BLU-RAY REVIEW

Species

Featured In Issue 113, October 2006

Picture	3.5
Sound	NA
WSR Score

Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.

(Studio/Distributor):

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

(Catalog Number):

15131

(MPAA Rating):

R

(Rating Reason):

For sci-fi violence, strong sexuality and some language.

(Retail Price):

$28.95

(Disc Type):

Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)

(Widescreen Edition):

Yes

(Full Screen Edition):

No

(Running Time In Minutes):

108

(Color Type):

Color

(Chaptered/Scene Access):

Yes

(Closed Captioned):

Yes

(Regional Coding):

1

(Theatrical Year):

1995

(Theatrical Release):

Yes

(Direct-To-Video Release):

No

(Disc Release Date):

07/25/06

(THX® Digitally Mastered):

No

(Director):

Roger Donaldson

(Screenplay/Written By):

(Story):

(Music):

(Director Of Photography):

(Production Designer):

(Visual Effects):

(Costume Designer):

(Editor):

(Supervising Sound Editors):

(Re-Recording Mixers):

(Executive Producers):

(Co-Producers):

(Producers):

(Academy Awards):

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(Principal Photography):

(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):

(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):

(Disc Soundtrack):

Dolby Digital 5.1

(Theatrical Sound):

(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):

(DTS Bit Rate):

(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):

(Additional Languages):

(French Language):

(Spanish Language):

(Chinese Language):

(Subtitles):

(Cantonese Language):

(Mandarin Language):

(Japanese Language):

(Italian Language):

(German Language):

(Portuguese Language):

This thriller follows an alien conceived via a genetic extraterrestrial transmission. The offspring, a young girl, escapes execution from the top-secret scientific laboratory where she had been under observation. She rapidly develops into a beautiful, dangerous, and intelligent woman (Henstridge) who seduces men to reproduce offspring that could destroy the human race. Scientist Xavier Fitch (Kingsley) assembles a team of specialists to combine their expertise and hunt her down before she produces a new predator Species on Earth.

Special features include commentary by Director Roger Donaldson, Producer Frank Mancuso Jr., Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund, and Creative & Special Make-Up Effects Creator Steve Johnson; another commentary track with Donaldson and Actors Michael Madsen & Natasha Henstridge; the 16-minute Designing A Hybrid and the 12-minute H.G. Giger At Work featurettes; and high-definition previews.

While color fidelity is acceptable and black levels can be amply deep, the 2.55:1 MPEG-2-encoded Blu-ray Disc image is hampered by insufficient shadow delineation and heavy source element artifacts. The images can show fair detail, although they are generally not as pristine as they really should be. There are scenes where the blacks can become slightly milky, which is disappointing. (Danny Richelieu)

The 5.1-channel linear PCM soundtrack features a broad front stage, well-recorded dialogue, and a fairly good ambient mix with the surrounds. Fidelity is quite good, heightened by the use of PCM over a lossy codec. While not as exciting of a mix as some newer releases, this is still an enjoyable experience. (Danny Richelieu)

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