Mutant Chronicles 2-Disc Collector's Edition

I never turn down a chance to see a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure film. However, I become a bit more leery whenever I learn that the film is based on a video or role playing game. Very few cinematic adaptations have done justice to the source. Off the top of my head, the cream of the crop number the LARA CROFT and RESIDENT EVIL series. DOOM, MORTAL KOMBAT, and SILENT HILL tend to fall under the umbrella of so-so adaptations. And then you've got bottom of the barrel picks like MAX PAYNE, ALONE IN THE DARK, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, STREET FIGHTER, BLOODRAYNE, etc.And then there's MUTANT CHRONICLES, a doom and gloom Indie sci-fi film co-starring Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, and an apathetic John Malkovich. The cool premise, intense worldbuilding and internal mythology, and brutal violence induce me to give it a thumbs up. The poor execution, the monotone delivery of dialogue (shout out to Malkovich!), the laughable attempts at character development, and the sheer oppressive tediousness of the thing reluctantly convince me to give it the finger.At the end of the Ice Age the Machine came from outer space with the sole purpose of converting mankind into mutants. After much struggle and bloodshed a massive seal was placed on the Machine, and for thousands of years it lay dormant. In the distant future, in the 28th Century, four warring mega-corporations hold dominion over a ravaged planet. But one brutal skirmish in the trenches between two corporations cracks open the great seal and soon ghoulish mutants erupt from the bowels of the earth and very quickly overrun civilization, forcing the remnants of humanity to flee to otherplanetary colonies - providing they come up with the rare transport ticket. A grizzled warrior monk from an ancient brotherhood gathers an elite team of soldiers and descends underground with the intent of putting an end to the infernal Machine once and for all. They bring with them a tome of prophesy and an ancient device which they think is a bomb. It's not a bomb.The film is relentless with its violence and gore, even though the crack troop pretty much frags over and over the same six actors who, rumor has it, portrayed the hordes of mutants. It helps that these lobster pincered freaks lack individuality and look the same. But the fight scenes are pretty cool, and I wish the silent monk warrior girl had more chances to swing that sword of hers. She's the assigned protector of the Book of Chronicles. And, no, she doesn't know how to read the thing, but she sure protects the shizzy out of it!But the movie collapses under the weight of its taking itself too seriously, at being too solemn, and it doesn't get much support from a story that is lacking, cinematography that is depressingly gritty and monochromatic, and actors who turn in B-movie performances. All the religious babblepalooza doesn't help, either.Ron Perlman is decent as the warrior monk Brother Samuel, but he doesn't bring his best stuff. Thomas Jane who plays the tough-as-nails Sgt. John Mitchell Hunter seems to be positioning himself as the next Christopher Lambert. The rest of the cast aren't developed enough. There's a listless cameo from John Malkovich who I guess just couldn't be bothered. He drones out lame lines like "The absence of gravity interferes with my digestion." Man, what's happened to you, John Malkovich? You used to bring it, even if you were always on the quirky side.As mentioned, the look of the film may be gritty and monochromatic, but, on second thought, it really doesn't bug me that much. Overall, I have no problems with the special effects. A comment from the DVD's special features informs us that the CG work was heavily bolstered by old school f/x techniques (matte paintings, make-up, and miniatures, etc.). The film imagines a grimy steampunk sort of technology, and it's kind of neat that the machines in this world rely heavily on coal power.I missed this during its theatrical release, but I had hopes, so I got the 2 disc set, in which lurks an abundance of bonus features. Disc 1 offers the widescreen presentation, as well as audio commentary by Ron Perlman and Director Simon Hunter. Disc 2 has the following: the extensive Making Of documentary (107:25 minutes); six deleted scenes, all of which if inserted would've dragged the pace even more (7:49 minutes); Green Screen & Storyboard Comparisons for three scenes (13:57 minutes); the promotional teaser short film with optional Director's commentary (7:15 minutes); the Making Of the promotional teaser short film (3:26 minutes); a heck of a lot of short interviews with the cast & crew; HDNet: A Look at MUTANT CHRONICLES - a look at the world and characters of MUTANT CHRONICLES (4:40); 94 slides of Storyboard art; Concept Art (50 illustrations); Visual Effects (2:48); MUTANT CHRONICLES Panel Q&A from the 2009 San Diego ComicCon, the end of which has Ron Perlman thinking that the crowd was laughing at him but, really, the chuckles were for Thomas Jane who just couldn't stop slamming down glass after glass of water (11:35); 12 brief webisodes mostly exploring the characters in the film; and the trailer to the thing.As at least one other reviewer had mentioned, the first half-hour or so crawls like a mother. But it picks up once the suicide mission team is assembled. I'm almost tempted to recommend this movie because it has its share of cool elements. But ultimately the downside tilted the balance to the other direction. So, 2.5 out of 5 stars for MUTANT CHRONICLES. Not quite worth purchasing, but it makes for a nice rental or cable viewing. But hope springs eternal. Maybe the upcoming live action flick PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME can do its gaming origin proud.

