PASSENGERS [2016 / 2017] [Limited Edition SteelBook] [3D Blu-ray + 2D Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Thirty Years Into A Hundred and Twenty Year Journey, They Weren’t Supposed To Wake Up!
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt star in a high-stakes adventure about two passengers, Aurora and Jim, on-board a spaceship transporting them to a new life on another planet. The trip takes a deadly turn when their hibernation pods mysteriously wake them 90 years before they reach their destination. As they try to unravel the mystery behind the malfunction, they discover that the ship itself is in grave danger. With the lives of 5,000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: 2017 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for Thomas Newman. Nominated: Best Achievement in Production Design for Gene Serdena (set decoration) and Guy Hendrix Dyas (production design). 2017 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Nominated: Best Actor for Chris Pratt. Nominated: Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence. Nominated: Best Music for Thomas Newman. Nominated: Best Production Design for Guy Hendrix Dyas. Nominated: Best Science Fiction Film
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia, Vince Foster, Kara Flowers, Conor Brophy, Julee Cerda (Hologram), Aurora Perrineau, Lauren Farmer, Emerald Mayne, Kristin Brock, Tom Ferrari, Quansae Rutledge, Desmond Reid, Emma Clarke (voice), Chris Edgerly (voice), Fred Melamed (voice), Matt Corboy (voice), Jesus Mendoza (robot), Alpha Takahashi (robot), Matthew Wolf (robot), Jean-Michel Richaud (robot), Jon Spaihts (voice), Curtis Grecco, Joy Denver Spears, Kimberly Battista (uncredited), Nazanin Boniadi (uncredited), Lindsey Elizabeth (uncredited), Ana Gray (uncredited), Kenneth Jones (uncredited), Inder Kumar (uncredited), Stephen M. LaBar Jr. (uncredited), Robert Larriviere (uncredited), Andrew S. McMillan (uncredited), Shelby Taylor Mullins (uncredited), Jeff Olsen (uncredited), Kelli Pardo (uncredited), Jamie Soricelli (uncredited), Kevin Tan (uncredited), Travis Thompson (uncredited) and Ivana Vitomir (uncredited)
Director: Morten Tyldum
Producers: Ben Browning, Ben Waisbren, Bruce Berman, David B. Householter, Greg Basser, Greg Baxter, Jon Spaihts. Lynwood Spinks, Michael Maher, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur and Stephen Hamel
Screenplay: Jon Spaihts
Composer: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, A.S.C., A.M.C. (Direcyor of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 5.1 Audio Descriptive Service
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Italian: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Russian: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound
Spanish: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Ukrainian: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Danish, Estonia, Finnish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish and Ukrainian
Running Time: 116 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Andrew’s 3D Blu-ray Review: With this Sci-Fi film ‘PASSENGERS’ [2016] Here we find the handsome couple: Jim Preston [Chris Pratt] and Aurora Lane [Jennifer Lawrence] and it seems that if they were destined to star together in this mind boggling, but perfectly watchable luxurious Sci-Fi film, where you could say these two actors were supposedly lovers lost in space, cheekily mixing the film ‘Titanic’ with the “Book of Genesis.” The film ‘PASSENGERS’ has been very badly and coolly received in some critics quarters, and it is true that, like so many other Sci-Fi films of so many other science fiction themed film genres, it has not much in the way of a third act to speak of, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, especially watching it in 3D made watching the film so much more entertaining.
Screenwriter Jon Spaihts gets his first sole writing feature credit, after contributing to adventures such as films like ‘Doctor Strange’ and the brilliant ‘Prometheus.’ Jon Spaihts and director Morten Tyldum seem to have decided to steer the film ‘PASSENGERS’ away from the usual narrative course that other film-makers might consider obvious, towards a big reveal of duplicity and bad faith scenario, in the hope that the direction is towards a happier conception of human nature and life itself and in the end make the space journey a very lively experience.
Here Jim Preston [Chris Pratt] plays an engineer and an ordinary guy at the same time, who is emigrating from Earth on the mega Starship Avalon to start a new life on a far-off planet called “HOMESTEAD II.” Like the other 4,999 passengers, Jim Preston has been sleeping in suspended animation hibernation pod because the journey will take around 130 years to reach its destination. But then the mega spacecraft, designed like a DNA helical corkscrew and spinning doggedly through the cosmos, runs into a meteor shower and takes a huge whack, sending a shockwave through the ship and accidentally opens one of the suspended animation hibernation chamber and that one is of course Jim Preston’s one, which in turn triggers so many other events, and especially the auto-support systems throughout the whole craft, where upon finds Jim Preston starts to wander around this vast empty mega spacecraft, and totally wide-eyed and of course then starts to panic, as he starts realise he has 90 more years to go, especially as he has no access to any kind of relevant information on what the procedure should be.
