Unremarkable
Summary
I don’t think anyone thinks Doom is a classic but it’s enjoyable enough and the 4K looks and sounds decent; the lack of any new special features however, makes it rather pointless to upgrade.
Plot: Space Marines are sent to investigate strange events at a research facility on Mars but find themselves at the mercy of genetically enhanced killing machines.
Review: Doom is a movie that very few people still talk about; it was quickly forgotten and I think unfairly so. It’s one of the few decent video game adaptations and deserves a second watch. It’s by no means an amazing movie and it’s rather forgettable, but it’s confidently directed with some impressive visuals.
The set design has a really claustrophobic feel to it and the whole movie is very reminiscent of Aliens, with a little bit Predator added for good measure. There’s even a character called Mac.
The cast is awesome featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Karl Urban; in this Dwayne Johnson gets to play a villain. He starts off as a good guy but slowly descends into madness and he has an awesome climactic fight with Karl Urban.
Both actors make it feel authentic and believable despite the high concept. Urban is really the only likable character and the one who has any character development. The rest of the marines are essentially just expendable grunts; you’re literally looking at your watch waiting for them to get picked off one by one.
The visual effects are also decent with minimal CGI and more prosthetics/make up which ALWAYS looks better. It also has some pretty nifty gore sequences with awesome looking monsters.
Admittedly it’s not as tense as it could be and it takes a little while for anything to really happen, but when it does kick off, it’s pretty awesome. I love the FPS action sequence towards the end which is well executed. Some of the movie is a little too darkly lit though and it’s difficult to make out what’s going on, but most it is fine.
Themes are hinted at about blindly following orders and by the end as always it’s the humans who are the real monsters.
The music is thumping electric guitar mixed with orchestra and works well in the action scenes and the quieter moments to help build some tension.
Bonus Content:
- Features High Dynamic Range (HDR10) for Brighter, Deeper, More Lifelike Color
- Basic Training
- Rock Formation
- Master Monster Makers
- First Person Shooter Sequence
- Doom Nation
- Game On!
- First-Person Shooter Sequence
So, you may notice that the special features are exactly the same as previous Blu-ray so you have to wonder, why bother? I mean, the film looks and sounds better than ever but if you already own it then it’s hard to justify the upgrade.
Overall, Doom isn’t the greatest movie ever and is rather forgettable fare riffing on movies like Aliens and Predator. Still, it’s harmless enough with a few decent action scenes and seeing Dwayne Johnson turn evil is refreshing as he actually looks like he’s making some effort here. The 4K looks and sounds great, but there are no new special features, so if you even own the movie in any capacity then this isn’t really worth adding to the collection.