- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Running Time: 1001 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x Digital Copy)
- Studio: Miramax/Lionsgate
- Blu-ray Release Date: September 27, 2011
- List Price: $19.99
[amazon-product]B005BQTUVI[/amazon-product]
Purchase Mimic: The Director’s Cut on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Mimic has been off of my radar pretty much from the moment it came out and I haven’t given it a second thought. Guillermo del Toro’s (Pan’s Labyrinth; Cronos) horror film just didn’t register with me as a film that was very memorable. I know now that del Toro struggled with the studio and producers to get that film made and, in fact, was not happy with the outcome, feeling like the completed product was not the vision he intended. Now we are finally given a Director’s Cut of Mimic on Blu-ray and a chance to reevaluate the film.
Truth be told, Mimic is a beautifully shot film with a gorgeous palette of deep blacks, vividly saturated blues, and warm glowing ambers. It has a set design that can make your skin crawl when combined with the darkness of its scenes and the nature of its horror. But, in this director’s cut, the film is only marginally improved over its theatrical edition. Perhaps there was not enough salvageable material leftover to reform the film into the vision that del Toro waxes so poetic about in this disc’s Reclaiming Mimic special feature. There’s even an alternate ending he wanted that the studio disliked, which is still not a part of this cut, that would have shored up some of the ridiculous plot holes and easy outs in this film.
Mimic: The Director’s Cut remains a good, slightly improved, but not great, creature feature meets Aliens horror/suspense flick that falls back on many of the standard nature versus science themes of the repertoire. The story starts off as a mystery epidemic spread by cockroaches afflicts children of New York City and scientists, Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) and Dr. Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) decide to genetically engineer a sterile insect that will attract the roaches, secrete a chemical that will kill them, then die after 180 days. Flash-forward three years and suddenly there are strange deaths; the bugs they designed to die have been growing – and breeding. Now Susan and Peter have to go underground to investigate, and try to survive.
Mildly suspenseful, there is no doubt that Mimic can be an enjoyable popcorn film, but its script problems and derivative nature, even in this director’s cut, make it a second-tier science fiction/horror film.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Although there are some places where the image looks a tad too soft, I really cannot protest too loudly about this AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 transfer of Mimic, because to my eyes it looks marvelous. The image has been cleaned up nicely showing hardly any source damage at all, yet there is ample amounts of grain still present and no apparent artifacts from HDVNR or DNR. Blacks look endlessly deep and even tend to crush, but I say that is intended given the dark, shadowy nature of the film’s cinematography and its color palette of saturated blues, blacks, and glowing ambers. Foreground detail is rather sharp, showing lots of texture and three-dimensionality in skin texture and clothing, even in low lit scenes. I see no evidence of video noise whatsoever.
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Astounding and awesome are the words I would use to describe this DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack for Mimic. Lionsgate seems found of providing 7.1 mixes on many of their Blu-ray releases; some of them seem rather odd choices while occasionally some impress. This one doesn’t impress, it amazes. Not only are those two additional back channels put to good use capturing the cavernous sounds of the underground tunnels and subways of New York City, but the overall mix is dynamic and spacious with deep lows, natural highs, and crystal clear dialogue. Sounds move around the room every so often, but the entire mix is held together nicely with lush amounts of reverberation and a fine balance of front to back sounds.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4/5]
There are a couple new high definition supplements added which have del Toro bringing viewers up to speed on the changes he made to the film and the issues he had with the studio and producers the first time around that him him feeling like Mimic was not the vision he intended. One can find this most strongly in the Reclaiming Mimic featurette and Video Prologue.
- Video Prologue with Director Guillermo del Toro (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:01:05)
- Audio Commentary with Director Guillermo del Toro
- Reclaiming Mimic (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:14:31) – The director gives an in depth explanation of his struggles to create the film he wanted to make the first time around and some of the changes he put in in the director’s cut.
- A Leap in Evolution (1.33:1; 480i/60; 00:09:35)
- Back into the Tunnels (1.33:1; 480i/60; 00:05:22) – A very brief making of featurette with some production footage and interviews.
- Deleted Scenes (1.33:1; 480i/60):
- Lunch at the Park
- Kidnapped
- Alternate Ending
- Storyboard Animatics (1.33:1; 480i/60):
- Judas
- Pinned Down
- Pipe Limbo
- Death of Josh
- Run for the Car
- The Big Bite
- Gag Reel (1.33:1; 480i/60; 00:02:20)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
Despite issues with the film itself that still remain in this director’s cut, Mimic looks and sounds incredible on Blu-ray and may be a good mindless way to relax and pass some time. Turn off the lights, grab a refreshment of your choice, don’t think too hard about it all, and Mimic will satisfy.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B005BQTUVI[/amazon-product]
Purchase Mimic: The Director’s Cut on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4/5]
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