On the other hand and most unsettlingly of all is the regulation sci-fi robot: an android bartender called Arthur, played by the brilliant actor Michael Sheen. Stricken with desolate loneliness, Jim mopes among the other pods and falls in love with one sleeping beauty of a fellow passenger, the journalist Aurora Lane, played by Jennifer Lawrence. In trying to find out more about the other fellow passenger Aurora Lane, Jim Preston plays her autobiography video blog archive on the mega spacecraft’s computer database. Could Aurora Lane be his help mate in his anguish? Does Jim Preston have the right to condemn her to his own terrible fate?
With the Sci-Fi film ‘PASSENGERS’ borrows liberally from Stanley Kubrick, with a little of Douglas Trumbull’s Sci-Fi film ‘Silent Running’ where Arthur the bartender seems to be based from the same type of creepy character as in the film ‘The Shining,’ although Arthur is given, like the rest of the film, something of a Hyde-into-Jekyll transformation. Director Morten Tyldum and Screenwriter Jon Spaihts shares Stanley Kubrick’s love of exploring great big creepy empty interiors to keep you guessing what might happen next.
There are a handful of really interesting scenes, including some heart stopping zero gravity hijinks in the spaceship’s luxury swimming pool. But for the most part the Sci-Fi film ‘PASSENGERS’ divides so many opinions, it is up to you to decide whether you are for or against this blockbuster Sci-Fi film. Given the imaginative setup and the material’s provocative questions about mortality, not to mention the future of humankind, this Sci-Fi film’s neat lesson is about the nature of happiness and a life we might have liked to have lived. But along the way, Jim Preston and Aurora Lane are forced to unravel the mystery behind the malfunction of the spaceship as it teeters on the brink of collapse, with the lives of thousands of passengers in jeopardy. Watch this space [pun].
PASSENGERS MUSIC TRACK LISTING
LIKE A ROLLING STONE (Written by Bob Dylan) [Performed by Bob Dylan]
RED ROVER (Written by Al Hammerman) [Performed by Al Hammerman]
WHEN I THINK OF YOU (Written by Chris Welch and Ken Morrison) [Performed by Chris Welch and Ken Morrison]
!!!HoLLaDeCk StAcKeMuP!!! (Written by Kool Kojak as Allan P. Grigg) [Performed by Kool Kojak]
LE SOLEIL A CHASSÉ LA PLUIE (Written by Michel Goudreau, Jean Custeau and David Elias) [Performed by Michel Goudreau & Friends]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU (Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill)
THE MAGIC OF YOU (Written by Chris Welch and Ken Morrison) [Performed by Chris Welch and Ken Morrison]
SMILE (Written by Jean Laughlin) [Performed by Jean Laughlin]
LOOKING AT THE DOWNSIDE (Written by Jean Laughlin) [Performed by Jean Laughlin]
LEVITATE (Written by Imagine Dragons and Tim Randolph) [Performed by Imagine Dragons]
CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE (Written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen) [Performed by Bobby Darin]
A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION (JXL Radio Edit Remix) (Written by Billy Strange and Mac Davis) [Performed by Elvis Presley vs. Junkie XL]
BOO (Written by Johnny Elkins and Joe Lervold) [Performed by Dante Marchi with The Joel Evans Quartet] (uncredited)
I LOVE THE LIKES OF YOU (Written by Ken Morrison and Mark Reiman) [Performed by Gail Pettis]
HESITATION (Written by Stephen J. Rice) [Performed by Steve Rice Quartet]
DO IT AGAIN (Written by Graham Russell) [Performed by April Stevens]
HAVE A NICE DAY (Written by Simen Fjeld, Kristian Rønning and Leif Inge Fosen) [Performed by Sirius]
3D Blu-ray Image Quality – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presents you this ultimate presentation of a brilliant 1080p 3D visual experience with this Blu-ray disc. Objects, human beings and even celestial galaxies are crystal clear. Everything from stubbles, pores and follicles to textures in surroundings, clothing, etc. are brilliantly on display for all to behold and bask in their glory. Because of the vast, bleak cruise ship so to speak on display here this one begs to be taken seriously in the three-dimensional pop category. The 3D presentation makes the ship look like it goes on forever with extra depth to hallways, objects, etc., to give the Starship Avalon a grand depth of field like the limitless of space itself. The black levels are gorgeously deep, inky and natural throughout. Also where the 3D comes into itself and really excels are with the colours and the endless depth of field, which are bold, bright and beautiful and nothing ever looks too artificial. The skin tones are all very natural and authentic. So all in all throughout the Sci-Fi film, nothing will really distract you from the sheer enjoyment of the endless beauty as you watch the whole of this amazing and awesome ‘PASSENGERS’ the 3D film.
