The Descent

[Barney_DaPurple1]

Studio Lionsgate
Director Neil Marshall
BD Release Date December 26, 2006
Video 1080p/23.976Hz | 2.35:1 | MPEG-2
Audio English 6.1 Uncompressed PCM*
BonusView 1.1
Bargain Price $10 at WallyWorld

* Default audio track is 5.1 Dolby Digital EX.

OTHER MOVIE COMPARISON

The Ruins meets Quarantine | I Am Legend, 30 Days of Night, The Blair Witch Project, The Time Machine (1960), Pitch Black, Alien Vs. Predator, The Cave, Predator, The Poseidon Adventure, Vertical Limit

WHAT'S THE MOVIE ABOUT?

A group of thrill-seeking women encountered more they've bargained for while spelunking an uncharted Appalachian mountain cave.

TRAILERS, CLIPS, AND MUSIC VIDEOS

The Descent: Part 2 Trailer


BARNEY'S BOOMOO FUNFACTS AND TRIVIA
Barney does not assume the accuracy for these funfacts. They are to be used for entertainment purposes only.

The story was set in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, but the movie was entirely filmed in the UK, including all of the caves built inside Pinewood Studios in London. Several inaccuracies including geographically the license plate for North Carolina is not required in the front, the 3 letters come first then the 4 numbers (opposite in the movie), elks roam the north western part of the US and Canada not in NC, and the spelunking tools/weapons were for ice climbing not for caves. Woolly rhinoceros were usually found in Eurasia, not in North America. Known mainly through wall paintings as old as 40,000 years ago, the last of the woolly rhinoceros survived around 8,000 BC. The woolly mammoths, the mannaks, were in the movie 10,000 BC. The North American ending differs from the original British ending. [Spoiler]Originally Sarah did not wake-up back in the cave.[/Spoiler] The Descent: Part 2 will be released in the UK in December of 2009. Directed by Jon Harris, this will be his first film as director. Harris was the editor of the first The Descent. The Descent director Neil Marshall is the executive producer. The Descent: Part 2 is scheduled to be released in US theaters sometime in 2010. The Danish title for The Descent is "The Descent to Hell". "Drag Me to Hell" director Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert are partners (and Mandate Pictures) of Ghost House Pictures. Neil Marshall (The Descent (2005), Doomsday (2008), and others) signed with Ghost House Picture to direct Burst 3D (early development stage). Native American folklore tells the story of strange creatures which dwell in an endless mystical cave known to white men (with fork tongues ) as Lookout Mountain Caves. Ruby Falls (a 145 foot underground waterfall formed 30 million years ago located over 1,120 feet beneath the mountain’s surface) in the Lookout Mountains (part of the Appalachian) in Chattanooga Tennessee was discovered by Sir Leo Lambert (1895-1950). On December 28, 1928, while excavating the elevator shaft a worker operating a jackhammer discovered a void in the rock and felt a gush of air. This void was located at the 260 foot level, still 160 feet above the Lookout Mountain Cave. Upon further inspection, an opening, 18 inches high and five feet wide, was discovered... [crawling on his hands and knees for 7/10 of a mile at a very slow pace,] the round trip journey took them about 17 hours. Today, Ruby Falls is a designated a National Historic Landmark. They offered a 2 and half hour guided tour for around $16 a person. Visit Ruby Falls. Spelunking was the cover and alibi for Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (2005). People who explore caves are called spelunkers. People who study caves are called speleologists. Six women descending down a long dark shaft , all coinciding with that time of the month , is a natural disaster paranormal activity waiting to happen! :D

BD MAIN MENU

BARNEY'S BOOMOO RATING FOR HOME THEATER EXPERIENCE

Overall Home Theater Experience
Movie Stupid So-So [Spectacular]
Video *
Audio **
Subtitle Legibility ***

AUDIO SOUNDSTAGE SUB-CATEGORY

Dialog Clarity
Balanced Surround Sound Volume
Surround Sound Detail, Integrity, Resolution, and Definition
Surround Sound Dynamics (Bass, Treble, Separation, and Transition)
Ambient Background Music and Soundtrack
Low Frequency Effects

* 1080p/24fps OFF.
** DRC: Off | Bitstream to Onkyo 805 | Reference Listening Volume : 51.0 db (abs)| Late Nite Mode: Off | Re-EQ: Off | 7.2 Surround Sound Setup
*** White text with thin black borders. Subtitles are placed within the picture area and located on the speaker's side.

