Why So Blu?

Earth To Echo (Blu-ray Review)

Remember that huge 4th of July weekend this past summer that everyone overly criticized, yet didn’t realize no “majory” blockbusters or anything were released?  You know, that the film Tammy got most of the blunt negativity from?  There was another film that showed up, the found footage kids sci fi movie Earth To Echo.  Earth To Echo was deemed a disappointment, but a further look at it…it was actually a pretty nice success story.  The film only had a budget of $13 million and wound up taking in $38.9 million domestically.  Factoring in overseas money, it made an additional haul for a total of over $45 million dollars.  That’s almost four times its budget back.  A very very very good investment.  So, this movie was actually a pretty darn big success even if it was huffed at by “experts”.  The film is hitting Blu-ray to the possibility of just adding to that financial success and possibly bringing in some more fans.

Film 

Munch, Tuck and Alex are a trio of  best friends living in the Las Vegas suburbs.  Due to highway construction, all their homes are going to leveled, so everyone is moving out and going their separate ways despite their dismay.  During their final week, their phones start acting funny, putting a distorted image that looks like a map on their screens.  On their final night together, they decide to try and follow the map and see where this signal is coming from.

Basically put, Earth To Echo is a modern E.T. done with the found footage aesthetic.  The film follows the Spielberg epic’s template and story beats quite similarly.  But, damn if I didn’t find this film pretty charming and very enjoyable.  The movie isn’t anything that’s gonna blow your mind or anything, but its still fun enough.  It does sort of drag at a certain point late in the second act, buts for not as its made up with a pretty cool car chase scene and a solid finish.

Heck, I’d even say that Earth To Echo does the found footage thing a lot better than most every cheapie trying to cash in on the fad.  It seems to care about its character work and sense of adventure first and foremost, above just trying to get “real” and uncomfortable.  This film always gives you a clear view of what’s happening and never ever sits and over explains why they’re using the cameras or sits and reminds the audience of “we have to get this, people are never going to believe!”  By not constantly doing things like this, you see to forget it is found footage and just enjoy the “experience” it brings no matter if you think the POV character should be filming or not.

Earth To Echo boasts a fun cast of pretty much fresh faced youngsters that have a solid report and chemistry with one another.  These kids not only can carry this movie and provide the necessary dramatics, but they also know what it means to be kids too, and feel pretty genuine.  I also found them capable of delivering some solid humor and comedic timing that actually had me letting out a good snicker aloud at a few points in the film.  The best part of it all is their bond that I think the kid actors actually probably elevate from the pages of the script.  This could have been an annoyance to sit through with these three (later four when their girlfriend from school teams up with them), but I credit the performers with helping to enhance and make the experience enjoyable.

No, Echo is no E.T., but to my surprise its not a bad little kids movie.  And heck, no the kids have a found footage movie of their own!  This film does feel like it could have been a Nickelodeon movie, but I think its much better than that.   There’s some solid effect, some good jumps, and a nice fun adventure/sci fi/mystery for kids to go on and have some fun.  And if you’re one of those people that loses their lunch with found footage, just know that this one doesn’t feature a ton of wicked camera movements and awkward angles that trigger the sort of thing.  I would definitely recommend Earth To Echo for a family movie night (Reach for E.T. firs though!), as the kids will love it and the adults should have a decent enough time with it too as its not really approaching that “grumpy sigh” type movie at all.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail:   Due to the nature of the found footage aesthetic, video quality can vary at times, but its purely the intention of the filmmaker.  Aside from those intentional moments, this thing has stellar picture quality.  The digital HD sourced video features a high level of detail and sharpness that looks clear as day when viewing it.

Depth: There are some wonderful moments of depth, especially when Echo is floating abound.

Black Levels:  Blacks are deep and consume the screen at times.  But with a lot of mock “naturally lit” scenes, its how its supposed to look.

Color Reproduction:  Colors appear very natural and with a little bit more vibrance.  Each color on the palette feels rich with blue being a focal color.

Flesh Tones:  Natural and consistent.  Facial detail is very high.  Most of the main players are kids, so there’s no big “aging” features on them to display haha.

Noise/Artifacts:  Clean

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital,

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics:  The 5.1 track is loud and consuming.  All the more to help you in your involvement with viewing the film.  The semi truck sequence is quite impressive as well as moments when Echo starts summoning a piece of his ship.

Low Frequency Extension: There are plenty of nice loud humming moments from Echo’s mechanics that make the room rumble a bit.  Also crashing and engines roaring get the sub put to work.

Surround Sound Presentation: Most of the action here happens in front, with some light involvement in the rear.  Volume placement and screen to speaker interaction is perfect.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Loud and clean.  Perfectly set to distortion and distance according to the progress of the film as well.

Extras 

Earth To Echo comes with a DVD copy and Digital Copy of the film.

Creating The Scene (HD, 5:22) – The cast and crew discuss the signature action moment during a car chase where a semi truck deconstructs and reforms elsewhere.

Casting The Characters (HD, 6:47) – This piece goes over the casting and audition process for the film.

We Made That!: The Making Of Earth To Echo (HD, 9:01) – A little EPK piece on the crafting of a kid found footage movie.

Friends No Matter How Far (HD, 8:05) – This focuses on the comradery of the cast in the film and how their bonds off screen showed up genuinely on screen.  The cast also discuss their characters.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 5:25)

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:13)

Summary 

Fox releases Earth To Echo in a pretty solid Blu-ray package.  It features terrific video and audio for your viewing pleasure.  The extras may be a bit too EPK friendly, but they are pretty knowledgeable and solid enough in their information to make them worthwhile.  The film is pretty much a found footage rendition on an old Spielberg classic,  but it manages to succeed in doing its job pretty well and surprisingly has some fun and well developed characters.  If you’ve got kids, I definitely think this is a cool and different movie for them you can show them, especially since 99% of found footage movies out there are restricted viewing for them.