Silent Hill HD-DVD
What?
As a rule computer game adaptations do not translate to the big screen in the same way as comic book adaptations. In the past we’ve had ‘Alone in The Dark’, ‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Super Mario Bros’ which range from passable to down right insulting. I approached ‘Silent Hill’ with trepidation and an open mind….
Young Sharon has a nasty habit of sleepwalking and screaming about a place called Silent Hill. When things reach the point of desperation, her mother Rose decides to drive them both into the night in search of some answers. Her destination? SILENT HILL.
Keeping an open mind was not the easiest thing to do because of the slew of poor computer game adaptations that have been released over the past few years. I wasn’t expecting anything from Silent Hill, I almost had the review written in my head. After twenty minutes had past however, I knew all bets were off. It helped that I had never played the game before, I knew of it of course, but I wasn’t sure of the plot, so once Rose and Sharon reached Silent Hill I didn’t really know what to expect. I was thinking murderers or psychopaths, perhaps even ghosts - but monsters? And we are not talking about any old monsters here, we are talking some pretty gruesome and graphic imagery! The whole town has a great creepy feel to it and there are some genuinely scary moments as Sharon disappeared leaving Rose on her own to search for her daughter. The first half of the film really cracks along and provides plenty of scares and decent horror moments. Of course there are moments that remind you that you are watching a horror film such as Rose running away from the only cop with the only gun, and entering the darkest, scariest looking corner of every building, but hey, it’s all good fun. At just over two hours I felt a few minutes could have been trimmed and the final third doesn’t manage to match the rest of the film in terms of tension and scares. None the less, against all the odds ‘Silent Hill’ managed to provide far more than I expected it would and it did so with style. All hail the king of the computer game adaptations.
Optics:
German Distribution company Concorde has released a number of HD-DVD titles of late, all of which have received high praise from the home entertainment community. This was my first chance to look at any of the range and I was immediately impressed. Once the film hits its stride, much of the action takes place in the gloomy, dark atmosphere that is Silent Hill. Dark corners and dimly lit buildings are managed very well with high levels of detail and strong colours (well mainly blood red). I felt that blacks could have been darker at times but I’m not sure if this look was intentional in keeping with the style of the film. Getting back to the detail levels, I was so impressed when looking at the varied array of monsters and beasts on show. Fine detail was exceptional highlighting every disgusting inch of each nasty without distracting from the moment by highlighting poor special effects work – they looked great! Whenever the action shifts back outside of Silent Hill, colours simply pop off the screen, here detail levels improve even more providing a superb looking image overall. If the rest of Concord’s HD-DVDs look this good, I’m sold.
Sonics:
For all the fluent German speakers out there a DTS-HD 6.1 is included, if like me you are English only however, it’s plain old DTS-HD 5.1 all the way. Obviously a dedicated 6.1 track would have been nice, but I have to say that with my centre rear engaged I was treated to all sorts of rear effects anyway! In terms of a surround sound experience, ‘Silent Hill’ is as impressive as anything I have heard of late. All speakers are alive throughout with some very aggressive surround effects and deep, crunching bass. Spot effects and ambient sounds fill the rears from start to finish creating a very effective horror soundtrack that doesn’t just rely on loud noises to create jumps. The film’s creepy score also impresses with deep lows and a crisp top end, topping off a great soundtrack overall.
Extras:
Nothing to see here.
Well?
I was all set to dislike ‘Silent Hill’ but you know what, I actually enjoyed it. I guess the moral of the story is, you should always keep an open mind when reviewing a film. As for the HD-DVD, except for the complete lack of extra features, Concord’s first foray into the world of high definition is a roaring success. I’ll be checking out the complete range that is for sure.
Tom Day
As a rule computer game adaptations do not translate to the big screen in the same way as comic book adaptations. In the past we’ve had ‘Alone in The Dark’, ‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Super Mario Bros’ which range from passable to down right insulting. I approached ‘Silent Hill’ with trepidation and an open mind….
