Existenz [Blu-ray]

Great transfer and sound. If you looking for some hardcore Sci-Fi, look no further.

I write this in case anyone else doesn't have a 4K BR player but wanted to know how the standard Blu Ray works. In short, it's fantastic. This is not the "Andy Warhol's Dracula" VinSyn situation where the 4K was remastered but the Blu was shortchanged. Rather, the film looks about a trillion times better than the old DVD or iTunes streaming version, and it has all of the extras, which I have not yet dug into but which, at least in the case of the director's commentary, seem very cool.Is it worth $50? Friend, this movie is so insanely underrated and has been treated so poorly by the home video market for years (ie: a horribly mastered version put on a Mirimax "triple feature" single disc with "B Monkey"!), it's hard to imagine anyone else will ever mass produce this in a more affordable version. The movie itself marks the final masterpiece in Cronenberg's self-originated oeuvre, and resists the tides of history in terms of being dated or passe (unlike his most recent effort, the corny, out-of-step "Crimes of the Future"). So do you need this? Yes. You do. If you've seen it already and love it as I do, it's not going to disappoint you at all, despite costing much more than an off-the-books bio-port insert by a station attendant named "Gas."

This review applies to the Blu-ray Miramax release from 2012. If you're a fan of this film and want to upgrade to the hi-def picture, you'll be pleased to know that the transfer is superb, adding a level of clarity that adds immensely to the experience. But be warned: the extras consist only of three interviews (with the two principal actors, and the production director). If you own the original Canadian DVD release, don't part with it, since it contains the director commentary and a 'making of', neither of which are included in this Blu-ray treatment.That commentary was an invaluable aid, and explains certain directorial decisions that impact the pace and style of acting. For one thing, Cronenberg was inspired by Salman Rushdie, who, as you may recall, was the exiled Persian author marked for assassination by Islamic fundamentalists in the late 90s. Cronenberg took this concept and applied it to a game designer (played here by Jennifer Jason Leigh), who is trapped in her own creation, and winds up in a game of EXistenZ ("capital X and capital Z", explains the marketing rep), fighting for her life. Another aspect of the production involves the cues taken from early video games, in which characters appear to be catatonic until the others utter a phrase that prompts the required response. For viewers who missed this type of gaming experience, this may come across as bad acting, or a Cronenberg conceit. Of course, it's neither. There are other touches: generic locations labelled COUNTRY GAS STATION, HOTEL, and CHINESE RESTAURANT, which reflect the conventions of early gaming.Cronenberg was known earlier in his career for emphasizing fleshy horror - exploding heads, dissection, and body metamorphosis. This will surprise viewers who have come to him only recently, in his more mainstream thrillers, 'A History of Violence' and 'Eastern Promises'. With Existenz, we're somewhere in between: Existenz is played by a group who are all connected by a type of fleshy umbilicus. You have to have a bioport installed in your lower spine, and need to purchase a controller that looks more like a mound of flesh than a joystick or mouse. The film is rife with imagery involving 'jacking in' with the ports, and sly body humor. On the other hand, the setting is pure thriller, in its own way.I follow Cronenberg closely and rank this film in the top 50% of his output, on a par with 'Videodrome', but not quite as satisfying as 'Dead Ringers', and 'Spider', both of which bring in a new level of human tragedy not found in all of Cronenberg's work. (in the former, there's also the magnificent Jeremy Irons in an Oscar-worthy performance). As far as I know, Existenz is the first Blu-Ray revamping of his earlier films. As other Cronenberg films are upgraded, I'd like to see more of the excellent remastering we have here, without sacrificing the commentary and other features that were so valuable to the overall package.

I am one of those people that likes some but not all, of David Cronenberg's movies. For example, I dislike M butterfly and Dead Ringers. However, my favorite movie of his is a more mainstream movie, The Dead Zone. My next favorite movie of his is this movie Existenz, which questions what is real or not real while playing games. The gaming pods in this movie are directly attached to your spinal cord. Man in the future has learned to use the flesh and bone from animals to create gaming pods that make you feel you are gaming in your mind. This is not one of Cronenberg's mainstream movies but is without question Cronenberg. For example it has his signature flesh, bone and blood images thrown right in your face. He could have left all the blood and bone out and it still would have been a great movie but Cronenberg wants to make sure we are watching one of his movies.The best part of this movie is how it truly questions what is real and not real. Everyone games in this movie, not just younger people but grandparents as well. Our future society in this movie has become pathetic in its dependence on games and game reality and strikes a much deeper and scarier cord concerning our dependence on games today, as this movie was released in 1999. About half way through the movie Jenifer Jason Lee, tells Jude Law at a deserted ski lodge that people no longer ski physically, it is done all in the mind. The only real difference in this movie and our dependence on games today is our weight problems, something Cronenberg could not foresee 1998-99.This is not an action movie or it is not full of CGI but it is a movie that requires you to sit still and watch its story unfold. I liked it better this time, 14 years later because game reality is starting to happen now. Death to the game designers we want what is real.

