Review of Frequency

Introduction

The story centres on a father and son who are very close, however a tragic incident kills the father (Quaid) in 1969. Fast-forward 30 years to his son (Caviezel) who is going through a break up with his girlfriend. Through the magic of the Aurora Borealis, the two are able to communicate through the fathers Ham radio. With the ability to communicate with each other they are able to change historical events. As with Back to the Future, this initially leads to more problems than it solves, and the two men have to hunt down a killer.

Time travel films like this don’t rely on your brain matter being switched on too heavily otherwise you go round and round the same points and then get cross-eyed! So the film hinges on the bond of the father and son, and the thriller element of tracking down the killer. On the whole, the film succeeds admirably. The two leads for the main part give an understated and convincing performance of two men who wished they knew each other better.

Unfortunately there are some plot holes in the story - most notably the relationship between Caviezel and his girlfriend, and the ending has that “all American” feel to it, which does get a little too saccharine. However this doesn’t really detract from what is an engaging story that keeps you interested in the events unfolding on screen. Definitely worth a rental, and you won’t be disappointed if you buy either.

Video

New Line Cinema has a good reputation for creating excellent transfers, and this one is no exception. The picture positively sparkles with a lovely clean, sharp print. Skin tones are accurate, shadow details are good, and in general the picture is easy to watch. Admittedly there is not too much here that is going to tax a DVD’s MPEG decoder. The only bugbear I had was the fires at the beginning of the film look unrealistic. However I think that is down to the CGI enhancements these shots were given, rather than and flaws with the DVD or encoding.

Audio

I was pleasantly surprised with the 5.1 mix given to this film. It is rather engaging and works well with the context of the film. The music of the film is presented cleanly from the main channels with ambient effects well represented in the rears. These come to life during the more dramatic scenes as well and give punctuation to the tension on screen. The subwoofer also has a good outing during the film itself - fire engines positively rumble across the screen, and the fires sound meaty and filled with the dread that they deserve.

The dialogue track isn’t the clearest I have come across, and this can be rather annoying. The volume is turned up for the main part of the movie to listen to what the characters are saying, and then you find yourself clambering for the volume control remote as soon as a more dramatic moment kicks in. When I watch a film I like to set the volume control and then forget about the remote. Unfortunately I had to have mine by my side the whole time.

Apart from that, the mix is solid and better than I expected, complementing the visuals nicely.

Features

As usual New Line DVDs come packed with some interesting and worthwhile additions to the DVD. Whilst some of the features found on the Region 1 version are not here, the director’s commentary, deleted scenes and documentary are all present and correct – you are loosing a writer & producers commentary, a 5.1 isolated score and an animated solar gallery… just so you know.

Regarding the deleted scenes, this is one occasion where I wish they had kept the majority of the deleted scenes in the film! There are a couple of notable scenes (an extended scene where Caviezel talks to his best friend as a young boy, and a scene between Quaid and the killer), which I believe were criminal to take out in the first place. The first is amusing and charming, the second explains Quaid’s motivation directly after the meeting and to my mind, is a pretty crucial scene to cut out!

The director’s audio commentary is also good. Here is a man who doesn’t say much, but when he speaks, something interesting comes out. There will be brief periods where he doesn’t speak. Do not adjust your sets; there is more to come and all of it very worthwhile – notably the time he spent directing NYPD Blue and his outlook on directing scenes in any one day.

Finally, the DVD comes packaged with an excellent documentary. This explores and gives detailed information on solar activity, the aurora borealis, ham radios, fire fighting, time travel and special effects. Each piece is interesting and mentally stimulating. After an explanation on each area, it takes you to the film itself to show you whereabouts this feature was incorporated into the film. This was a very welcome surprise to the normal “making of” documentaries that accompany these features and an excellent round up to the package.

Conclusion

Well what a welcome surprise this DVD was to my collection! I had heard that this was a good film, and missed it on its cinema release (probably due to its limited distribution), and I am very happy to have bought it. The film packs a smattering of science fantasy with a dollop of thriller, and a healthy dose of emotional wallop to create an engaging and interesting film for a wide audience. Combine this with a clean, sharp picture, a good use of the soundstage and some very interesting extras, and you have a great DVD package – once again, well done New Line!