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Review: Vanishing on 7th Street BD + Screen Caps

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Vanishing on 7th Street is a film with plenty of potential but poor execution especially in regards to the screenplay and characters that are either unlikable or are forgettable/unremarkable, a description that goes for the entire film in general. I would, however, give it a moderate recommendation if you can get it cheap as either a rental or purchase.

 

 


Vanishing on 7th Street (2011)


REVIEW NAVIGATION

The Movie
| Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall

 

Genre(s): Mystery, Drama
Magnolia | R – 91 min. – $29.98 | May 17, 2011

 

MOVIE INFO:
Directed by:
Brad Anderson
Writer(s):
Anthony Jaswinski (written by)
Cast:
Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo, Jacob Latimore

DISC INFO:
Features:
Feature Commentary, Alternate Endings, Featurettes, BD Live, Digital Copy
Number of Discs:
1

Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 7.1)
Video:
1080p/Widescreen 2.35
Subtitles:
English SDH, Spanish
Region(s):
A


THE MOVIE – 2.5/5

Vanishing on 7th Street is at the very least a frustrating film, a film full of potential only to be quashed after the opening sequence. In fact, it was during that sequence I felt this could’ve been the supernatural equivalent of Dawn of the Dead and instead we get a snobbish man leading a group of other uninteresting characters through a mysterious labyrinth of an apocalyptic event.

The movie is set in Detroit and we open at a movie theater complex and projectionist Paul (JOHN LEGUIZAMO), a guy who is a little socially awkward. He keeps an eye on the multiple projectors in one room when suddenly the lights go out and everyone has gone missing leaving only their clothing and possessions behind. Paul goes into the mall to investigate where he runs into mall security who is also trying to figure out just what is going on when, right before Paul’s eyes, he too simply vanishes.

After these events, we then meet another one of our intrepid characters, this one named Luke played by Hayden Christensen. Luke is a bit of an asshole who is the host of a news program and he wakes up the next morning after what was supposed to be a night of fun with his co-host. It takes some time before Luke discovers that something strange is going on, walking outside the condo building and finds abandoned cars and in the distance, at just the right eerie moment, a plane crashes and explodes.

We fast forward some time and we later discover the days are getting shorter and the nights getting longer so this whatever-it-is can take whatever remaining souls there are left roaming the streets of Detroit (given some of the pictures I’ve seen of the city, one could say this was a part documentary). Anyway, Luke is drawn to the lights of a bar. Inside the place isn’t empty and being protected by a young boy, James (JACOB LATIRMORE in his feature film debut). James has been alone for two days after his mother left to investigate lights coming from a church nearby but she has not returned.

Meanwhile, wouldn’t you know it there’s another character that comes across this bar. Rosemary (THANDIE NEWTON) is a panicked and hysterical mother in desperate search for her baby. Later they hear the cries of a man and that man is… yep, Paul, our favorite theater projectionist. After some intense moments to get to Paul and get back to the bar, where the lights flicker more and more, the group tries to make sense of what’s going on with the religious Rosemary believing it is the Rapture for which Luke retorts with, and I’m paraphrasing, “F*** you”.

So can this rag-tag group survive the whatever-it-is from taking them? Can they figure out what’s going on and perhaps find others who are still alive?

Vanishing on 7th Street certainly had an interesting concept and some parts are actually pretty intense, unfortunately it fails to sustain any momentum through the 90-minute running time replaced with a tedious story. It also doesn’t help that I couldn’t care less about these characters and in the case of Hayden Christensen as Luke, I found him downright annoying, not as bad as Anakin but still pretty damn obnoxious. The writer tries to give him compassion, turning the self-centered character into somebody willing to sacrifice himself for another but thanks to Christensen’s performance, where he’s mainly angry through the entire film, it falls flat.

The film was directed by Brad Anderson, director of the underrated Session 9 as well as several episodes of “Fringe” which probably helped him get this gig, and was written by Andrew Jaswinski a name I recognize only because I had the pleasure of reviewing a TV movie called Backwoods starring Haylie Duff. For the most part, Anderson provides a creepy atmosphere which is kind of tough when a good portion takes place in one area (that being 7th street and a bar) and almost all of it is in darkness.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover with the movie title embossed.

 

Feature Commentary – Director Brad Anderson gives some background about the project and how he went about directing a movie where darkness or shadows were the antagonist. This is a low key track and not all that bad, but I definitely think it would’ve benefited from another participant (somebody like John Leguizamo would’ve made it a lot of fun).

Alternate Endings (8:21; HD) – There are a few alt. endings here, a good portion of the running time recaps part of the final version, but after that it’s not whole lot different or even better.

Revealing the Vanishing on 7th Street (7:04; HD) is a short featurette on making the movie with interviews with the cast and crew. It’s nothing special nor is it really revealing either.

Creating the Mood on 7th Street (4:23; HD) is another short featurette this time focusing on how the ambience and look for the film was created. It contains more interviews footage with members of the cast and crew opining on how incredible the mood was.

Behind the Scenes Montage (2:13; HD) – No interviews here, just a score set against some behind-the-scenes footage. Not all that interesting really.

Fangoria Interviews (30:23; HD) contains sound bites with director Anderson and star Jacob Latimore as they discuss the film. It is the most extensive of the features but still not really fascinating.

HDNet: A Look at Vanishing on 7th Street (4:21; HD) is another promotional featurette here only to promote the movie. A good chunk of it is merely the trailer before going into some of the same interview footage we saw before.

Lastly there’s the theatrical trailer (2:32; HD), Digital Copy download code and a BD-Live portal (both ** Blu-ray Exclusives **).

There are also previews for Black Death, I Saw the Devil, 13 Assassins, Hobo with a Shotgun and Rubber (about a killer tire…).


VIDEO – 3.25/5

Vanishing on 7th Street is presented in its original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and 1080p high-definition. Given the plot, a good portion of the movie takes place at night (or in the dark) so you get a good look at some of the flaws. The biggest one I noticed was banding where there would be a light source and then expanding from it into the dark showed off this. Other than that, the picture itself is well detailed and colors are fairly muted but that’s by design. It’s not a great looking picture but merely average by comparison to other Blu-ray releases.

AUDIO – 4/5

The audio however packs a punch with the 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. There’s a good array to hear from the ghostly/shadowy voices that come from the void while dialogue levels also sound nice and clear. There isn’t a whole lot of action so it is the dialogue that is the measure for this track. The LFE channel surprisingly doesn’t get a whole lot of use though it does kick in here and there providing some depth.



OVERALL – 3/5

Overall, Vanishing on 7th Street is a film with plenty of potential but poor execution especially in regards to the screenplay and characters that are either unlikable or are forgettable/unremarkable, a description that goes for the entire film in general. I would, however, give it a moderate recommendation if you can get it cheap as either a rental or purchase which I imagine this will be in a couple months.

 

 

Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 05/18/2011

 

Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2.


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