausible as Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist.
Jamie Foxx and Josh Lucas may as well be invisible, but the movie is graced by a halfway passable
performance from Sam Shepard who plays in a role that is similar to that he performed in Black Hawk Down. Joe
Morton (Terminator 2) is
probably the best of the bunch in his brief on-screen appearances. Stealth earns a
couple of
points for trying, mostly by throwing countless explosions and enough bass to kill your subwoofer
at the audience, but bangs and booms can only replace story and heart for so long before the
movie becomes another forgettable action time-waster, which, sadly, Stleath is, and it's
not even a good one of those.
Stealth emerges onto your Blu-ray radar screen with a fairly good 1080p, 2.40:1
transfer. This isn't the best transfer I've seen, but it's in the upper echelon, and considering it's
status as a very early Blu-ray release, it's remarkably good. Some of the non-action sequences,
like a discussion between the Lucas and Biel characters in her quarters on the Lincoln,
have a soft
and dull appearance to them with little attention to detail. The film's effects are slick and look
good,
but they never manage to look quite as impressive as they sound. In most other shots, detail is
very good, especially when the camera slows down enough for us to see the planes, their
cockpits, pilots, and various special effects during the action sequences. Colors are rich
and everything looks terrific, especially the bright blue skies above and the earthy-colored ground
below. Later in the movie, the dense forrest of what in this film is supposed to be North Korea
truly shines; the canopy looks great
from above, and wonderful, natural detail is to be seen below it in tree trunks and various
naturally occurring elements on the ground. The many explosions seen throughout
Stealth stand
out as excellent with fine depth, even if some of them have an obvious CGI appearance. Even
some of the film's less-than-stellar special effects manage to look good. One that jumps to mind
is a CGI
shot inside the guts of a plane showing audiences a rupture in a line just before it blows. Black
levels are solid. In fact, I never took note of them one way or the other, which is always a good
sign. The same can be said of flesh tones. As an oddity, my screen went blank for a good 5
seconds around the 1:03:25 time mark. On the whole, Stealth looks just fine. Fans of
the movie will likely be impressed with the visible detail, great colors, and fair amount of depth
exhibited by this image.
Stealth never vanishes from Blu-ray, sonically. Boasting perhaps the most active and
loudest PCM 5.1 uncompressed mix yet, this disc is sure to put even the staunchest systems and
their listeners to the test. If you
like your soundtracks loud, raucous, crazy, and extremely active, you need to purchase
Stealth right now -- go ahead, click on our Amazon link above. I'll be here when you get
back. You should own Stealth on Blu-ray just to wow your friends, family, and that
Doubting Thomas you know who still cannot hear the benefit of Blu-ray or lossless audio.
Not only is this track loud, but it manages to maintain a crispness and distinctness throughout.
Never do sounds become overly harsh, undefined, or sloppy. The audio is tight and concise, and
still
very, very loud. Surround channels are used nearly nonstop as every action sequence features a
wide array of sonic excitement. You will experience jet fighters flying straight through your room;
missiles will launch and explode onto their targets with deadly precision and foundation-shaking
bass; machine guns and AAA (anti-aircraft artillery) rounds will emanate from the ground. In
short, Stealth is a sonic delight for anyone who enjoys the sounds of war, or just
wants to put their high dollar system through its paces. Such listeners will find themselves
grinning ear-to-ear
after the credits roll on this movie, even if they found the movie itself to be a bad one.
On the more bland side of things, this disc still manages to impress. Dialogue reproduction is
spot-on perfect. A night club sequence in chapter two sounds as good as one would expect after
the sonic assault that was the trio's training mission at the beginning of the film. The sound is
loud but clear, with an excellent rear channel presence and a legitimate, realistic feel. The film's
score is also exciting and powerful, and a perfect fit for the film. As jets land on an aircraft
carrier, the jet engine noise and the touchdown of wheels to flight deck is amazing to hear, as is
the power of a shot where an aircraft carrier plows its way through the ocean with a power that
only such a ship (and the best of audio systems!) could produce. Stealth offers quite the
soundtrack overall, from the most deafening of combat sequences to the simple atmosphere of
lunch at a crowded outdoor Thai café, there is never a dull moment in this wonderful
uncompressed soundtrack.
For a special effects-filled extravaganza, one might reasonably assume that the Blu-ray edition of
Stealth would land with several extra features. Alas, such is not the case, and this early
Blu-ray release from Sony comes with only an Introduction to Blu-ray with 'Stealth' Director
Rob Cohen
(1080p, 3:56). The title is a bit misleading as we see some shots of what I can only assume is the
premiere of Stealth, a few clips from the film, and some random shots of surfers,
battleships, and the like. Hey, at least it's in high definition. This disc's main menu screen is also
one of the "cooler" ones I've seen, putting the viewer into the cockpit of a fighter as it soars and
pans through the sky with some of the movie's exciting B-movie action music playing over it.
I cannot get the image of Peter Gibbons telling the Bobs that he "just [doesn't] care" out of my
mind (that's from the 1999 comedy Office Space if you don't know, and may I suggest
renting that instead of Stealth). I feel the same way about this movie. After the first
act, I found I had absolutely no cheering interest in the characters, the story, anything, except in
cheering on the counter on the front of my BD-30 to inch ever-so-closer to that magical point in
the movie where black background meets scrolling white text. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised I didn't
enjoy the movie more; it's plot once was, and mostly still is, right up my alley, but the execution
from Rob Cohen (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Dragonheart, The Fast and
the Furious), a director whose work I generally enjoy, completely ruined the movie for me.
Aerial dogfights can be a thing of beauty (just watch the recently released Battle of Britain or
even Star Wars: Episode IV), but in Stealth, they become a haphazard jumble of
flashes and blurs that never allow the audience to truly focus on what's going on. If you're
looking for Top Gun meets 2001 meets
Short Circuit meets Behind Enemy Lines,
you still may want to look elsewhere (or just watch those four movies instead if time permits),
even though Stealth borrows the main themes or
premises of each of those films. As usual, however, Sony has released a first-rate disc sans
supplements. With a solid video quality and mind-boggling audio experience, this Blu-ray disc
may very
well worth be adding to your collection if for no other reason than for audio demonstration
purposes.
