Reptilian
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Cast: Dan Cashman, Bruce Cornwell, Dennis Howard, Matt Landers
Extras: Trailer, Production Notes, Photo Gallery, Yonggary Profile
Rating:
From South Korea comes a film by first-time director Hyung Rae Shim by the title of ’Repilian, ’ maybe better known as ’2001 Yonggary, ’ which has now found its way to DVD through Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. In essence, this film is at home somewhere between ’Independence Day’ and ’Godzilla.’ Alien spaceships and invasion elements combined with a stomping behemoth that is bigger, badder and meaner than anything mankind has ever faced.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment is releasing ’Reptilian’ with a beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer in the movie’s 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The presentation is very clean and no signs of speckles or scratches are evident. The transfer also offers a lot of detail, giving the image a very finely defined quality with great sharpness. Edge-enhancement is at a minimum and without artifacts and although the film exhibits some graininess, it is never distracting or displeasing. Colors are very strong and the colorful hues that the cinematography encompasses are finely delineated for a powerful presentation. Blacks are very deep with good shadow detail. The compression of the film has also been done very well without distracting compression artifacts.
The disc features a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital and a Dolby Surround audio track, both of which are very well produced and engaging. Surround usage is good and aggressive, which is hardly surprising given the recent production date of the film itself. The frequency response is wide and offers a good dynamic range. Dialogues are well integrated and always understandable.
Monster movies like this are not for everyone, of course, and while they seem to be silly and ridiculous to some, others take sheer pleasure in the over-the-top acting and the cheesy effects. ’Reptilian’ is not different, although the computer generated effects give the film a distinctively modern look, the kaiju elements are still as down-to-earth as in any ’Godzilla’ film. I had a good time with the movie and if you’re a fan of the ’Godzilla’ fare, you may want to check this one out.