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(aka "The Plague" )
directed by Hal Masonberg
USA 2006
One day in the mid-1990's,
David Russell (Arne MacPhearson, POPULATION 436)
wakes up to find his son in a comatose condition. Rushing
him to the hospital, he discovers that all of the town's
children are similarly non-responsive. Waiting for someone
to attend to his son, he sees a news report that confirms
that every child in the world under nine years of age have
simultaneously fallen into this catatonic state. Ten years
later, they are still unresponsive. David's younger brother
Tom (James Van Der Beek, THE RULES OF ATTRACTION) is
released from prison and comes to stay with him. While most
of the town's children are cared for in the high school
gym-turned-medical ward, David has been caring for his now
grown but still catatonic son Eric (Chad Panting). Tom also
hopes to reconcile with his ex Jean (Ivana Milicevic,
CASINO ROYALE) but she wants nothing to do with him. The
same night of Tom's return, all of the comatose children
simultaneously wake up and attack the adults in a vicious
massacre. Tom escapes with Jean's brother Sam (Brad Hunt,
BLOW) and they head to the high school to find Jean.
They baricade themselves in a supply closet with eight
surviving members of the medical staff and Tom climbs into
the air ducts where he finds Jean. Meanwhile, Sam helps the
others down a laundry chute and inadvertently right into
danger. The survivors run into the sheriff (John P.
Connolly), his wife Nora (Dee Wallace, THE HOWLING), his
deputy Nate (Bradley Sawatzky), and teens Kip (Joshua Close,
DIARY OF THE DEAD) and Claire (Brittany Scobie) who
escaped the plague by a year and seem to relate more to the
catatonics than the adults. Sam is injured and the group
hold up in the church when they discover that the children
now have guns and know how to use them. |
Theatrical Release: 5 September 2006 (USA - theatrical cut)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Off Leash Films (Writer & Director's Cut) - Region 0 - NTSC
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!
DVD Box Cover |
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This review is for the Writer and Director's Cut of the film but we've compared some captures with the Sony version below - which is available here: |
Distribution |
Off Leash Films Region 0 - NTSC |
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Runtime | 1:46:32 | |
Video |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate |
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Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo | |
Subtitles | none | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Off Leash Films Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 31 |
Comments |
This DVD is NOT available to the public. The set was prepared by the director as a proposal to distributor Screen Gems to fully restore the feature (the director's cut is compiled from an offline edit and workprint dailies and, as such, is presented in 4:3 widescreen). His website www.spreadingtheplague.com features an online petition to Screen Gems to convince them of interest in restoring the film's original cut. The extras include a commentary by director Masonberg in which he explains the intent of every turn of the plot and every choice of shot (and the producer's reaction to his deliberate pacing). Disc 1 also features a director's cut trailer and a text screen statement about the transfer. Disc 2 features "Spreading the Plague" a 71 minute documentary (indexed and encode with 17 chapters) featuring input from several of the cast and crew members. It not only features behind-the-scenes info but also covers the post-production struggles in more detail. The Storyboard-to-Film featurette shows 4 sequences in splitscreen with the film scenes and the computer-drawn storyboard versions (all with optional commentary). This is followed by an animated storyboard version of one of the major sequences. A deleted scene with optional commentary depicts Jean saying goodbye to a wounded Sam when she, Tom, and Kip sneak into town to look for a working automobile (this scene is featured in the producer's cut). The production bible section features the director's notes on nearly every scene discussing visual inspirations, themes, etc. The director's statement is a piece that Screen Gems asked Masonberg to write for potential investors about his intents with the film (it seems in line with what his cut reflects in contrast to the producer's cut). Sony's DVD of the
producer's cut features 5.1 audio, a jokey, intermittently
informative audio commentary featuring the editor and actors
Brad Hunt and Joshua Close (from which the director is
noticeably absent) and 18 minutes of deleted scenes. Obviously,
this transfer looks better (it is single-layer as the DVD9
accommodates both 4:3 and 16:9 versions of the Super 35mm
feature) having been derived from an HD master - albeit one that
was color corrected without the input of experienced DP Bill
Butler - but the 18 minute difference in running times is not
explained by the 8 deleted scenes (the director's cut set also
has its own deleted scenes with optional commentary) as there
are major structural differences. Although the director has said
that this version does not reflect his vision, it might be worth
checking out to give you an indication of how good the film is
meant to look transfer-wise and to see some alternate versions
of scenes in the director's cut (sort of like watching both
GANJA AND HESS and the re-edit BLOOD COUPLE).
Although the film was shot in Super 35mm for 2.35:1 matting,
neither version exposes the entire periphery. The Sony transfer
shows more info on the left while cropping the right side while
the director's cut transfer shows more on the right side of the
frame while cropping the left. |
DVD Menus
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Screen Captures
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Writer and Director's Cut - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sony - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
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Writer and Director's Cut - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sony - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
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Writer and Director's Cut - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sony - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
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Writer and Director's Cut - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sony - Region 1 - NTSC BOTTOM
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DVD Box Cover |
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This review is for the Writer and Director's Cut of the film but we've compared some captures with the Sony version below - which is available here: |
Distribution |
Off Leash Films Region 0 - NTSC |
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