The Happening Blu-ray despite solid video and audio falls short as a Blu-ray release
It begins with no clear warning. It seems to come out of nowhere. In a matter of minutes,
episodes of strange, chilling deaths that defy reason and boggle the mind in their shocking
destructiveness, erupt in major American cities. What is causing this sudden, total
breakdown of human behavior? Is it some kind of new terrorist attack, an experiment gone
wrong, a diabolical toxic weapon, an out-of-control virus? Is it being transmitted by air, by
water.. how?
For Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark
Wahlberg) what matters most is finding a way to escape the mysterious and deadly
phenomenon. Though he and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) are in the midst of a marital
crisis, they hit the road, first by train, then by car, with Elliot's math teacher friend Julian
(John Leguizamo) and his 8 year-old daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), heading for the
Pennsylvania farmlands where they hope they'll be out of reach of the grisly, ever-growing
attacks. Yet it soon becomes clear that no one—and nowhere—is safe. This terrifying,
invisible killer cannot be outrun. It is only when Elliot begins to discover the true nature of
what is lurking out there—and just what has unleashed this force that threatens the future of
humanity—that he discovers a sliver of hope that his fragile family might be able to escape
what is happening.
Let's hear some theories why this may be happening.
M. Night Shyamalan is on the precipice of becoming irrelevant in Hollywood. His next project
better
be something as good as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, or Signs, because if it's
another film as woeful as The Happening, he'll become a footnote in cinema history, a
director with brilliant vision and amazing filmmaking techniques that fizzled out far too soon. In
his
first three major studio films, Shyamalan showed the potential to be the next Alfred Hitchcock or
Stanely Kubrick, a master of suspense, a filmmaker with a once-in-a-generation eye for
unparalleled
visuals, perfect pacing, and first-rate scriptwriting. He's been in a steady decline since
Signs, but appears to have hit rock-bottom with The Happening. It's truly a
shame, because the basic idea for a fine film is here, but the execution and the resolution leave
plenty to be desired. How a filmmaker of his caliber could create such an inept film is the true
mystery behind The Happening, and moviegoers can only hope this film, and not the
filmmaker, is what will be remembered as the footnote to history.
Mark Wahlberg seems shocked to discover that the plastic plant offered the strongest performance
in 'The Happening.'
It happens on a normal New York day. People stroll through central park, construction workers
create the next center of commerce, and they all decide that today is a good day to die. A
woman stabs herself in the neck. Construction workers leap to their deaths. A city, a nation,
panics, and the fear spreads to Philadelphia where high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark
Wahlberg, We Own the Night) is
taken out of class and told there is an "event" in New York City. School is let out, and Mark, his
wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel, Elf), his colleague
Julian (John Leguizamo, Land of the Dead),
and Julian's daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) board a train headed west, away from the dangers
happening on the East coast. The train comes to a halt in Filbert, Pennsylvania, having lost
communications with, well, everyone. Julian separates from the group to head to Princeton to
find his wife, leaving his daughter with Elliot and Alma. As they traverse the countryside on foot,
Elliot does all he can to understand what is happening -- and keep as many people alive as
possible.
The Happening is one of those movies that has so much wrong with it that there is no
one good place to begin or end the conversation. The story offers an intriguing premise, an
unknown something that drives people to instant suicide. After that, the film falls apart
in every regard. The most obvious problem with the film is the terrible acting, some of the worst
in recent memory from name actors in a big-budget studio film. John Leguizamo is no better
than tolerable, Zooey Deschanel is laughable, and Mark Wahlberg...talks to plants! His
performance is the most puzzling. A solid, reliable actor as evidenced by his work in films like Shooter, Invincible, and
Three Kings, Wahlberg seems to be in some sort of trance in this film, or is perhaps the
victim of a Like Father Like Son or Vice Versa switcharoo, because he puts on a
performance one might expect of an 8-year-old, more amazed to actually be in the movie rather
than acting seriously. Of course, when the script he has to work with calls for him to talk to a
plastic plant as if it were a child throwing a temper tantrum, or literally run from the wind, who
can blame him for phoning it in?
The Happening offers no drama, no sense of urgency, no sense of wonder, all qualities
that audiences have come to expect from an M. Night Shyamalan film, and certainly qualities
that should be evident in a film with a premise such as this one. The Happening poses a
great idea -- but it is the way the idea is expanded upon, explained, and resolved that proves
most disappointing. With a poor script comes uncharacteristically bland direction from the
generally even-handed Shyamalan. Various scenes that try to convey the panic and
pandemonium of the events occurring in the film fizzle with alarming regularity. An early scene
in the film, on a train heading west from Philadelphia, comes off as a nearly incoherent jumble of
images, dialogue, and sound. The interplay between the characters is somewhat confused, and
various plot points either make no sense at all, or the characters that inhabit the world of The
Happening are simply stupid. Take a scene where Elliot and what remains of his group
attempt to find food and shelter in a boarded-up house. The people inside refuse to let them in
for fear of the airborne agents entering the home, yet they leave gaps in the boards large enough
for a rifle barrel to reach out and touch someone, literally. It's not just the small details like this
one, but the entire arc of the film that is offensive to even semi-intelligent audiences. Even
Shaymalan, known for his cameo appearance in his films, and above-average acting in his roles,
supposedly appears as nothing more than a name of a character discussed in the film. Luckily for
theater
owners, there was no target on the screen at which angry audiences could throw their rotten
fruit.
