The Film
2035 A.D. in Chicago, Illinois; Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) is the only person in society unwilling to put all of his trust in seemingly benign robots. The detective is called to the headquarters of US Robotics, the corporation responsible for manufacturing these ubiquitous and seemingly friendly beings, to investigate the apparent suicide of his friend and doctor, Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell). Spooner begins to suspect that it wasn't a suicide at all -- that Dr. Lanning, the man responsible for creating the latest generation of robots, was actually killed by one of his own creations. No one is willing to believe that a robot could do such a thing, however; not even Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan).
Dr. Calvin was Lanning's co-worker; she specializes in robot psyches and is assigned to aid Detective Spooner with his investigation. Spooner soon settles on one robot in particular, Sonny, as his main suspect, but all is not as it seems. Sonny seems to be displaying human emotions beyond the capabilities of the other robots in his "generation."
Director Alex Proyas' film is very loosely based on author Isaac Asimov's literary source and never reaches the science fiction classic's cerebral depths. The original short story collection questions the true meaning of life, and the significance of being human or machine; indeed, whether it's possible for a robot to be alive and to have a conscience. Instead, Proyas plays it safe, keeping the philosophical issues at a minimum and turning the plot into yet another special effects-driven action vehicle for Will Smith. On that count, the film surely works. The sheer amount of motion never lets up, going from one chase scene to the next -- be it on foot, in a car, or even on a motorcycle -- accompanied by a dazzling array of CGI effects and the at once moody and pulsating score that fits the onscreen action perfectly.
Unfortunately, one cannot help but wonder what might have been, had a more serious tack been taken with the film. If, for example, the underlying themes of Asimov's questions on what makes someone (or something) truly human had been explored in a more serious manner, rather than being glossed over in a typical big-budget Hollywood manner. The final product merely amounts to a two-hour theme park ride wherein the plot becomes irrelevant to the effects and the pacing. Sadly, I doubt that the boardroom suits or most people watching will care much. They'll take their quick fix of adrenalin and go along their merry ways; this film of course supplies a plethora of that.
The Picture
Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in an AVC/MPEG-4 transfer at 25Mbps, the picture quality on this release is stunning. Perfect black levels and contrast ratio, sharp images with fine foreground and background details all from a source that is in perfect condition. From creases in the leather in Will Smith's jacket to the long distance shots of the futuristic city of Chicago, details came through with great clarity.
There is a fine, yet never overwhelming amount of grain present that preserves the film-like quality of the image. There is only one scene where the picture seemed to soften a bit, when Detective Spooner runs out of the US Robotics building and is standing in the street looking for Sonny, but other than that, the transfer isconsistently sharp with no compression artifacts whatsoever.
The biggest flaw may be that some of the special effects do not hold up so well in the high definition transfer. In particular, the scene with Detective Spooner in the warehouse of one-thousand-and-one robots when he is chasing Sonny exposes the green-screen effects and is a little distracting. That sort of thing is to be expected I would imagine, when you take such a heavily special-effectsladen film and place it on a high-definition medium. Overall, despite the minor exposure of some special effects tricks, it is an excellent, reference quality video transfer that I am positive many will appreciate.
The Sound
Audio options provided for this release are English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1. I have to once again quantify my review of this title by noting as I have done with reviews of other titles that contain the DTS-HD MA codec that I, like many other people, do not currently have the capability to decode this lossless codec. What I listened to was the full-bitrate dts core (1.5 Mbps) of the DTS-HD MA soundtrack.
The mix is one of the best I have heard to date. All 5 main channels were constantly in use, and ambiance was plentiful making the mix a fully immersive experience. At the height of the action, such as when Detective Spooner is being attacked by two truck-fulls of robots at high speed on the highway, the LFE rumbles as it should. The sound is clean and dynamic, with the sole exception of some distortion that I heard in dialog every so often. I attribute that to the lossy dts codec and fully expect that to be a non-issue when listening to the actual DTS-HD MA lossless track. The pulsating score and special effects all come through with crystalline clarity, EQ is perfectly balanced and easy on the ears. Without a doubt, this will be an audio reference title for home theatre enthusiasts for years to come.
The Extras
This title comes not just with an abundance of special features, but an abundance of interactive special features that show off the capabilities of BD-J and the Blu-ray format.
Firstly, the disc utilizes D-Box Motion Code, for those home theater enthusiasts who have this capability, so that they can feel every rumble (literally) in their seats as they watch the movie. Secondly, the disc utilizes the colored buttons on your Blu-ray player's remote control to access Blu-ray exclusive in-movie special features:
I should note, that all of the features worked perfectly for me on my player (Panasonic DMP-BD10) except the Yellow Button feature, which did nothing no matter when I pressed it. Perhaps it will work with a firmware update or on other players without problems.
Final Thoughts
Although it may not be a faithful adaptation of the Isaac Asimov short stories, and surely could have delved much deeper into the social implications of the storyline, I, Robot offers quite enough action for fans of the genre and a deep enough story to hold one's attention and keep it from lapsing completely into the realm of the inane. Add to this the remarkable video transfer, superb lossless soundtrack that never lets up, and the BD-J driven special features that show off the interactive capabilities of the format, and what we have here is a reference title that many home theatre enthusiasts will be happy to utilize whenever they would like to show off their systems.
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