A Thumbs-Up Review: Butterfly Effect (New Line)

[Lexmark3200]

Awesome. Simply awesome. Thats all I can say about the audio presentation of New Line Cinema's recent release of this past winter's "Butterfly Effect" DVD in the director cut's DTS-ES version.

Bought this disc for my better half today because I knew she loved the film when we saw it out in Vegas when it was released; we took it home and watched it in DTS-ES form --- the disc is a "flipper" with the first side being the original theatrical cut in Dolby Digital EX, and the other side being the director's cut in DTS-ES; why New Line decided to do this I cant say. But the audio of the DVD is a STUNNER, folks....in DTS flavor, it rocked my home theater. The dialogue, like 99.9 percent of films released on our favorite five inch discs, was very soft and then suddenly there were JARRING blasts of effects and "stingers" where the surround channels would blast on during moments of the characters' flashbacks and such; VERY well done.

The video was a mixed bag; there is an opening sequence, when we see Ashton Kutcher's character as a young boy come onscreen, and the video on the 1:85:1 image is STRIKING and breathtaking --- the greens of the lawns in front of the houses, the cars on the street, the colors all seemed to jump off the screen. Beautiful. Somehow and suddenly, as the film goes on, grain is introduced to the picture (which is usually the other way around), and the image begins looking like any other average DVD...with a slightly soft delivery and look.

But the sound? Wow. Get this and demo your DTS capabilities. I wont get into the specifics of the plot of "Butterfly Effect" so you can see the film for yourselves (for those who never saw it) but in a nutshell, it deals with touching on some Chaos Theory and the responsibility of holding the power to change events of the past....and what consequences come with that.

While this disc is the property of my girlfriend because I did buy it for her, I may need to pick this up just for demo purposes. This sure looked and sounded a hell of a lot better than the last DVD I purchased, "Blue Thunder," the 1980s cop thriller about Roy Scheider (Jaws) and his futuristic helicopter.....man, did Columbia **** this one up....there is a widescreen presentation on one side of the disc and a full screen on the other. The full screen was RIDDLED and LOADED with grain....an absolute HORRIBLE picture. The audio, in Dolby 2.0 "Stereo Surround" was just as bad.....couldnt hear any dialogue until my receiver was cranked beyond reasonable human levels....the "fly-over" effects of the helicopters were cheesy and weak; no power whatsoever to the audio. What a waste of cash, but the film was on my want list, so seeing it for ten bucks sold me.

Something tells me Columbia isnt going to re-visit Blue Thunder on Superbit...

[Hairsonfire]

I have been very impressed with nearly all of the New Line releases. This sounds like a great movie, I will definitely check it out this weekend. Thanks for sharing. Incidentally, what type of monitor do you use for your display?

[Lexmark3200]

I have been very impressed with nearly all of the New Line releases. This sounds like a great movie, I will definitely check it out this weekend. Thanks for sharing. Incidentally, what type of monitor do you use for your display?

I agree regarding New Line; their releases have been impressive....seems they are one of the only labels catering to exactly just what the DVD home theater market wants.....great sound on DVDs, nice packaging....everything a home theater junkie such as all of us in this forum could want. The actual films themselves are debatable as far as subject matter (can anyone say "Jason X" or "Freddy Vs. Jason"?) but the DVD presentations are nearly flawless.

Yeah, check out Butterfly Effect when you get a chance; if anything, the DTS ES audio will blow you away if you have such surround capabilities. To answer your question, I am running a 27" Sony Trinitron monitor; nothing too fancy, but it delivers a beautiful picture for the size and seems to work in my studio apartment well enough.

I feel the upgrade bug biting once again.....soon time for a widescreen set.....

[Worf101]

Sigh, missed a goodie, but it'll still be there next week. Thanks for the information.

Da Worfster

[tugmcmartin]

Nice technical review of the presentation of the movie on DVD, but what about the stuff that really matters in a movie, such as acting, plot and story? A DVD can have all the best technical presentation in the world but if the actual movie sucks i ain't gonna waste my time...

[Lexmark3200]

Sigh, missed a goodie, but it'll still be there next week. Thanks for the information.

