Blast

This is a complete rewrite of my earlier review.

I purchased this disk, and Air Force One, as a follow up to A Little Princess (1995), which I find to be a remarkable story, if with a few massive flaws. That has one of the finest soundtrack scores by Patrick Doyle and fascinating acting by such as Liesel Matthews. My first comment was totally carried away by that.

I find the story evocative of Buffy series, the earlier episodes. The feel of the romance angles. The movement of the plot. Just it takes that in a very different direction. If Buffy can be considered as escapist fantasy, then this is more real world fantasy. On that level I prefer this to Air Force One, which is a polished and fun and big budget type action story linked to a rather right wing plot.

My first DVD was 2.35 original trimmed down to 1.33 old television size, 29.970fps region 1. I now have the same thing in region 2, 25fps, hence a slightly better image definition. I assume that there is zero chance of this ever becoming available as full 2.35.

The filming is likely done in Oregon. IMDb trivia mentions the rail track as being in the Nehalem valley at Vernonia. More rugged than Twilight type country, and maybe less rain.

I rented this from my local video store, not expecting much, but I was really surprised. This movie was thoughtful, smart, had great acting and had a genuine emotional depth I hardly ever see in these kinds of films. It also seemed very well directed. Although I'm no expert, I thought it looked a whole lot better than most movies I see in the theaters. It made me think of Stand By Me, as if these were the same characters a little older and in a different time. I liked how the writer tried to make a point about how small miscommunications can grow into disasters. Watching the movie, you can pick out lots of places where a bit of honesty between the characters would have averted the bigger troubles to come. Overall, it seemed pretty ambitious for a independent movie.

I don't get how anyone gives this movie a diss review. I thought it was awesome. The actors were really good and the movie looks really cool with lots of cool scenes. The only thing I didn't get is why they released the dvd full frame when the movie was obviously really widescreen when it was shot. The guy who directed the movie made it look as good as any movie I ever see in the theaters, hands down. I think maybe the people who don't like it don't like seeing kids swearing but that's how kids talk and this movie seemed really to know what it's like to be a teenager these days. If you're going to get your panties in a bun because of the violence or swearing then go watch Lassie. I like finding movies that other people miss and Blast was great. Liesel Matthews is a hottie. The director Martin Schenk did a realistic slick movie about how teens are without making all the teens in the movie more interesting than most teens really are. It's what i hate about most teen movies because none of my friends talk the way they do on shows like Gilmore Girls when they sound the same as the adults do.

I also did not work on this movie but unlike the person who left a comment about how the film seemed to purposely have music targeted for a youth audience (duh! It's a youth-oriented film), I thought the film was very professional, ably directed, well-acted and at least tried to tell an intelligent story that appealed to the younger crowd that might be tired of all these moronic sex comedies.

This film seemed more interested in getting teenagers to like it than in getting a story told. The music in the film is an obvious attempt at drawing in a younger audience...how else would you explain such "hip music" playing at such inappropriate times in the film? Often, the music is extremely distracting.

Not to say that there's much to distract us from...you get unrealistic teenage stereotypes that we're supposed to relate with on some level, dialogue written by a forty year old desperately trying to channel a 16 year old, and a painfully predictable storyline that wants to show us that people can change... dramatically... with no reason, thought, or logic involved whatsoever.

In the end, the film comes right out and says, "this was about reality". I'm not sure what that line meant...and i'm not sure that a hip soundtrack will help me through any of the incoherent babble littered throughout this film.