REVIEW: 65
An astronaut awakes from a horrific crash after his spaceship is knocked off course. He thinks he’s on an alien world until it becomes clear he’s on Earth. It worked in 1968’s Planet of the Apes and is far less successful when the hero goes back in time in the recent 65. As in 65 million years ago. You know, the age of dinosaurs.
The movie, out now on disc from Sony Home Entertainment, came and went in March, earning a mere 35% at Rotten Tomatoes. I suspect the low score has much to do with the heightened expectations given the writing and directing team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the screenwriters behind A Quiet Place, which was dripping with tension and plot inventiveness.
Here’s it’s more of a cookie-cutter survival story as Mills (Adam Driver) goes on a two-year space flight to earnt he money to treat his ill daughter Nevine (Chloe Coleman), who is also aboard. Once they crash, the surviving complement is scattered and in time Mills finds young Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) and his fatherly instincts kick into gear even if they speak different languages.
They struggle through the lush, jungle foliage in an attempt to reach the Zoic, an escape shuttle. Standing in their way are all the usual problems one finds in the prehistoric era. Various dinosaur species, rock slides, and the like.
If there’s any pleasure to be taken from this formular film is the deepening rapport between Mills and Koa. Driver’s protagonist is deeply flawed, given to lying and less heroic actions. But his care for Koa wins out and he ahs a fine acting partner in Greenblatt. Still, Jurassic Park did humans versus dinosaurs better and this offers nothing new.
The film, available in a variety of formats, has a perfectly fine if unspectacular 1080 p Blu-ray transfer. Its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is a touch superior, but together, they make for fine home viewing. The combo pack comes with Blu-ray and Digital HD Code.
The Special Features are as by-the-0numbers as the film itself., We have five Deleted Scenes (8:03); Set in Stone: Filmmakers (14:21); Future of Yesterday: Creating the World of 65 (4:56); Primordial Planet (2:30); and Final Showdown: Concepts to Screen (10:14).