Blu-Ray Review:
Eagle Eye
By Jason Gillard
*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
In a sea of movies released this summer does Eagle Eye stand out? Probably not. When I saw it at the theater my initial thought was I would forget about it in a day or so. That's not to say the movie is bad, because for what it is I thought it was really well done. The plot is this, Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) leads a boring life struggling to make ends meet. He works at copy cabana and is stuck in that dead end job so he can pay his rent. All of this starts to change when he finds out his twin brother, whom he barely has any contact with, died. From this point on is when everything starts to happen, like when he gets back to his apartment and it's filled with weapons and materials to make bombs. This is when he receives a mysterious phone call to alert him the FBI is going to break down his door. Seconds later he is in custody and in a lot of trouble. He is in the FBI when he receives another call telling him how to escape and soon he has to partner with Rachel (Michelle Monaghan). From here, both Rachel and Jerry avoid death and being captured all thanks to the mysterious voice on the phone who seems to know everything. They work together and start to uncover a plot that could bring down everyone around them. The movie has a nice look to it and the actors do a pretty good job with their roles. It's also edited very quickly whenever action is taking place and this reminded me of the Bourne films. This is a fun little movie that is certainly worth a look.
8 out of 10
Video
Eagle Eye comes to Blu-ray in a 1080p transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer here is really good. A lot of this movie was shot to look cold and dark so there isn't a lot of eye popping colour, but it does come across well given the source material. Black levels are solid and come across really good. There are no problems with excessive dust or grain in the film and even though a lot of the movie is dark there are some bright scenes and the colour comes across well in these scenes. Detail is quite high in almost every scene. There is a small amount of grain that gives it a nice film like appearance. Overall a great transfer.
9 out of 10
Audio
Like the transfer the audio comes across great in this Dolby TrueHD lossless 5.1 track. The soundtrack does a great job of putting you in the different locations in the movie. Subtle effects bring train stations to life. When the action gets big like Jerry's escape from the FBI, the surrounds all pipe up and the sub woofer gets a workout. I did find that the dialogue was a little low in some scenes. This is one of those soundtracks that seem to bathe you in sound without getting too overbearing.
8.5 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras:
Asymmetrical Warfare: The Making of 'Eagle Eye"
Eagle Eye on Location: Washington, D.C.
Is My Cell Phone Spying on Me?
Road Trip
Deleted scenes
Gag reel
Theatrical trailer
Shall We Play a Game?
I guess the best extra for me would have to be the making of Eagle Eye. This is your standard behind the scenes feature that includes cast interviews and lots of behind the scenes footage. It does cover the origins of the story and also Steven Spielberg's influence on the film. It's not very long, at over 20 minutes in length, but it does give you some good background info. Is My Cell Phone Spying On Me? talks about the role of technology in modern society. It's also not very long, but worth a look. Overall they could have done a lot better here.
6 out of 10
Overall
I certainly will recommend Eagle Eye because it's a fun chase film with a good transfer and great audio. It comes up a little short in the extras department but it's still worth a look.
8 out of 10
Recommended.
Eagle Eye Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com