- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: PG-13
- Run Time: 91 Mins
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: None
- Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: April 2, 2013
- List Price: $29.98
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Overall
[Rating:2/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(The below TheaterByte screen captures are taken directly from the Blu-ray Discs and losslessly compressed in the PNG format. There should be no loss of picture quality with this format. All screen captures should be regarded only as an approximation of the full capabilities of the Blu-ray format.
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The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Earth’s Final Hours, as the title suggests, tells the story of John Streich (Robert Knepper) and Agent Massey (Alex Zahara), two government agents who, first hand, witness a radiation storm while questioning Rothman (Bruce Davison.) Turns out that the Earth’s rotation has been disturbed, as well as the planet’s magnetic fields – leading to utter destruction in a few hours. Now it’s up to these two agents, as well as scientist Chloe Edwards (Julia Benson) and Streich’s son Andy (Cameron Bright) to save the planet before all hope is lost. What results is a film that has its moments, but is way too over-the-top to ever consider being something worthwhile.
The only real shining star in a film like Earth’s Final Hours lies in the film’s special effects, which especially for a SyFy low budget film, are both entertaining and impressive. While the physical effects don’t necessarily do anything to improve the story (which is downright terrible at times,) I’ll easily admit that said effects (at least) kept me in the film. The acting fails on nearly all levels (especially a rare miss from Knepper, who looked lost in this role,) and the story never excites. While SyFy has produced a few decent (read: watchable movies you might recommend,) these last Hours won’t earn my recommendation.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Earth’s Final Hours hits the planet with a 1:78:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer. The film’s color palette features bright, vibrant blues and greens, as well as accurate black levels. Never are the colors overly pumped up, more maintaining a crisp, clean looking image. Speaking of clean, detail is rock solid, as are contrast levels. There is a bit of source noise in some sequences (namely a few darker moments,) but this is an overly bearing issue. Outside of that, this is a clean, consistent looking effort from the folks at Anchor Bay.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
On the audio side, this Blu-ray Disc offers up a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix, one of which is just as solid as the aforementioned video presentation. One of the better aspects of this sound mix (and one that might be a demo worthy title for the bigger fans of the film,) is the film’s LFE. Dominant and immersive at times, the lows add to the film’s action moments. As Earth falls under attack, the film’s low end is quite impressive. Atmosphere is also spot on, with accurate dialogue in the front, and fine discrete effects in the rear. All in all, this is a nearly perfect effort from Anchor Bay.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
No features have been included on this release.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2/5]
Despite a savvy technical effort from Anchor Bay, SyFy’s latest film in Earth’s Final Hours is too over-the-top for its own good. Skip this one.
Additional Screen Captures
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BestBuy.com
Purchase Earth’s Final Hours on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com
–
[amazon-product]B00BK3HU6I[/amazon-product]
[amazon-product]B00B6OEBTK[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com
Purchase Earth’s Final Hours on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]