3D Blu-ray Audio Quality – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings you this ultimate presentation of a truly brilliant and dynamic 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience. From the film music score, atmospheric effects and the rumble of the Starship Avalon hurtling through space to the directionality and rendering of environments the dynamics are all over the place where nothing ever gets lost in the hustle and bustle of everything and that includes the dialogue. It feels like you are actually there on this space cruise ship enjoying the serenity of it all one quiet moment and diffusing fires the very next. From atmospheric effects, score and ambiance to meteors slamming by, flames swirling around and intense moments of peril the rear speakers are constantly being engaged. Yes there at times a lot of slow moments throughout the film, but I can assure you and to also remind you that the rear speakers never stop working as they engulf you in the middle of the sci-fi atmosphere that is why I love so very much about this amazing and awesome ‘PASSENGERS’ the 3D film.
2D Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Deleted Scenes [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1] [9:49] Here we get to view the following 8 deleted scenes, which are as follows: NO NEW DRINKS; MEMORY MAKER; TACOS AND COCKTAILS; KISS IN THE PHOTOBOOTH; AURORA FINDS JIM’S PHOTOS; DRUNK DIAL; GUS REVEALS HIS PAST and GUS LOOKS FOR A SOLUTION. As usual, you can either watch each item separately or Play All.
Special Feature: Casting The Passengers [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1 / 1.78:1] [10:39] This special feature looks at the cast and crew talk about the characters and the actors who portray them. But we also get personal anecdotes from the main stars of the film and especially about the actor’s incredible performances and their respective character’s motivations. I loved seeing the green tights Michael Sheen wears as Arthur the android bartender. It is also interesting to figure out that the character of Gus who we are informed he is probably 500-600 years old. We also get clips from the film and rare behond-the-scene filming. Contributors include: Jon Spaihts [Writer/Executive Producer], Neal H. Moritz [Producer], Jennifer Lawrence [Aurora Lane], Morten Tyldum [Director], Michael Maher [Producer], Chris Pratt [Jim Preston], Stephen Hamel [Producer], Michael Sheen [Arthur], Laurence Fishburne [Gus Mancuso] and Ori Marmur [Producer].
Special Feature: Space On Screen: The Visual Effects of ‘PASSENGERS’ [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1 / 1.78:1] [7:26] With this special feature it covers all aspects of the visual effects of the Sci-Fi film ‘PASSENGERS,’ with comments from various members of the cast and crew, who talk about the inspiring visual effects world that is created and on display for all to see and especially the LED panels surrounding the characters gives the illusion of flying through space. We also do a “deep dive” into how the awesome zero gravity pool scenes were created. Contributors include: Neal H. Moritz [Producer], Erik Nordby [Visual Effects Supervisor], Fred Waldman [Interactive LED Lighting Consultant], Garrett Warren [Stunt Coordinator], Greg Baxter [Co-Producer], Chris Pratt [Jim preston] and Jennifer Lawrence [Aurora Lane].
Special Feature: On The Set with Chris Pratt [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 2.39:1] [4:19] This very short feature which is basically all about fun time Chris Pratt is seen goofing around on the film set, intertwined with the many "talking head" comments from his cast and crew in telling us what a great guy he and wonderful to work with. Jennifer Lawrence says he is the hardest working person she has ever met in her life. However, for the most part you will notice Chris Pratt positive attitude with everyone he interacts with. Jennifer Lawrence also comments that Chris Pratt is by far a better dancer than her, and even better at basketball. Different cast and crew make comments on the set during the setting up the various scenes before shooting, additional cast and crew talk up the qualities and characteristics Chris Pratt who brought to the set. Contributors include: Chris Pratt [Jim Preston], Greg Baxter [Co-Producer], Jennifer Lawrence [Aurora Lane], Michael Maher [Producer] and Michael Sheen [Author].
