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Ruins: Unrated (The)
R1 - America - Dreamworks Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum (25th July 2008). |
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The Film
 Why was this movie made? Did the world really need yet another formulaic bloodbath about a bunch of teenagers who go off into the wilderness and get picked off one by one by an unseen terror, until only one girl survives? Hasn't this been done one thousand times already? Did it even need to be done more than once? Did it need to be done once, at all? In "The Ruins", six kids go off to explore ziggurat in South America. Four of them are American teenagers, the fifth is a German fella named Mathias (Joe Andersdon) whom they meet at the pool, and the other is in the film so briefly that he doen't matter. They'd all been on a margarita bender while on vacation at some resort, and after meeting a real live cultured European, the vacationing American foursome decide to expand their minds a bit, to experience something interesting in the world. Bad idea. American teenagers, at all costs, should never seek cultural or intellectual enlightenment. It is imperative to the balance of the cosmos that every single one of them remains ignorant and shallow. Anyway, Mathias's brother Heinrich (Jordan Patrick Smith) is out there in the jungle, missing, so the German is eager for a family reunion. Before they go off into the jungle, the 'bad' girl screws her boyfriend, and the good girl does not (she's busy throwing up). Whether or not the German guy gets lucky or not is unknown, but if Kraftwerk are any indication, Germans don't like sex anyway. The sixth person shows up, and all the kids are driven by a Mexican stereotype to the 'bad place' (according to said Mexican). What happens next is that a couple of weird little girls (a la Kubrick) appear in the rain forest (we know they're supposed to be creepy because of the ominous synthesizer tone that appears when they do). Reaching the ziggurat, the kids are forced to the top by a gun toting nutjob and his native buddies. Having arrived in the forbidden zone, these kids will not be allowed to leave. Within ten minuted there are three apparently dead Europeans (Heinrich, Mathias's bru'), and so the four dumbass gringos are on their own. And, like, omigod, their cell phones are out of service range! What will they do without text messaging? One of them declares "four Americans on vacation just don't disappear". Apparently he has never heard of Natalee Holloway. The same genius decides that he can perform an amputation with a rusty machete and a frying pan, in the film's most gratuitously graphic scene. What kept going through my mind during this movie was that if these kids weren't such retards, they would have survived. Every move they make is a bad one, and every decision they make is the wrong one. So, by halfway through, the whole thing becomes a sort of "Day of the Triffids" (1962)/"Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" (1956) meets "Friday the 13th" (1980) kind of thing. Basically some man eating cannabis plants grab these kids and plant contagious spores in them. Most of 'em die (This is not a spoiler. This is common sense.). Whatever the case it isn't very original. These plants just aren't scary, and are actually more comical than anything. The plot holes and lapese in common sense are legion: if the ruins full of evil plants are so bad that the natives will kill anyone who enters the grounds, then why not just torch the plants and be done with it? There is nothing here that you haven't seen before, and discussing this film in the context of performance or direction is futile. So if watching a bunch of kids who are so dim that they can't get away from some pot plants sounds like a good way for you to spend ninety minutes, then proceed.
Video
Presented in the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the transfer is 16:9 anamorphic. The film goes from bright Mexican daylight to a deep, black night, and back. The blacks at night are indeed dark, but I found the daylight scenes to be a shade overly bright, perhaps a touch washed out. Running time is 1:33:19, divided into 11 scenes.
Audio
"The Ruins: Unrated" is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. There is very little score in this one. The voices are mostly centered, and the surrounds are mostly used for ambient effects. A bit of rustling foliage and a few gunshots keep the soundscape moderately lively.
Extras
Paramount has released this film along with an audio commentary, three featurettes, deleted scenes, theatrical trailer and a collection of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. An audio commentary by director Carter Smith and editor Jeff Betancourt is up first and finds the two men having a lively discussion about the film as they watch it, talking about story points and performances, the difference between the film and the book, as well as pointing out which effects were practical versus which were computer generated. "Making The Ruins" runs for 14 minutes 23 seconds; Yet another cookie cutter behind-the-scenes featurette. The director, key crew members, and principal cast chime in about making the movie, as we see footage from the set and scenes from the film. Based on the evidence at hand, the director apparently never removes his knit cap. On set, in interviews, and possibly at home as well, it never leaves his head. There appears to be a lot of hair under there, or else he's a Roswell alien, or else he just has a huge deformed skull. "Creeping Death" featurette runs for 15 minutes 3 seconds; and is a discussion on the prosthetic gore effects. "Building The Ruins" featurette runs for 6 minutes 17 seconds; and is a discussion about the creation of the huge titular set-piece (which was made by Grant Major, the production designer for "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001-2003)). A series of deleted scenes are up next, all but the last one have optional audio commentary by director Carter Smith and editor Jeff Betancourt, in which they discuss what is going on in the scene and why it was cut. The scenes included are: - "Rain" runs for 3 minutes 2 seconds; the cast rejoice when a rainstorm hits. - "Celebration" runs for 2 minutes 36 seconds; the cast are happy to be alive, so they drink tequila. - "Going Over the Escape Plan" runs for 2 minutes 25 seconds; two of the characters cuddle in their tent and discuss options. - "Alternate Ending" runs for 1 minute 28 seconds; Amy drives off in her Jeep and notices that she is infected, and then an old man looks contemplative while at a funeral. - "Original Theatrical Ending" runs for 2 minutes 2 seconds; the not-unrated version. Next is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 14 seconds as well as a series of bonus trailers for: - "Drillbit Taylor" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Cloverfield" which runs for 2 minutes. - "Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Disturbia" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Tropic Thunder" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Stop-Loss" which runs for 40 seconds. - "Iron Man" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds.
Overall
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