Delivery was fast, product came as advertised. Thank you!!

Mundos virtuales y como podría desaparecer la línea entre ellos, se desarrolla un videojuego virtual donde prácticamente tienes todos los sentidos hasta el punto donde ya es difícil saber cualcescreal y cual no, película con un gran mensaje pero paso desapercibida por salir en tiempos cuando Matrix se estrenaba, era versión viene subtitulada al español

Conforme. La description envoi rapide je recommande

Peliculon muy disfrutable, imagen y sonido correcto

This is a review of 101 Films' May 2018 blu-ray release. It is not a review of the movie itself; likely, you will already be aware of the film if you are reading this, but is a review of this particular version as a product.Starting with the packaging, 101 presents the film in a stylish slipcase cover, larger than normal to accommodate both the double disc (blu-ray and dvd) Amaray case and a seriously attractive 32 page perfect bound booklet. In terms of reading material, it boasts a Glossary of Terms reflecting the concepts within the language of the movie, an Introduction by 101 Films' Tim Scaping, an essay by Alex Morris called Enemy of Reality: David Cronenberg's Existenz and an interview with Denise Cronenberg called Of Fabrics and Flesh by Phillip Escott. It also features many character portrait shots of the various starts and guest stars of the production. This is really nicely done, and to a standard rarely seen in accompanying booklets of this type. The sleeve of the Amaray box itself is double-side printed,, and features a character portrait shot of Jude Law on the interior.Moving onto the discs themselves, the key difference between the blu-ray and the dvd appears to be the omission of any of the commentaries included on the blu-ray itself. I have to confess that I've not really looked at the dvd, so cannot say for sure if anything else is not on there, though the stated running times for the extras on the back of the sleeve suggests different running lengths for the extras, and so implies that some at least have been left off too.On to the extras on the blu-ray then, which is where things get interesting.Through the years there have been a number of releases of Existenz in various territories, including as it stands one other blu-ray release. Suffice it to say, 101 Films' version of the movie is massively superior to the other version out there, both in film and sound quality and also in terms of extras. The other version did however manage to pull together 3 otherwise unique featurettes not previously offered for this film, which did make it attractive. Pleasingly, this release has all 3 of those featurettes included, thus negating any reason to look further afield than this one if you're looking for a good edition of this film. Every other extra featurette, from every other edition released worldwide, is included here. As it stands, this version is definitive. It is also, not insignificantly, offered in the correct aspect ratio too, with no picture 'squashing'.All other releases in all territories have been on dvd prior to now, with varying extras between them. Of these, possibly the best version was the Canadian release, boasting as it did no less than 3 commentaries, unlike any other edition. There were also releases in Germany and Italy that offered otherwise unique extras to their territories, in addition to the shared ones. Also, this version boasts a brand new interview with Christopher Eccleston, filmed recently, which itself is highly informative and interesting. Basically, you've got all the featurettes ever released for Existenz brought together under one roof for the first time, plus an all-new one, with a combined running time of over 2 hours and 20 minutes.Regarding commentaries, as with the original Canadian release, there are no less than 3 offered here. However, they are not the same commentaries, although the David Cronenberg one is identical to the original. On the Canadian version, we were also offered a commentary by sfx man Jim Isaac, and an additional commentary by long-time Cronenberg Director of Photography Peter Suschitzky. This version offers a new commentary by Kim Newman and Ryan Lambie, and another one with a couple of people from Mondo Films. I'll be honest and say I would have preferred to have those other 2 commentaries from the Canadian release as well, as a completionist. However, I wouldn't have them over these two new ones: perhaps reflecting the now-archival nature of Existenz (it's nearly 20 years old) the two new ones take a much more historical approach to the movie, and both are extremely engaging and informative, packed full of insight and wit, and are genuinely excellent extras to have. The two now-missing ones are very much 'in the now', as they were then, but both these two new ones stand up to repeated listening.In all, 101 Films' version boasts over 7 hours and 12 minutes of extras, and a few minutes under 9 hours in total. It's attractively packaged for collectors, and the quality of the render is simply miles ahead of any other version. As a title taken from Cronenberg's much neglected mid-period on blu-ray, 101 Films are to be applauded for putting out such a great edition of the title. If you're going to buy any version of this movie, this is the one to go for. I hope it sells well; if it does, we may yet be lucky enough to get titles such as Spider, Dead Zone, Crash, M. Butterfly, Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers too, (though I'm not privy to any information regarding rights etc of those other movies). If they're as well presented as Existenz is here, they'll all be must-buys. 100% recommended.