Special Feature: Creating The Avalon [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1 / 1.78:1] [9:35] With this special feature we take a closer look at the film’s massive production design of the Starship Avalon set, from concept to construction, and the role it plays in the Sci-Fi film. There are comments here from members of the cast and crew, including Production Designer Guy Hendrix Dyas talking about art designers and their inspiration in creating this beautiful sci-fi sets and they also discuss the challenges of creating the ultimate Vienna suite in space. We also get to view some time lapse film of the building of one of the sets. Also we get to see some wonderful and brilliant black-and-white drawings of the Starship Avalon. Contributors include: Morten Tyldum [Director], Guy Hendrix Dyas [Production Designer], Jon Spaihts [Writer/Executive Producer], Jennifer Lawrence [Aurora Lane], Chris Pratt [Jim Preston], Laurence Fishburne [Gus Mancuso] and Michael Sheen [Arthur].
Special Feature: Outtakes From The Set [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1] [4:23] Here we get the typical run of the mill of the blooper reels, but with this nice collection of flubs, errors, and just playing around on the set that most viewers might enjoy, I will leave that for you to judge whether it is worth it or not.
Special Feature: Book Passage [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:40] Looking for a new life? Learn more about the HOMESTEAD Company via their short promotional videos and see what awaits you via your trip aboard the Spaceship Avalon and this is what you get to view: CHOOSE YOUR STAR; DARE TO DREAM; ELITE SUITE and A FLIGHT TO REMEMBER. As usual, you can either watch each item separately or Play All.
Preview: INFERNO [2016] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:17] This the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘INFERNO.’
Finally, with the film ‘PASSENGERS’ finds the situation totally tantalizing, where we find Chris Pratt, a nerdy man with an adolescent mind-set, who goes through multiple stages of grief, acceptance, and even more grief and makes do for a while in his high-tech playground, which is a thousand meters long, enjoying access to hundreds of consumer goods like in the manner of many protagonist-survivors in post-apocalypse films. There is a lot of good material here and a lot of fun to go with it on their journey through space. The Norwegian-born director, Morten Tyldum, does his best with the limited material he is given to make the best out of this Sci-Fi film. Morten Tyldum does some real elegant work, which feels especially good given with all the clutter in most of today’s CGI-packed Sci-Fi film adventures. Also the ubiquitous little robot vacuum cleaners are a nice metaphor for how the Sci-Fi film is composed and shot. The screenwriter Jon Spaihts, has a talent for knowing when to put the little picture ahead of the big one, so no matter how unlikely the circumstances, the psychology feels true. The journalist Aurora Lane, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and after interviewing the only human within gazillion miles, begins to explore her own feelings (in voice-over mode). Why did she feel she needed to leave Earth to find herself? Something of the Sci-fi film’s true spirit can be detected in the face of Michael Sheen’s bartending android, Arthur, where just below the smiling surface he is totally ironic, mischievous, dirty-minded and alternately stabilizing and destabilizing as the plot demands throughout the Sci-Fi film. Arthur is like the spirit of the corporation that sees all we do and will ultimately control our destiny. Only a corporate entity could deliver an ending like this one. But only humans could devise and enact the often delightful scenario that precedes it. The entire last act has one or two nice moments, especially where another star actor makes an appearance, but it marks the return or perhaps the revenge of formula storytelling. But be warned when you are about to hear the final voice-over, you might want to close your eyes and plug your ears! Unfortunately, the dialogue slightly fails miserably; the lovable characters could have been given smarter lines, but instead, we’re stuck with obvious observations like, “Oh no, I woke up too soon!” Yeah, we know. ‘PASSENGERS’ is Hollywood’s answer to the star-studded Bollywood blockbusters of the 1970s, where anything and everything could happen because it was happening to big stars on screen. Here too, it’s mostly only Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence who manage to keep you in your seat. It is a massive awesome great-looking Sci-Fi film with a very original idea. Watch it for its stars but it won’t sadly a lot of critics have pointed out that it does not have the astronomical impact on you, still never mind, I still found it very enjoyable and entertaining. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
