Surrogates [Blu-ray]

A very unoriginal movie, made watchable by Bruce Willis
The essential premise behind SURROGATES is interesting, although perhaps not entirely original. It is the not-too-distant future, but 98% of the human population is living through a surrogate. These robots do everything for you, AS you. You can sit in the safety of your chair at home, getting fat and wearing pajamas all day, while your avatar, with a face (even gender) that you've chosen stands in for you. You see and feel and hear everything...but there's no danger to you if you want to try something crazy. You'll always look attractive and young.

Thus, in surrogates, no one is quite what they seem. The 2% of people who refuse to join the "fun" live in ramshackle, electronics-free zones scattered around the country. They live lives that resemble nothing more than hippie colonies...the fact that they not only rejected living through surrogates but apparently ALL forms of technology is never really explained.

They are led by "The Prophet" (original name!)...

A Character Movie Posing as an Action Film
A movie about a robot Bruce Willis fighting crime? Sounds like an action-adventure extraordinaire!

People who watch surrogates expecting "Die Hard" with a Sci-Fi twist are going to be disappointed. But if you watch the movie without any expectations at all, you'll find a very interesting character piece that explores a bifurcated existence for the entire human population that is an obvious metaphor for how the internet simultaneously unites and divides us. The movie explores how a safety-obsessed culture, aided by technology, becomes universally agoraphobic, and what effect that has on human interaction.

The year is unstated but from the look of the film it is in the not-too-distant future. A technological advance allows people to control a robotic body--a surrogate--from the safety of their own home. Originally intended to help handicapped people get around and carry on in the real world free from their physical impairments, surrogates are rapidly adopted...

Blu-ray: An action-packed sci-fi action film which looks and sounds very good on Blu-ray but story-wise...falls a bit flat.
In 2009, the film "Surrogates" directed by Jonathan Mostow ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", "U-571') and starring Bruce Willis ("Die Hard" film, "Sin City", "The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable") was released in theaters.

An adaptation of the five issue comic book series of the same name by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele featured top notch special effects and the film budgeted at $80 million received mix reviews and made only $60 million worldwide.

Despite failing short of breaking even, the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on Jan. 26th.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Surrogates" is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1). Picture quality is actually quite interesting because a lot of the special effects went into making the surrogates look not like actual humans. Director Jonathan Mostow explains how they purposely removed any blemishes, acne from the skin of the surrogates and with that being the case, you don't really see too many...

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