BD-P1400 TECHNICAL DATA Video Problem: No Audio Problem: No Load Problem: No Total Loading Time: 1 min 56 sec | PS3: 1 min 09 sec | BD35: 1 min 30 sec Skip Previews "Shortcut": N/A Resume Play: No Main Menu or Popup Menu GUI Intensity Rating: Simple [Moderate] Complex FW: 2.1 | PS3: 3.01 | BD35: 2.0

BD LOADING ANIMATION

DISC FEATURES WORTH NOTING

Annoying Menu Button Sound or Option Yes, option to turn off or on under Main menu, speaker icon. Audible only in stereo or PCM mode.
Secondary Audio Yes, commentary with director and cast. Commentary with director and crew. Underground PiP Experience.
Bookmark No
Unrated or Rated Version
An Underground Experience PiP features works with the Samsung 1400.
Interview with writer/director Neil Marshall
Beneath the Scenes
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Caving: An HD Experience
Storyboard to Scene Comparison PiP features works with the Samsung 1400.
Still Gallery
Cast and Crew Biographies
Outakes

WHADABOUT THE MOVIE BARNEY?

Boomoo Rent-O-Meter:
Boomoo Collection Worthiness: (Already in Barney's)

The Descent has always been one of my favorite suspense thriller horror movies. Why? It's hard to describe. The intangibles for me is the storytelling and filming style. It all seems to click with me. The situation the girls get in, finding the courage when almost all hope is lost, isolation versus comradery and who to trust, it's almost like you as the audience were part of their group, the seventh girl... kinda . I think mostly it is because this movie was not widely known in the US when it first came out. Lots of unknown actresses (I'm in love with Juno). It has gained momentum with somewhat of a cult following in recent years, and especially around Halloween. It deserves more accolades and advertisement than it got. That's probably half the reasons. The rest I can't explain in words.

A lot of controversy was generated over the picture quality of The Descent when it was released on BD. Lionsgate apparently had released two versions of the film using different video formats, MPEG-2 and VC-1. Understand that the first few waves of Lionsgate and Sony titles were encoded in MPEG-2 format. This was done initially in mid 2006 to ensure compatibility with DVD before transitioning VC-1 and MPEG-4 AVC. This review was done with the MPEG-2 BD, supposedly less inferior in PQ and less desired of the two. I have not seen the VC-1 encode, but with the greatest confidence, I can say the MPEG-2 version is reference material. Picture is sharp. Colors are vibrant. Pixels are tight. Quite remarkable is the blackness level achieved in the dark claustrophobic like caverns. Yet contrast that with the lighter images off the red and green light sources making it easy to see what's going on in action sequences. It's sometime tricky to do this. Case with AVP: Requiem, which was disastrous. While 30 Days of Night (with light filters on the camera lenses) was the only other movie that was able to do this quite well. Overall, very very pleased with the picture quality.

Audio is also impressive. The 6.1 uncompressed PCM soundtrack is clean and moves with agility and velocity around the soundstage. My only complaint is with the balance of volume outputted by the overall system. But... it may not be that bad considering if the intent is trying to give you a heart attack. Coincidently flawed or by design, nitroglycerin is recommended and pre-administered before watching The Descent.

I highly recommend The Descent to anyone's boomoo collection. Not unless you're claustrophobic, have a heart condition, or just a sissy , it's quite fun and enjoyable movie with a high play-it-again potential. I have the DVD, but with the asking price around 10 bux for the BD, it's a no brainer to upgrade.



