Poseidon (Blu-ray Review)
On the heels of the very successful Troy, Wolfgang Peterson brings us what could be his third entry into his “water” trilogy. Das Boot, The Prefect Storm, and now Poseidon. Yes, THAT Poseidon. No, it’s not the Greek god from Clash of the Titans. It’s a remake…another one. I think you know where this is going. So let’s not waste anymore time…
Film
It’s New Year’s Eve on the Poseidon. Everyone is having a great time, people are eating, drinking, gambling, clubbing, all without a care in the world. Little do they know that their world will soon will be turned upside down…literally. The ship gets taken out by a 150-foot rogue wave. Poseidon is a melodrama of epic proportions. We’ve seen this all before, but we just insist on hanging around, because we are promised explosions, electrocutions, and so many whacky ways to die, in a 160 million dollar budgeted feature. Fine. The movie stars Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Kevin Dillon, and Freddy Rodriguez. Who do they play? Who cares. It’s not that kind of a movie.
Do not, for a second, think that knowing who these people are or what their motivations are is important. It’s not. Poseidon plays like a video game. You’re introduced to about half a dozen or so beautiful people, and you’re to get a glimpse into their useless lives. Okay. The reason you’re really here is to see the rogue wave take out the ship. I knew it!
Wolfgang Petersen sure knows how to execute action scenes. Poseidon is no exception. You’re in for a treat as soon as the rogue wave hits. For a minute there I thought the wave was gonna take me out, too! After the rogue wave hits, those half dozen beautiful people I mentioned before must set aside their differences and join forces to overcome this disaster. It’s that or die. The father can’t get along with his daughter, the alpha male of the group is a gambler turned reluctantc hero, female stowaway, a Latino cook, a homosexual male who can’t get over being dumped right before NYE, and a couple of other loopy characters that you probably won’t care about either. Was it wrong for me to want another rogue wave to hit this ship again, so it could finish the job? Wishful thinking on my part, I guess.
By the end of the film, our “fellowship” has dwindled in numbers, as was to be expected. It left me with one lingering thought. The Poseidon is this gigantic luxury ship, but why couldn’t they have gotten a better GPS tracking system?
Video
Poseidon’s video is a bit peculiar, in my opinion. Skin tones appear very natural, but various other elements appear somewhat soft. Water, fire, and the waves all have that “fluffyness” to them. Whether it was the questionable CGI or the transfer itself, it’s kind of hard to say. Maybe both? Nowadays, you really can’t hide bad CGI on Blu-ray, it will be noticed in a heartbeat! The black levels appeared natural, and stayed somewhat consistent. I only had a problem with black levels during very dark under water scenes. Then again, it may have only been a lighting issue. I didn’t notice any blatant use of DNR, although, this could be one of those instances that DNR was used properly. It’s not a bad transfer and it’s not a great transfer, it’s just okay.
Audio
As far as the audio goes, this audio track is near reference, and uses the LFE channel to full effect. I noticed my powered subwoofer was off during the Fergie performance, which I thought would have some subwoofer boost, and didn’t. I had to make sure it was actually on. Of course when the rogue wave hits the ship, the subwoofer kicks in. This is a very aggressive sound mix that makes the ship almost come alive at every turn. Fire, water, explosions, electrical outages all come through loud and scarily clear!
Special Features
Poseidon contains a few of your typical EPK featurettes where the cast and crew get to go on and on about how great it is to be working with Wolfgang Peterson and their fellow cast members. Been there, done that. The History Channel documentary would have to be my favorite out of all of these.
- Poseidon: A Ship on a Soundstage: The complexities of making a modern adventure movie.
- A Shipmate’s Diary: A film school intern’s experience on the set.
- Poseidon: Upside Down: A unique set design chronicle.
- The Histopry Channel Documentary Rogue Waves: Explore the mystery of this powerful phenomenon of nature.
Final Thoughts
In closing, Poseidon is a more than capable film on a technical level, but aside from that, it’s a pretty mediocre film. To quote a friend of mine, “I just don’t care.” Oh, and no way in hell do I believe Richard Dreyfuss as gay man. Sorry, that’s just one of the worst bits of casting I’ve ever seen. I do look forward to Wolfgang Peterson’s next film, hopefully he can redeem himself for churning this out. Carry on.
The original “Poseidon Adventure” never lit my fire and when I saw they were remaking this, it struck me as a modern-day Titanic, trying to ride the coat tails of success of the film “Titanic.” Based on this review, I don’t think I will spend any time hunting down this disc.
I guess I am in the minority here. I actually enjoyed this film back in 2006. And better yet…Fergie’s in it!
Brian, how dare you.
*walks away*
I guess I am in the minority here. HDD only gives the film 2 stars. Maybe it was just a fluke that I liked it on my initial viewing. Fergie is worth a star alone, but I guess I would have to revisit this one some day…but not anytime soon 🙂