Da Worfster

No problem, Worf....did you catch this one in theaters as well?

[Lexmark3200]

Nice technical review of the presentation of the movie on DVD, but what about the stuff that really matters in a movie, such as acting, plot and story? A DVD can have all the best technical presentation in the world but if the actual movie sucks i ain't gonna waste my time...


Agreed.....I usually DO provide information in my reviews about the acting and plot and such, but I didnt want to give too many spoilers away for people who didnt see it, thats all....

To be honest, I dont think a $3 rental of this, based on my "technical information", would "waste your time" or money too much, do you, honestly?

At any rate, Ashton was suprisingly good in this....his acting was non-hammy, as we usually get from Nicholson and Cruise these days, and Amy Smart, from "Rat Race", was a waste of screen time here....some may find her cute; I dont. I find her annoying. The story, as I hinted at, is VERY unique and refreshing from Hollywood blockbusters today....seems Ashton's character has inherited a "gift" from his father where the blackouts he experiences is linked to an uncanny ability to go back in time and actually change events of the past.....but as he does this, other parts of his life get ****ed up and there are consequences.....for example, there is a sequence where he stops a woman and her child from getting blown up by a firecracker his friend placed in her mailbox.....the consequence from going back in time and doing that is that he wakes up to find both his arms missing....pretty creepy.

The moral of the film's story is simple: even if you had the power to change the past, dont ever **** with it.....things are supposed to happen the way they happen for a reason.

[tugmcmartin]

Yeah, i do think a $3 rental can be a waste of money and time. But thanks for the review. Looks like it might be worth a gamble.

[Lexmark3200]

Yeah, i do think a $3 rental can be a waste of money and time. But thanks for the review. Looks like it might be worth a gamble.

Well, I'll tell ya what then, Mr. McMartin....I will SEND you the three bucks in order to rent this because its not a big deal to me....it's three bucks. Just send me an address if you feel comfortable doing so.

I am glad you enjoyed the review....I tried to give you as much insight to the plot lines as possible. If you rent this before you read this reply, hope you enjoy the DVD as well.

[Hairsonfire]

Thanks Lex. The reason I ask about your monitor is because it is hard to determine what one persons "Excellent Image Quality" is when you don't know what their equipment is. Just wait until you get a bigger monitor and experience New Line's catalog. I only have a 57 inch Sony HDTV(RPTV) but images, when done right, are breath taking. And, once you get used to that level of quality and the true home theater experience, you can't ever go back.

[Kam]

just my own two cents (having nothing to do with technical specs of the dvd, but with the story) is it is a very interesting idea executed horribly. there are always tough issues to deal with in time travel movies, and u either forget about the science and have fun ala austin powers, or you deal with the science and do it right ala Terminator.
the movie deals with multiple timelines and what happens (very briefly) in each one when ashton's character goes back to change them. there is a unique looking morphing special effect when he goes back in time, but the bottom line is i never cared about any version of the timeline to want it to change one way or another. I felt pretty much like homer in the tree house of horror episode when he makes the toaster that takes him back in time. he gets it wrong so many times that when it was right enough, eh, he could live with it. same with this, they had so many different possibilities, i didn't care for any of them, nor did i really see any reason to want these two (amy smart and ashton) to end up together.
This was definitely a pitch for ashton to do a more serious role and try and move his career away from the current 15mins of fame trend of mr. hip celebrity of the moment. but i'd back cameron crowe's alleged reported decision to fire him off his set for lack of acting ability and replaced him with orlando bloom.

just my two cents.

peace
k2

[Dusty Chalk]

No, seriously, if you don't want to hear too much about the film, then don't read this. I think it's worth seeing, just so one can decide for themselves whether or not they like this movie or not. I don't tell the ending or anything, but if you're one of those people who say, "Don't tell me too much about the movie, otherwise I won't be able to enjoy it", then don't read this.

That said...

I thought the movie was brilliant. Did you watch both endings? Quite different.

Ashton was fantastic. I didn't think of That 70's Show or Punk'd once. That may be going a bit far for some people (especially when he gets "hyped"), but my ability to suspend disbelief is pretty good.

