Review of Arrival, The

Introduction

The Arrival features a very simple storyline. What is this mysterious signal which seems to be emanating from the stars? Why is Zane (Charlie Sheen) suddenly fired for poking his nose in? Why are things getting weird? His curiosity gets him into trouble as he delves deeper and discovers an alien conspiracy. Zane`s boss (Ron Silver) is the man who has answers but doesn`t give anything up lightly. So what is going on and why? These are answers that Zane seeks to answer and nothing is going to stop him. It`s promising...

Video

The Arrival is presented here with a 4:3 aspect ratio (full frame), so the labeling on the back of the box is incorrect, though this could be an early review copy.

For the most part the video transfer is pretty clean with a good level of detail and crisp colours. I couldn`t spot any problems at all except for a little dirt here and there, but it`s nothing note worthy. The only drawback to The Arrival is the fullscreen transfer as this is screaming out to show more to the sides. Everything is framed in the centre so you don`t really lose any picture, but you get the feeling that it`s a little claustrophobic at times and needs the extra space.

Audio

Plain old 2 channel DD is all that we have on this disc and this is a shame. There are moments in the film where a more immersive soundtrack would have really helped it along. This film was made in 1996 so I find it hard to believe that a 5.1 audio track isn`t available. As it is, it`s clear and the music comes in at the right place bringing tension. I jumped a couple of times which I quite liked even though I knew something wasn`t quite right! This is in English only, there are no other language options.

Features

Below average looking static menus lead you to play movie, chapter selection and special features. These menus are not only poorly designed, but they`re not user friendly either. As far as Special Features go, we get a featurette, trailer, behind the scenes, gallery and filmographies.

The 7 minute featurette is the usual PR type deal. The trailer is quite good, but don`t watch it unless you`ve seen the movie already. Behind the Scenes is a 5 minute featurette which is exactly what it says on the tin but is too short at only 5 minutes. It`s clear that there`s more footage available, so why isn`t this included? The Gallery contains loads of stills from the film itself and this is a disappointing feature. In fact, I could caption all of these pics and tell the story myself. Lastly we have the filmographies of five of the cast plus Director and this is a very detailed listing of all the work for the cast.

There is a lack of subtitles for HoH (hard of hearing), and there were moments where I needed to wind back to try to hear what was being said. The lack of subtitles is a poor omission.

Conclusion

I`ve seen this movie on TV and this is exactly where this should stay. The story does start off as quite promising but before you know it, we`ve reached the end with questions left unanswered. Conspiracy theories are quite popular, but ultimately it`s a difficult proposition trying to tell a story like The Arrival in less than two hours. I wanted to know more after the end, I wanted to see what would happen and I wanted to see who would win out. But in the end I was left unsatisfied. I don`t want to wonder `what if?`, and work it out for myself because the ending is ambigious, any side could win! And what`s with the global warming issue? It`s not properly hooked into Zane`s discovery of these strange alien radiowaves so I was left a little perplexed until the characters explained it to themselves later in the film.

Film editing could have been better, there are a few instances where we as an audience don`t get to see the `little` things, and this in turn spoils continuity. The film does feature some very cool visual effects and these surprised me as this looks like a low budget movie.

The Arrival had potential to be a good sci-fi thriller and would have benefited from a better ending, a widescreen transfer and better sound. Incidentally, there`s a two film package in the US of this plus The Second Arrival (sequel) which does have 5.1 sound but it`s hard to say if it`s widescreen.

Despite the slight storyline problems, I enjoyed watching the movie and Sheen`s performance isn`t bad at all. In fact I actually found myself talking to Sheen just to tell him to get the hell out of there! Sad I know...but he`s always probing and you know he`s going to get himself into trouble...

While The Arrival is enjoyable to watch, I`d say steer clear of buying this and watch it on TV the next time it goes out.