The constant rain filter in the opening 12 minutes is all the warning anyone needs that this story is going to be a slog.This feels like a war is hell story with a future-tense deiselpunk aesthetic and that the whole mutants and world engine were spliced in because the studio didn't want to sell a dry human interest piece and told the producer to sexy it up. The war part is good, it could stand on it's own and aside from some minor issues with the scenery even short interactions were full of character and impact. I'm interested in the social structure they created, I want to see the world they are building after the throw away exposition opening about the sealed evil. Problem is the entire main plot line is the pseudo scifi horror trash. That story could and should be separated from this much more intensely developed world that it's tracking zombie juices all over.This doesn't exist to generate income, but so actors can retain SAG cards a few more months between semi-retirement and legit productions and the studio/producer can claim they worked with some big name actors.As good a performance as the actors give, I was stunned that Malkovich actually gave his short role some serious gravitas and humanity, you can see the actors struggle with the little dialog and motivation as they interact on a set with little more than some pieces of furniture in green cloth coated rooms and a few extras who barely keep from looking at the camera.By the beginning of the 2nd act when they heroes encounter a captured mutant and the priestess takes it down with a sword, fight choreography is basic but acceptable, the CGI becomes atrocious. It wasn't just showing the budget was running out, it was gone and the shot was so bad it looked like a copy paste effect from a discount CGI effects website without any basic editing for shadows or light to integrate it.There are plenty of practical set ups and they made costumes for the mutants but they also ran out that budget real fast and desperately try to hide they only have two fully completed mutant suits, which get run ragged quickly over a film shoot.Give it a watch it you're just looking to run something in the background while playing call of duty otherwise it's a tryhard mess.

This is an enjoyable unpretentious low-budget steampunk SF movie. The human race seems destined for certain annihilation due to the unleashing of mutant humans by an alien machine hitherto buried undisturbed deep underground in Eurasia. The machine has been reactivated during a battle between two of the four corporations which now rule the earth and all seems lost as a limited number of people desert the planet for Mars leaving the remainder of mankind to their fate. However, there is one slim chance to defeat the enemy. Ron Pearlman’s Brother Samuel has an ancient book which shows what needs to be done and is able to put together a band of highly trained soldiers for a suicide mission akin to the ‘Dirty Dozen’. An intriguing feature of this film is the numerous references to ‘faith’ and how it can overcome cynicism and hopelessness. The sequences in the underground tunnels have a distinct feel of the Lord of the Rings’ Moria as the band are attacked by the orc-like mutants and the early trenches scenes are particularly effective, especially the close up combat. This is a strange little film which could definitely become a cult classic.

Mutant Chronicles is a sci-fi/steampunk/war B movie. An Ancient machine that creates world destroying mutants lies buried beneath a seal which was set there hundreds of years ago,the legend of which is protected by a monastic order who hold the book that tells of the dark times when the machine was originally stopped. Fast forward to the year 2707 and corporate war is ravaging the earth. During an artilery barrage the forgotten seal is broken and the machine is working again sending out mutants to kill and bring back humans to make more mutants. The keepers of the seals knowledge set out with a group of harderned soldiers to once and for all destroy the machine.The films setting has a definate steampunk feel with many of the early battle scenes having a the feel of WWI trench warfare. The weapons and flying vehicles in the film are steam powered. Most of the special effects are CGI driven but considering this title is a low budget B movie they work really well.The Visual quality on Blu-Ray is very good. Occasionally you get a slight grainy feel but the whole setting for the movie is dark and steam filled so this is a by product of the setting and not a bad transfer. The Audio is HD DTS multichannel and is very good quality my small gripe would be that the sudden changes for whispered talk to artillery bombardment can have you grabbing for the remote to change adjust the sound level so i eventually used the autolevel feature on my blu ray player to help with this issue.Extras on the disc are sparce but thats not unusual for a B movie release like this. There is a 25 minute making of with interviews with all the main cast which include Ron Pearlman  Hellboy [Blu-ray] [2004 ],Devon Aoki(who played Miho in  Sin City - 2-Disc Edition [Blu-ray] [2005 ] Sean Pertwee who seems to make a fair few B movie films like the excellent Dog Soldiers [DVD] [2002 ]. There is also 7 minutes of behind the scenes camera workNice to find something in the B movie range with a budget price.All in all 1 hour and 45 minutes of good value B movie Fare. Hellboy [Blu-ray] [2004Sin City - 2-Disc Edition [Blu-ray] [2005Dog Soldiers [DVD] [2002

First of all if you are a fan of the game Warzone Mutant Chronicles and if you are any kind of Warhammer Fan then you are in for a very big treat I have to hand it to first of all and by that I mean big surprise that Im sure accurately speaking from a sci fi action perspective you will love if you are into that kind of thing. But however second just one thing though and that being that if you already have the dvd version of this movie there is literally no difference between this blu-ray and the dvd literally none at all so having said expect no better if you are buying this.

I was not really sure of this film for several years but having watched it a few times now I find it has crept up on me. Ron Perlman really stands out in this film which I think is on a par with his Hellboy roles. I am glad to add it to my collection though I don't know if it is classed as horror or science fiction I like it.

DVD brand new unopened. Delivered as promised. Very satisfied.