DOOM - HD DVD review

Paul W.S. Anderson and Uwe Boll have made a name for themselves by bringing video games to the big screen. Boll is responsible for the horrendous "Alone in the Dark," "Bloodrayne" and "House of the Dead." He is currently working on "Far Cry," "Postal" and "Dungeon Siege." The former, Paul Weasel Something Anderson may have entertained with the original "Mortal Kombat," but has made a career out of stinkers since then with "Resident Evil," "Alien vs. Predator" and their respective sequels that have either tarnished the silver screen or brewing in his bowels. How I fear for the name "Castlevania." Now, we have "Doom," a film brought to life by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Will he be a one hit blunder ala Chris Roberts (he destroyed his own creation, "Wing Commander" or a repeat offender like W.S. and Boll?

Without beating around the bush, it is very safe to say that "Doom" is bad. There is no denying that fact. For us gamers, the putrid stink of a film not only darkens the black cloud over video game adaptations, but it scars the sacred Doom franchise. However, it is not as if there were high expectations for the film. After all, they cast Dwayne Johnson in a lead role. Perhaps the putrid stink was whatever the Rock had cooking. I'm not sure. Casting Karl Urban as John Grimm was a good move though. The moments just before the now-infamous first person shooter (FPS) sequence easily brought about memories of the person depicting the health meter from the early Doom games. Urban is a dead ringer for that pixilated face.

Perhaps what makes this apocalyptic adaptation even more depressing is the fact that Bartkowiak tried to pay homage to the Doom lineage and insert a few ‘easter eggs' for the games' fans. The character Todd Carmack references the co-founders of iD Software, John Carmack and Todd Hollenshed. Dr. Willits is another name from Doom's creators. There are a plethora of other names that are related to real-life people who are part of the video game industry. Of course, there is also the much touted FPS sequence. And, in my humble opinion, the FPS sequence is the only reason to really watch this film. To sell out and be cliché, I will simply say that it rocks. The FPS moments are visceral, entertaining and a pure treat for FPS fans. After my countless hours in games such as "Doom," "Quake," "Halo," "Far Cry," "Perfect Dark" and dozens of others, I was treated with a full motion, high budget FPS sequence. Now, it is even in High Definition.

They should have done the entire film in a first person perspective. I'm sure we could have had enough reflective shots to earn Urban his paycheck. I know some have not enjoyed the sequence. Others find it as visually uncomfortable as "The Blair Witch Project." I loved it. It was different. It was unique. There was blood, a chainsaw, quick movements and other eye candy moments. For those that may suffer from motion sickness, you want to avoid this fast moving, high carnage moment. Either that or take a double dose of Dramamine.

I rave about one sequence of the film, but I call the rest of it a steaming pile of burning weasel dung. Why? Because it is and my odd and disturbing description is not just another comment towards Paul W.S. Anderson, but about the only way I can think of really describing this mess. "Doom" is a gathering of clichés, rehashed stories and run-of-the-mill sci-fi zombie stereotypes and putting in an odd method of space transportation and The Rock. The film's story loosely matches the mythology of the game, but is a continual mix of jump scares, cheesy lines and dark corridors. Imagine "Aliens," but with scientifically created zombies. Where is the gateway to Hell? That is what Doom is about. Not this crap.

The very basic and quick description of the plotline is that a band of marines are sent to Mars when problems arise at a research station. The Sarge (Dwayne Johnson) and Reaper (Karl Urban) lead the group as they move through the ancient portal that leads from Earth to Mars. Once they arrive on the red planet, we find out that Grimm's attractive sister Samantha (Rosamund Pike) works at the research lab. Apparently, the lab is working on a chemical that turns good people into crazed monsters and the crazed monsters can infect others. People die and sooner or later, only the Grimms and the Sarge remain to destroy the hellacious beasts that threaten Earth. A big fight brews between the Sarge and Grimm (I don't mind spoiling it for you, otherwise, I'd be making you watch it) and the Sarge dies. The end.

When I saw "Doom" in the theater, I thought it was okay. I was just euphoric from watching the FPS sequence. Sitting down to watch "Doom" again for this review turned my stomach sour. Once you've seen it once, any entertainment value is quickly gone. You know everything coming up. Heck, even my beloved FPS sequence wasn't as earth-shattering as when I first saw it. Hollywood seems intent to just continue on their destructive path of capitalizing on the good names of major video game franchises. Sooner or later, they need to realize that scripts and acting have to augment the visual effects and marquee to make a good movie. Thank goodness that Peter Jackson is executive producing "Halo." I'd have to go "Postal" if they "Doom"-d my "Halo."

