Annihilation (4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital)

So far the only movie of 2018 I bought on Blu-ray. I loved it so much I want to reprint my blog post from Independent Ethos. It tops the list of what I think are the best films of 2018 at the halfway point of the year. I'll admit, Annihilation‘s position at number one is very personal and far from objective, as it certainly isn’t a movie — from a major studio, no less (Paramount) — for everyone. A surreal blend of science fiction and horror that will frustrate plot hole obsessives, this film speaks to the core of how I prefer to be entertained by the medium of cinema. I’m referring cinema in the true theatrical sense, as the sound design — from the film’s score to its sound effects — begs for that isolating experience in a large room in front of a big screen. Director Alex Garland based his script on the first book of Jeff VanderMeer’s “Southern Reach Trilogy.” Its plot involves an armed research time entering a new land created by a meteor that crashed into a lighthouse. A pearlescent dome called “The Shimmer” encapsulates the lighthouse and has gradually expanded over time to cover the land around it, dubbed Area X. No exploration team has ever returned from it, save for one man, a soldier named Kane (Oscar Isaac). After acting strangely in front of his biologist wife Lena (Natalie Portman), he is soon stricken ill and ends up comatose. Lena volunteers to join the next small crew to enter, a diverse mix of women including a psychologist and a botanist. What they find inside includes genetic mutations and a warped sense of time and place, where nothing seems to fall in order of the science we know on Earth. During their adventures toward the lighthouse, which include encounters with things and scenes that are horrific, surreal and beautiful — sometimes all at once — the women, including a terrific Jennifer Jason Leigh as the psychologist Dr. Ventress, their numbers dwindle. A mix of ambivalence, enlightenment and menace, Ventress is key to the film’s ingenious reveal of what lies at the heart of the alien power. It’s not just because she has the best line alluding to the film’s title during the film’s most startling moment of pyrotechnics. Ventress is the sort of embodiment of life and death refracted in the world below the shimmer. DNA and psychology play a role that speaks to inherited neurosis and obsession, but also the sensitivity of DNA mixing between beings, where a kiss — or a bite — could change your construction and destiny forever. Annihilation is out there in a beautiful and fearsome way that makes the viewer aware of something else besides escapism or the present moment, a thoughtful science fiction film that is illogical in a frightful way because it’s based on something mystical in our biology. —Hans Morgenstern

excellent movie....total mind trip. keep you wondering whats going on.

This reminded me of an Orange Sunshine trip that I took in the 70's. Whoa! I couldn't look away. The performances are superb. What a trip!

An exciting, visually arresting, and symbolic science fiction film and worthy follow up to Alex Garland's superb instant classic Ex Machina (2014). This film may not be as original, but works very well telling its intelligent story and definitely excels in awesome production values, special effects and dreamy atmosphere. In a traditional set up the military sends a all female team of scientist and soldiers, each bearing psychological baggage, on a potential suicide-mission into a mysterious area of spreading alien activity, a shining veil over a forest where time and nature are warped and -of course- no one has ever returned...well almost no one. Keen viewers will be rewarded with a thrilling blending of H.P. Lovecraft's The Colour Out Of Space, Andrei Tarkovsky's classics Stalker (1979) and Solaris (1972), a bit of Arrival (2016), and a huge dose of Predator (1987). The film also has a unique and smart interpretation of alien life, human biology and self destructive tendencies. A pleasant surprise. Blu ray extras include some good making-of interviews with the cast and crew.

OK movie not that interesting

Ok, this review will likely get a lot of hate because people cannot accept other's opinions, but I'm ok with it. When the movie ends and you're at the "thinker" part of the film, there is no lasting impact. Yes, you can essentially choose your own adventure based on some ambiguous parts, but really, after you've made your choice, the thinking is done. The movie was a slow burn to a non pay off. There is symbolism used throughout that you will look back on and say "oh! I see" but, then... you're done. The acting was great, the vfx awesome, and adventure to the end was pretty cool. I don't want to put too much detail into the review as the subtleness of the movie is what makes it, and a play by play would ruin it. That said, it wasn't as engaging as "critics" made it out to be and I feel like the movie benefited from a ton of positive press that had to deal with other topics that weren't really about the movie itself. It is definitely worth a watch, if nothing else to say you've seen it. You won't regret the time spent and may ask someone next to you if they came to the same conclusions you did, and really that is worth the cost of admission

You will get great color in the shimmer. Scenes outside it are muted but that is a creative decision. The sound is very good especially if you have a sub-woofer. The movie I thought was well acted especially Portman's.

Todo ok!

Très bon film cependant manque un peu d action

The quality and sound was beautiful in this film. It did arrive on time in great packaging. I loved all the behind-the-scenes stuff they they are my favorite. This is a great movie if you’re looking for a good quality movie and watch it behind the scenes of there’s some really good things about the actor actors and the director.

Liked very much