The Happening blows onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The transfer
seems slightly dull, but it retains solid detail and color reproduction. The classroom scene near the
beginning of the film, where audiences first meet Elliot, offers excellent depth and mostly
true-to-life imagery. It looks ever so slightly pale and diluted, which was a running visual theme
throughout the movie. Facial detail is impressive in close-ups of the actors, revealing that actors
are indeed human, at least in 1080p. The film does offer fairly good theatrical presence, offering
somewhat deep imagery that never jumps off the screen, but manages to retain a cinematic look
nevertheless, particularly because of the natural film grain that the image retains throughout.
Various outdoor scenes appear natural in detail, texture, and color. Definition is not
incredible, but fields of blowing grass, for example, never look smeared of poorly rendered. Flesh
tones appear somewhat ghastly, no doubt thanks to the film's aforementioned pale shading.
The Happening offers viewers fairly good high definition material. Eye candy this is not, but
more than adequate this is.
Featuring a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, The Happening's audio presentation offers
somewhat mixed results, but the positives outweigh the negatives. The score heard over the
opening credits offers a fulfilling presence, but it doesn't approach the level of "the orchestra in the
living room" sensation quite like that available from the very best lossless soundtracks. The bustling
Central Park shot that follows features plenty of speaker-testing activity from every side. A brisk
wind, footsteps, and dialogue combine to
immerse the viewer in the packed New York landmark. The city scape that follows comes alive with
police cars rushing to a scene, but the
entire soundtrack, from effects to dialogue -- and despite plenty of activity from
the rear channels -- feels over-exaggerated and unnatural. The score thumps and rattles on
occasion, delivering powerful lows that perturb the room. A heavy blowing wind in chapter 12
slowly gains momentum as it increases in intensity and soon engulfs the entire soundstage with a
heavy-handed bass presence. Dialogue reproduction is fine as expected, but
the soundtrack as a whole feels and sounds forced rather than natural and graceful.
The Happening offers up plenty of extras to satiate any desire one may have to get more
in-depth with M. Night Shyamalan's latest film. Bonusview with Trivia Track is a Blu-ray
profile 1.1 feature that, when activated, provides viewers with not only a standard pop-up trivia
track,
but
also showcases various behind-the-scenes footage. As the film begins, Shyamalan discusses the
similarities to the opening of his film and that of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. After a
trivia fact, the discussion turns to the film's title, including a humorous tale regarding his Indian
Uncle as he tries to help Night choose the title. The back-and-forth goes on for the length of the
film, and Shyamalan nonchalantly discusses the film, merrily going on as if nothing was wrong
with
it. These features are also available separately for Blu-ray owners without Profile 1.1 equipped
players.
Train Shooting (1080p, 4:15) features several cast and crew members discussing the
scene, the shooting location, and the actual shoot. The Hard Cut (1080p, 9:02) is a look
at the film's violence and the contrast between this and Shyamalan's other films, including an
extensive look at one particular sequence. Forces Unseen (1080p, 4:40) is an
examination of the film's unconventional enemy and the process of creating some of the its
visuals. "I Hear You Whispering" (1080p, 4:18) focuses on the character named Mrs.
Jones (Betty Buckley) and her role in the film. Next in line is a basic gag reel (1080p, 2:39),
followed by four deleted and extended scenes (1080p) with optional introductions by M. Night
Shyamalan (480p). The Happening -- Visions of 'The Happening:' A Making Of (1080p,
11:54) features additional background on the original ideas for the film. Shyamalan discusses his
initial inspiration to make the ultimate B-movie, but one that morphed into something deeper.
The piece dwells on the same scenes that The Hard Cut focused on. The cast and crew
discuss the character motivations, the mood of the film, shooting in and around Philadelphia, and
more. A Day For Night (1080p, 6:46) is an interesting, candid look at how the director
operates during a typical day during principal photography. Elements of a Scene (1080p,
10:03) is a feature that
examines some of the story boarding and Pre-Viz sequences for the film, and moves onto the
physical creation of the scene for the film. Finally, this disc is D-Box enabled for those with
the appropriate gear.
Disc two of this set contains a digital copy of the film for playback on computers and select
portable
video devices, including the Apple iPod Touch. Viewing select scenes on a 2nd generation iPod
Touch, the film seems to offer a decent picture quality but retains the somewhat pale look of
the Blu-ray disc. Nevertheless, this is perhaps the highest quality digital copy of a film yet. The
many bright outdoor sequences look fine with little in the way of problem areas, though blocking,
pixelation, and other annoyances creep in occasionally. The sound is uninspired, even over the
iPod's headphones. Dialogue is tinny, effects sound artificial, and the experience is perhaps akin
to hearing the track through a telephone. The experience is par for the course, and is watchable
in a pinch if the only choices are digital copies of The Happening or The Love Guru.
Anyone interested in watching The Happening should simply download the trailer and
enjoy. It makes the movie look far better than it is, but the one drawback is that it makes one
actually want to see the finished product. Unfortunately, the actual 90 minute film is simply
terrible, laughable to general audiences, and a heartbreaker for longtime Shyamalan fans. With
poor acting, a story that goes nowhere, and uneven-at-best direction, The Happening goes
down as one of the most disappointing films of the decade. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray edition of
The Happening is superior to the film it contains. Featuring acceptable video and audio, as
well as a nice selection of bonus materials, the film's three or four fans should be pleased. This disc
is a rental
for the bravest of the cinematic curious.
Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the M. Night Shyamalan film 'The Happening' to Blu-ray on October 7th, day-and-date with the DVD release. For the filmmakers first R-Rated film, video will be presented as 1.85:1 1080p AVC accompanied by ...
In an interview with Agent DVD magazine, director M. Night Shyamalan revealed that he has recorded a BonusView commentary track for the upcoming Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray release of his film 'The Happening'. He also mentioned that there is no planned director's ...
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