Video:

"Doom" looked incredible in HD. That is one thing you cannot take away from the film – it is strong visually. The opening moments of the film where the Martian settlement is viewed from a distance was incredibly detailed and the film stayed strong beyond that. Much of "Doom" takes place in the shadows. The HD-DVD does a fine job of exhibiting shadow detail and possesses strong black levels. Highlighted by wonderfully moody lighting and a preference for the color blue, "Doom" is perhaps the best looking ‘dark' film that I can think of. When the film does get a little brighter, the film still holds up strong visually. "Doom" is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. The supplements are contained in 1:33:1 ‘standard.'

As I mentioned in my review, "Doom" takes the path that great looking special effects is more important to a ‘Video Game' movie than a good script or even decent acting. The visual effects in this film are very good. There is ‘gore' aplenty. Blood splattering left and right. The set designs are very nice. The look of the game pays very good homage to the video game series, at least the third game in the series. The FPS sequence was shot completely separate from the rest of the film and it has a completely different visual appeal. The scene seems to be sharper than the rest of the film, exhibiting a better feel of depth. You almost want to reach out and touch the oozing blood and guts. Almost. It is just a shame that so much solid production value went into such a poor film.

Sound:

Sound is good enough that you can almost argue a purchase of the DVD to show off HD-DVD. At this point, "Doom" is arguably the best sounding DVD on the market. The English 5.1 channel Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack is a sonic assault on the senses from the opening sequence and continues through the credits (thanks to a fun credit sequence that mirrors the FPS sequence). All sound channels are pushed strong through the film and the sound of gunfire is enough to make almost anybody giddy. The subwoofer rumbles hard. For a science-fiction/horror film, "Doom" demands a strong ability to bump and effectively keep its audience uneasy. The soundtrack keeps up to the task. On the other end of the sound spectrum, there are wonderful little touches that offset the booming bass. The metallic sounds of gunfire, the high-pitched squawks of the computer displays and the sound of hard boots against metal grid flooring sound incredible. Dialogue is spot on, even though they mostly spew garbage from their mouths. It is amazing how really good technical presentation can make you enjoy the most painful of films.

Aside from the English soundtrack, Spanish and French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks are located on the disc. The film is fun to watch in French. It really is. The Rock didn't speak his own lines. Darn. I could only pick up a few words though that I understood. There are also English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles.

Extras:

Universal gets credit for jumping on the HD-DVD bandwagon early and I certainly thank them for doing so. However, their initial releases are simply ports of the original DVD editions. Nothing new or special makes its way to HD-DVD. Even a little something extra would have been sweet. Perhaps a few minutes of "Doom 3" game footage in glorious high definition? That would have been spiffy. The Elite Red DVD case lists five supplements on the back facing and includes the words "And Much More." Unfortunately, the "And Much More" amounts to one additional short feature about the Rock. Of course, the film is an ‘unrated extended edition' and features a few more moments of glorious gore.

Basic Training is a ten minute featurette that details how Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban underwent ‘basic training' to prepare for the film. They describe how they worked out together and trained together and learned the basics of soldiering. The next feature is Rock Formation and is a six minute feature about how the Rock was transformed into the zombie-like super soldier for the big final fight. It is a nice look at the film's makeup for the Rock. This six minutes was the "And Much More" listed on the back. The third feature is the eleven minute look at the movie monsters, "Master Monster Makers." Id and Stan Winston worked together on the creature designs. Some cool stuff on the making of the baddies here. "First Person Shooter Sequence" is a six minute look at the making of the FPS moments in the film. It details the FPS unit and their 14 day shoot to create the unique view in the picture.

The final two features deal with the Doom games that inspired the film. Doom Nation is a fifteen minute look at the early popularity of the games and how those involved in the production of the film were inspired by the game. It goes into the history of the game from "Wolfenstein 3-D" thru the "Doom" trilogy. The games shareware roots and insane popularity as one of the very first FPS titles is nicely detailed here. "Game On" is a quick set of tips on playing "Doom 3." Oddly, words such as ‘ass' are bleeped out, while the Rock has no problem dropping F-bombs in his supplemental moments. I'm not so sure why he can swear and the person discussing "Doom 3" cannot. Regardless, this feature is more of a look at "Doom 3" than anything else.

Parting Thoughts:

"Doom" is bad. It really is. Some may say that my liking the game to a steaming pile of weasel dung was unprofessional. Some may say it was childish. I'm sure that most that have seen the film will say I was too kind. However, I really do love the First Person Shooter sequence in the film. That is enough to bump the film rating a whole 2 points. Sadly, "Doom" has wonderful technical aspects to it and is a fine looking film in not only the HD-DVD transfer, but the film's production. The sound is incredible. Here in the early days of HD-DVD, I must say that this is the best presentation of a film to show off an HD-DVD powered home theater. I'd recommend jumping through the fine action sequences and skipping the other 60% of the film. Because once you hit the bad acting and really bad dialogue, it will pain you. As a film, I don't recommend it. As an example of HD-DVD, I recommend it with reservations. Just make sure to hold your nose.