Jason Voorhees returns with a new
look, a new machete, and his same murderous attitude as he is
awakened on a spaceship in the 25th century.
Jason X
is not nearly as bad as you think it is. I thought the film had
a menacing sense of humor on top of bang-up visual effects. I
can’t help but notice that this film was particularly clean and
not scary as its predecessors. So for those of you who are
hoping the franchise improves, it simply becomes less than
average.
On the
other side, I tip my hat out to director James Isaac and writer
Todd Farmer for making the film entertaining to watch. Fans of
the franchise may not be pleased with this upgraded and
rightfully so; regardless I felt Jason X managed
to provide lots of lively and quick action and it worked quite
well for the new take of this genre.
The Video
Jason X
appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this
single-sided, dual-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for
16X9 televisions. As one might expect from New Line, Jason X
looked remarkable.
Sharpness
was excellent. The movie remained crisp and distinct. Jagged
edges caused no issues, and I also witnessed no evidence of edge
enhancement. The colors looked vivid. Black levels appeared deep
and rich, while shadow detail came across clear. All told
Jason X had a solid presentation.
The Audio
Jason X
is presented in both a Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS mix. The DTS
version seemed much louder. I felt the film featured a very
active soundfield for this type of film. All five channels
received a worthy workout through much of the film.
Audio quality
appeared very clear. Bass response appeared tight and deep. As a
whole the audio for JASON Xwas
generally satisfying.
The Extras
For a movie that did rather poorly
at the box office, New Line managed to produce some well done
extras:
-Commentary with director Jim
Issac, writer Todd Farmer, and producer Noel Cunningham
-The Many Lives of "Jason Vorhees"
-By Any Means Necessary: The
Making of Jason X
-Jump-to-a-death feature
-Theatrical trailer
-Trailers for other New Line
titles
-DVD-ROM features (incl
script-to-screen comparisons)
-Original website
-Hot Spot
Overall
Overall, Jason X offers great picture and sound along with a
reasonably nice package of extras. You may want to consider a
rental first. For everyone else who enjoyed this film you will
be pleased with this DVD presentation.
