CODE 46 (2003) (Blu-ray Review)

CODE 46 (2003)

Label: Olive Films
Release Date: February 16th 2016
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Jeanne Balibar,, Om Puri, Nina Fog

Code 46 is a forbidden love story masquerading as a small scope science fiction film, set in a dystopian future where the government stringently controls human-breeding based on genetic compatibility. If a couple are too closely linked genetically they are forbidden from having children together, this is what is known as a Code 46 violation, from which the movie takes it's name.

Into this future we have a government investigator William Geld played by Tim Robbins (The Player), who is sent to Shanghai from Seattle to investigate a case of passport forgery committed by a young woman named Maria Gonzalez played by Samantha Morton (A.I. Artificial Intelligence). Perhaps fueled by an empathy virus he's been infected with William  falls heads over heel for the woman he's investigating in a short 24-hour period, together they embark on a whirlwind romance, with him covering up her crime, before heading back to Seatte the next day, home to his wife and child.

Once he returns he cannot forget her, and when the case is re opened after a death he is sent back to Shanghai to finish the investigation. There he tracks down Maria to a medical facility where she been given an abortion for a Code 46 violation, additionally she has had all memories of her encounter with William erased, which sort of brought to mind Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, but on  whole other dystopian future levels, these are government sponsored mind-wipes and abortion, scary stuff.

I love these small scope sci-fi movies, this one in particular presents quite a few themes and threads which are brought to the screen rather matter-of-factly and without the burden of a lot of over explanation about the how and why of things, which might bother some but I liked. It portrays the one-world of the future as ethnically diverse, there's a lot of language cross-pollination, which is another a nice touch. Visually the movie imagines the brave-new-world as nothing too extraordinary, this is grounded in a reality not too dissimilar from our own, peppered with stylish and slightly futuristic aesthetic, with walled-in cities for the privileged citizens and very basic shanty towns on the outside where criminals are exiled.

Robbins comes across as a bit tired or bland in the role of the philandering investigator, it sort of reminded me of Bill Murray in Lost in Translation by way of Gattaca. I think this is a choice, not a ding on his performance by any means. Samantha Morton is desirable as the forger and love interest of the story, I can see the appeal for Robbins character, she is a mysterious and attractive young woman, Morton is a strong actress with a undeniable presence. Like Robbins she pays it a bit subdued, though there's a lot of depth just below the surface of her character, who also narrates the story. I have not seen a ton of her stuff but f you would like to see her boil over in a seething performance check her out in the thriller The Harvest from director John McNaughton, in which she is straight-up terrifying. 

The disc from Olive Films presents the film with a pleasing 1080p transferred framed in the scope aspect ratio. Colors are strong and nicely saturated, skin tones look good all the way around. The disc comes with only the option to view the movie with an English language DTS-HD Stereo 2.0 option, with no subtitles. The dialogue is crisp and clean, and the evocative score from David Holmes sounds just fine, but I do wish they would have carried over the surround audio option from the DVD. 
  
The only extras on the disc is a trailer for the movie, not carried over from the 2004 DVD are a selection of deleted scene and the "Obtaining Cover: Inside Code 46" featurette, so if you are upgrading you may want to hold onto the DVD.

The movie has a haunting quality about it, the ending particularly sad and thought provoking, which caught me by surprise since most science fiction movies don't have much of emotional impact on me, but that is why I say this is a love story wrapped in the trappings of a sci-fi film, at the core this is a story about forbidden love in a cold future world. If a mash-up of Lost in Translation and Gattaca sounds like good time to you I think you will enjoy this one. 3/5

THE SURE THING (1985) (30th Anniversary Edition)

THE SURE THING (1985) 

Label: Shout! Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: PG-13

Duration: 95 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Rob Reiner 

Cast: Anthony Edwards, Tim Robbins, John Cusack, Nicollette Sheridan, Daphne Zuniga, Boyd Gaines

In this Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride) directed comedy from the '80s we have the myth, the legend John Cusack as college freshman Walter 'Gib' Gibson. A freshman at some small New England university where he is completely bombing with the ladies on campus. Meanwhile his high school best friend Lance (Anthony Edwards, Revenge of the Nerds) is out in Los Angeles partying it up '80s So Cal style and apparently doing quite well for himself, Lance assures his pal Gib that if he can make it to L.A. over Christmas break he has a sure thing (Nicolette Sheridan) waiting for him. That's right, Gil is willing to travel thousands of miles just to score with a babe he doesn't even know. It might seem a bit desperate and far fetched but probably not too far from reality, after all guys do a lot of crazy stuff  in the name of getting laid, not that I would know anything about that. 

