BLU-RAY REVIEW

Jumper

Featured In Issue 133, July/August 2008

Picture3.5
Sound4.5
WSR Score3
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):
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
2252091
(MPAA Rating):
PG-13
(Rating Reason):
For sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality
(Retail Price):
$39.98
(Disc Type):
Two Disc Set: BD-25 & BD-50
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
88
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2008
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
06/10/08
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Doug Liman
(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):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
DTS HD Lossless 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):

With his mother having abandoned him at the age of five, David Rice (Christensen) is faced with a rather grim homelife, living alone with his depressed father William (Rooker). One day David finds a way out of his dead-end existence by using the power of his mind to teleport him to faraway destinations. With his powers, David soon learns to transport himself in and out of bank vaults, making him rich beyond his wildest dreams. The feeling that this is too good to be true turns prophetic when a mysterious man named Roland (Jackson) begins investigating David's bank heist. Roland is revealed as a paladin, an avowed enemy of all time "Jumpers," and threatens to destroy David and those like him. Based on the novel by Steven Gould. (Stacey Pendry)

Special features on Disc One of this two-disc set include commentary by Director Doug Liman, Writer/Producer Simon Kinberg, and Producer Lucas Foster; an animated graphic novel Jumpstart: David's Story (eight minutes); the following featurettes: Doug Liman's Jumper: Uncensored (36 minutes), Jumping Around The World (11 minutes), Making An Actor Jump (eight minutes), and Jumping From Novel To Film: The Past, Present, And Future Of Jumper (eight minutes); six deleted scenes; a computer animated short Previz: Future Concepts (four minutes); an additional Jumping Around The World featurette with a Picture-In-Picture option and the D-BOX® Motion Code™. and previews.
Disc Two contains a digital copy of the DVD.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.32:1 DVD shows solid resolution, although occasionally shots are soft. Black levels are deep and consistent, and shadow detail is nicely presented. Source element artifacts are rare, and fleshtones generally appear natural. Color fidelity is impressive, with pleasing saturation, and contrast is balanced well. Edge enhancement can be recognized, though, especially over high-contrast transitions. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows somewhat soft resolution, but shadows are rendered well and black levels are deep. Fleshtones appear natural, but contrast is slightly too high. Colors are saturated well, though. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital and DTS® Digital Surround™ 5.1-channel soundtracks feature a good use of the surround channels to create a lively listening space. While the DTS encoding delivers good fidelity, especially noticeable in the more fluid-sounding instruments, the Dolby Digital encoding still sounds fairly pristine, if just a little less natural. The LFE channel is incorporated very well when needed, infusing the room with power and detail in both encodings, although the DTS version seems to have slightly better visceral impact. Dialogue sounds crisp but it is bordering bright in the DTS encoding, and ADR replacement is recognizable on occasion. Dynamic range is somewhat constrained, and subtle shuffling distortion can be heard. The Blu-ray Disc's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack features an entertaining mix with good dynamic range, although some effects can sound limited in this respect. Dialogue occasionally sounds too forward, but it generally sounds natural. (Danny Ridhelieu)