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[AxGates]

Thanks for the review, its added to my queue

[sarge1976]

I bought this when it first came out on BD and never got around to watching it. I will definetly check it out soon. I did however see it on DVD and it's an awesome movie and I'm really looking forward to the sequel

[bravestime]

Good review Barney. I agree with your review and bought this movie soon after it came out. I also like this movie, a very entertaining horror flick. Thanks for the review.

[Smarty-pants]

Is this movie really that good??
I'm not a big horror movie fan, because they usually suck for the most part.
Scary parts are not scary, plot is nonexistent, ect... ect... ect...
I'm not saying the movie has to be worthy of Oscar awards or anything, but just like to know I'm not wasting my time.
If it's a horror movie, it needs to make me jump a couple times, make my palms sweaty, and actually have a plot other than running away from the killer.
How do we plead on this one?

[bravestime]

Is this movie really that good??
I'm not a big horror movie fan, because they usually suck for the most part.
Scary parts are not scary, plot is nonexistent, ect... ect... ect...
I'm not saying the movie has to be worthy of Oscar awards or anything, but just like to know I'm not wasting my time.
If it's a horror movie, it needs to make me jump a couple times, make my palms sweaty, and actually have a plot other than running away from the killer.
How do we plead on this one?

IMO, I would not have a great expectation for this movie from what you describe. If your real particular about your horror movies, then this may not "blow your dress up". I would characterize this movie as a good average horror movie, not great. I really like the movie because it's pretty entertaining and does have some scary moments, for me it gives me what I like. However, from what you describe I would recommend you give it a rent if your interested.

It's hard to say whether you will like it or not since everyone's taste can vary from one movie to another.

[Smarty-pants]

IMO, I would not have a great expectation for this movie from what you describe. If your real particular about your horror movies, then this may not "blow your dress up". I would characterize this movie as a good average horror movie, not great. I really like the movie because it's pretty entertaining and does have some scary moments, for me it gives me what I like. However, from what you describe I would recommend you give it a rent if your interested.

It's hard to say whether you will like it or not since everyone's taste can vary from one movie to another.

Yes, I have learned that all too well over the years. It's amazing just how far opinions on movies can vary.

Thanks for the advice.

[bravestime]

Yes, I have learned that all too well over the years. It's amazing just how far opinions on movies can vary.

Thanks for the advice.

NP. If you do decide to rent it, I'd be interested to hear your thought on it.

[Barney_DaPurple1]

Is this movie really that good??
I'm not a big horror movie fan, because they usually suck for the most part.
Scary parts are not scary, plot is nonexistent, ect... ect... ect...
I'm not saying the movie has to be worthy of Oscar awards or anything, but just like to know I'm not wasting my time.
If it's a horror movie, it needs to make me jump a couple times, make my palms sweaty, and actually have a plot other than running away from the killer.
How do we plead on this one?

When yaw gonna trust your ol' pal on this? It's not a true horror movie. It's nothing you can categorize. If you watch it without any expectations, I think you'll enjoy... These chicks kick some ars. Go girl power!

If your real particular about your horror movies, then this may not "blow your dress up".

LOL. cute! You should see his high heels pumps when they're up. Kinda like the scene in Scary Movies 4 when the blond gym teacher switches her legs over and adjusting her groin area! :D

[bravestime]

LOL. cute! You should see his high heels pumps when they're up. Kinda like the scene in Scary Movies 4 when the blond gym teacher switches her legs over and adjusting her groin area! :D

[Barney_DaPurple1]

yaw gotta find me that clip... the blond long hair gym teacher with the short white miniskirt... adjusting her stuff!

[Smarty-pants]

yaw gotta find me that clip... the blond long hair gym teacher with the short white miniskirt... adjusting her stuff!

Why, are you running out of wack off material.
Hey, whatever floats your boat man.

[_sprkeng_]

Good review Barney. I agree with your review and bought this movie soon after it came out. I also like this movie, a very entertaining horror flick. Thanks for the review.

It doesn't hurt that the girls are all hotties....