Searching one of the college ride share boards Gib finds a ride out to L.A. with annoyingly young republican type couple named Gary (a very young Tim Robbins) and Mary Ann (Lisa Jane Persky). Also along for the ride out the L.A. is Alison (Daphne Zuniga), a young woman from college that Gib has a bit of a crush on. Alison's previous interactions with Gib at college make for an uncomfortable ride share, he's a bit of a wild spirit and she's a buttoned-down prep and their differences sort of rub each other the wrong way. A particularly heated backseat argument ends with Alison baring her breasts to passerbys and with Gary being fines by the police, which puts him over the edge, dropping he two off on the side of the road, left to thumb their way to California. Forced to spend time alone  they do some bonding over shotgunning beers and such, fighting off a blossoming attraction for each other, more so Alison, who is on her way to Los Angeles to see her boyfriend, who it turns out is the same boring sort of straight-laced prep she is, but after spending so much time with the spontaneous Gib she starts to feel differently 

The story is a pretty simple and not a very original 80s offering. It's part teen pic, part romantic comedy and part road film, sort of like a teen-romance version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), only instead of trying to get home for the Thanksgiving, one of them is trying to get laid over Christmas Break, and it's fun stuff. 

Sign me up for anything from the '80s with John Cusack,it's safe to say that I may have had a man-crush on him since way back in the day, so damn likable all the way around, even if he played pretty much the same character through the '80s. Then there's Daphne Zuniga who is an uptight character but as cute as a button, and once the icy exterior begins to melt away her character is quite lovable. Horror fans will recognize her from the teen-shocker The Initiation (1984) and The Dorm that Dripped Blood (1981), and of course as Princess Vespa from Mel Brooks' Space Balls (1987). 

Sure, there's not a lot of depth to this one and that's just fine, it's a fun opposite attract film wrapped up in a road film and the casting it perfect, these two have some great chemistry and by the end of the film I was in love with stuffy Alison myself. Of course Nicolette Sheridan as the titular sure thing is pure '80s sexiness from head to toe, dripping with lust and smoking hot, the dream sequences of her are a lot of male egocentric fun. 

The disc from Shout! Factory looks good overall. While it does suffer from some of the '80s film stock softness and there's evidence of some too aggressive digital manipulation the colors are vibrant and offers a pleasing amount of depth, clarity and fine detail. 

Viewers have the option to watch the film accompanied by the original mono presentation via the DTS-HD MA 2.0 or a slightly more immersive DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround mix. The front-centric presentation exports score and discreet audio effects to the surrounds which definitely sweetens the '80's soundtrack featuring Huey Lewis and the News, The Cars and Wang-Chunk among others. 

Advertised as the 30th Anniversary Edition I was a little bit disappointed we do not get any new content other than what was on the previous release, totalling about 46 minutes worth of interviews with director Rob Reiner, writers Steven L. Bloom and Jonathan Roberts, producer Roger Burnbaum., production designer  Lilly Kilvert, casting directors Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson and stars John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga which are split up among four featurettes. There's also an audio commentary with Reiner who only seems to pop-up from scene to scene with long pauses. Additionally there is a trailer. A decent array of extras but it is my belief that if you advertise a release as an anniversary edition it should contain something new to commemorate the occasion. 

Special Features
- Commentary With Director Rob Reiner
- Road To The Sure Thing (26 Mins)
- Casting The Sure Thing (7 Mins)
- Reading The Sure Thing (3 Mins)
- Dressing The Sure Thing (9 Mins)
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) 

It doesn't take much to convince me to watch vintage '80s comedies, to be honest there just aren't many I don't enjoy, and this one has John Cusack! A lot of which has to do with the fact that it was the era during which I came of age, and I could sorta of relate to Cusack's character at the time, and even this sweetly romantic comedy comes loaded with nostalgia. I don't think this one gets all the love it deserves, sure it's not one of the top tier '80s comedies but it's worth a watch and John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga are a great pairing.