Young Sharon has a nasty habit of sleepwalking and screaming about a place called Silent Hill. When things reach the point of desperation, her mother Rose decides to drive them both into the night in search of some answers. Her destination? SILENT HILL.
Keeping an open mind was not the easiest thing to do because of the slew of poor computer game adaptations that have been released over the past few years. I wasn’t expecting anything from Silent Hill, I almost had the review written in my head. After twenty minutes had past however, I knew all bets were off. It helped that I had never played the game before, I knew of it of course, but I wasn’t sure of the plot, so once Rose and Sharon reached Silent Hill I didn’t really know what to expect. I was thinking murderers or psychopaths, perhaps even ghosts - but monsters? And we are not talking about any old monsters here, we are talking some pretty gruesome and graphic imagery! The whole town has a great creepy feel to it and there are some genuinely scary moments as Sharon disappeared leaving Rose on her own to search for her daughter. The first half of the film really cracks along and provides plenty of scares and decent horror moments. Of course there are moments that remind you that you are watching a horror film such as Rose running away from the only cop with the only gun, and entering the darkest, scariest looking corner of every building, but hey, it’s all good fun. At just over two hours I felt a few minutes could have been trimmed and the final third doesn’t manage to match the rest of the film in terms of tension and scares. None the less, against all the odds ‘Silent Hill’ managed to provide far more than I expected it would and it did so with style. All hail the king of the computer game adaptations.
Optics:
German Distribution company Concorde has released a number of HD-DVD titles of late, all of which have received high praise from the home entertainment community. This was my first chance to look at any of the range and I was immediately impressed. Once the film hits its stride, much of the action takes place in the gloomy, dark atmosphere that is Silent Hill. Dark corners and dimly lit buildings are managed very well with high levels of detail and strong colours (well mainly blood red). I felt that blacks could have been darker at times but I’m not sure if this look was intentional in keeping with the style of the film. Getting back to the detail levels, I was so impressed when looking at the varied array of monsters and beasts on show. Fine detail was exceptional highlighting every disgusting inch of each nasty without distracting from the moment by highlighting poor special effects work – they looked great! Whenever the action shifts back outside of Silent Hill, colours simply pop off the screen, here detail levels improve even more providing a superb looking image overall. If the rest of Concord’s HD-DVDs look this good, I’m sold.
Sonics:
For all the fluent German speakers out there a DTS-HD 6.1 is included, if like me you are English only however, it’s plain old DTS-HD 5.1 all the way. Obviously a dedicated 6.1 track would have been nice, but I have to say that with my centre rear engaged I was treated to all sorts of rear effects anyway! In terms of a surround sound experience, ‘Silent Hill’ is as impressive as anything I have heard of late. All speakers are alive throughout with some very aggressive surround effects and deep, crunching bass. Spot effects and ambient sounds fill the rears from start to finish creating a very effective horror soundtrack that doesn’t just rely on loud noises to create jumps. The film’s creepy score also impresses with deep lows and a crisp top end, topping off a great soundtrack overall.
Extras:
Nothing to see here.
Well?
I was all set to dislike ‘Silent Hill’ but you know what, I actually enjoyed it. I guess the moral of the story is, you should always keep an open mind when reviewing a film. As for the HD-DVD, except for the complete lack of extra features, Concord’s first foray into the world of high definition is a roaring success. I’ll be checking out the complete range that is for sure.
Tom Day
Director:
Christophe Gans
Starring:
Radha Mitchell
Sean Bean
Kim Coates
Best line:
"They used to say this place was haunted. I think they were right."
Tagline:
"Enjoy your stay."
Description:
Concorde
Germany
2Hrs 1 Min
2.35:1
(Anamorphic)
DTS-HD 5.1 (MA)
Ratings: (Out of 5)
Film 7.0
Optics 9.0
Sonics 9.0
Extras 0.0
Overall 7.0