Amy Smart was fantastic as well. She played like three different characters.

Never deal with a time-travel movie from a scientific perspective. It should, theoretically, be impossible, so any approach is going to have loopholes, if one looks hard enough.

I have to admit, there were a couple choices I could have lived with, but I think it was meant at least partially as a black comedy. Take, for example, the knife in the kitchen scene. That was just plain comic relief.

And yet, it was still a very dark movie.

[This Guy]

For once Lexmark, I do agree with you. Great movie, great sound. I definently reccomend it.

[Lexmark3200]

Thanks Lex. The reason I ask about your monitor is because it is hard to determine what one persons "Excellent Image Quality" is when you don't know what their equipment is. Just wait until you get a bigger monitor and experience New Line's catalog. I only have a 57 inch Sony HDTV(RPTV) but images, when done right, are breath taking. And, once you get used to that level of quality and the true home theater experience, you can't ever go back.

I hear you.....as I said, the picture seemed quite flawless on my 27" set until the middle to end where I did notice some evidence of "softness" appearing.....could of course be MY player and MY setup. Overall, a MUCH nicer transfer, as I said, than Columbia did on their so-called "remastered" Blue Thunder disc...

[Lexmark3200]

For once Lexmark, I do agree with you. Great movie, great sound. I definently reccomend it.

Well, I guess there has to be a first time for everything......I am still on mixed feelings regarding what I think about the film on its own as a film....but I thought the technical presentation of the film on DVD with New Line's DTS ES effort was truly awesome.

Some scenes, even with my system at moderate levels, scared the bejesus out of me when there would be dead quiet dialogue and then BAM -- a sudden jolt of surround and front soundstage information would leap to life. EXACTLY what a DVD soundtrack should be....well, for a film of this genre or relative.

[Lexmark3200]

No, seriously, if you don't want to hear too much about the film, then don't read this. I think it's worth seeing, just so one can decide for themselves whether or not they like this movie or not. I don't tell the ending or anything, but if you're one of those people who say, "Don't tell me too much about the movie, otherwise I won't be able to enjoy it", then don't read this.

That said...

I thought the movie was brilliant. Did you watch both endings? Quite different.

Ashton was fantastic. I didn't think of That 70's Show or Punk'd once. That may be going a bit far for some people (especially when he gets "hyped"), but my ability to suspend disbelief is pretty good.

Amy Smart was fantastic as well. She played like three different characters.

Never deal with a time-travel movie from a scientific perspective. It should, theoretically, be impossible, so any approach is going to have loopholes, if one looks hard enough.

I have to admit, there were a couple choices I could have lived with, but I think it was meant at least partially as a black comedy. Take, for example, the knife in the kitchen scene. That was just plain comic relief.

And yet, it was still a very dark movie.

Dusty,

I DID watch both endings, and I prefered the Directors Cut (with the DTS audio) as far as endings go....I cant spoil the differences between the two endings here for folks who never saw it yet, but if you saw the directors cut, you'll know what I mean....it changed the WHOLE meaning of this film....or perhaps the feel of the film as a whole. At any rate, I still contend Amy Smart was a waste of screen time, as she was in Rat Race....just a whining, annoying character who you just want to use yards and yards of masking tape on.....and I agree, there were a couple of choices I would have lived with....for instance, when he wakes up a frat jock and has Amy Smart as a steady piece of pussy, PLUS all those other hot pieces of ass like the slammin' chick who grabs his ass in the shower room....remember that? He could have had ALL that hot sorority ass.....I wouldnt have given up that life for all the pubic hair in Monica Lewinsky's teeth.....

[Dusty Chalk]

At any rate, I still contend Amy Smart was a waste of screen time...Yeah, I heard your opinion the first time -- I was just offering another one: I disagree. I think she did a wonderful job.

And yes, the Director's Cut ending made it a completely different film. We actually watched the Director's Cut first, then flipped it over and watched just the ending of the theatrical version. I think both endings are valid, but I see why he chose that one for the wider (theatrical) release.