Why So Blu?

Film 

Successful businessman Mike Reagan (Pierce Brosnan) has it all. Money, beautiful wife and daughter, and an amazing palatial estate. What makes the palatial estate even more grandiose is that it’s a top of the line “Smart Home.” Everything is under the control of a computer. Sure, on the surface one would think that that would be a cool thing, and it is, but there’s always room for error. Ed Porter (James Frecheville) is a contractor working at Mike’s company down in the IT department. When Mike sees what Ed is all about he invites him to his home to correct the problems going on with his “home system.”

Mike’s family is all onboard with Ed being around the house fixing things – Mike’s wife and daughter have their own lives to lead anyway, so they stay out of the way. After a few days of moderate work fixing and installing updates Ed is no longer needed for work and there’s the rub. Mike gave Ed the impression that he was more than just an employee. This sets Ed off on and he goes on a tangent by being a creepy stalker. He starts to stalk Mike’s 16-year-old daughter, shows up at her sporting events, buys her things, etc. That’s where things finally hit the fan. Worlds collide and it becomes a race against time as Mike tries to do everything he can to stop Ed from taking over his family’s lives.

I thought I.T. would be a regular by-the-numbers film, and it is, but it’s competently directed by John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, Max Payne). The budget is there and everything looks great production-wise. I was entertained watching Pierce Brosnan go from a possible shady businessman to a sympathetic family man trying to protect his family by any means necessary. Now Ed, he’s a piece of crap and has issues. His scenes were effectively played by James Frecheville. At first he comes off as shy and possibly lonely but ultra-smart and knows his way around a server. Once he spots Mike’s family – he turns into a creep show.

I also liked the angle of being connected to the internet isn’t always a great thing, because it may build dependence on technology and gear. Mike and his family have to find ways to function without their smart phones – let alone their smart home. The film goes from being a somewhat techno-thriller before plunging into full-on thriller mode by the end. I.T. was entertaining enough and the cast all did a great job, in my opinion. I guess one gets nice performances out of actors when there isn’t a giant cast of characters to wrangle.

Video 

Encoding: AVC/MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Clarity/Detail: I.T. looks great on Blu-ray. Contrast levels are steady, with only a minor boost here and there and done for obvious aesthetic reasons. It is a techno-thriller, so expect the occasional lens flare and boosted contrast. It’s definitely not a distraction and not a knock on the excellent transfer. You’ll have to see it for yourself. Sharpness levels are spot-on.

Depth: This is a contemporary thriller and I think all of the scenes lend themselves well to the Blu-ray format. I could almost reach in there and grab the wide range of amazing electronic equipment on display.

Black Levels: Black levels were fine. No crush or compression artifacts were detected.

Color Reproduction: The color palette ranges from cold to warm depending on where the scene is taking place. We venture in and out of server rooms, palatial estates and cold highways – the transfer manages to handle it in stride.

Flesh Tones: Everyone looked nice and healthy until Ed began descending into madness – then his complexion when to hell and the video transfer adjusted itself accordingly to his pasty demeanor.

Noise/Artifacts: I did not detect any instances of dirt, noise, or debris.

Audio  

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: One would think that because I.T. comes off like a low budget affair – the audio department would suffer. That couldn’t be further from the truth. This Blu-ray has an amazing lossless soundtrack. My favorite scenes were during the music cues, because they sounded terrific and if you have a nice sound system you’ll know of what I speak.

Low Frequency Extension: There’s some serious LFE rumble on this lossless 5.1 soundtrack. You will definitely feel the rumble of your subwoofer.

Surround Sound Presentation: The surround sound channels are active and enhance the overall sound stage.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is sharp and crystal clear.

Extras  

I.T. has one featurette but it’s of the standard fare, where everyone praises everyone else, etc. The still-photo gallery rounds out the paltry selection of special features on this Blu-ray.

• Behind the Scenes of I.T. (HD)
• Photo Gallery

Summary 

I.T. was not as horrible as I was expecting. It’s a nice little techno-thriller that hits all the right notes. It’s been quite a while since they’ve done a film like this – I think that wave of films ended more than 10 years ago. In any event – the Blu-ray has terrific video and audio specs but skimps out on the special features. I.T. gets a mild recommendation.