Customer Reviews

Doom [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A lot of people like to criticize the DOOM movie as being a "bad" movie - a classic example of what goes wrong when you try to transport a thread-bare video game plot to the big screen. I'm here to disagree.

It's pretty easy to make the case that DOOM the movie is a terrible translation of DOOM the video game. The core of the "plot" from the game is entirely changed. In the game, irresponsible experiments with matter teleportation in a base on Mars opens a rift between our world, and Hell itself. Hell comes spilling through into our reality, and it's up to the player as a lone gun-wielding protagonist to mow his way through thousands of zombie humans and hell-spawned demons till he defeats the very forces of Hell. Nothing of that made it into the movie. The similarities are: It takes place on Mars, and there are guns. There is even a teleporter in the plot but it's simply there as a device to keep the action going quickly between the Mars installation and the final showdown in the bowels of the UAC facility on Earth. No Hell, no demons. This is all replaced by genetic experimentation aimed at creating a "super human" - something the ancient Martians failed at, with similar results.

This fundamental change to the plot of the story was a disappointment, but you know what? Everything else works. The sets look similar to the "feel" of the locations in Doom 3, the genetically altered humans look like a few of the monsters from Doom 3, and there is a hilariously great "first person shooter" sequence that had me smiling like a silly kid. Yeah, there's some woeful dialog, yeah, there are some lapses in logic (why would a science installation on Mars have a catacombs-style sewer system with the air-space venting directly into the facility itself - that would be one stinky, humid research lab) but overall, the movie is fun, it's competently made, there are some fun characters, there are some terrific set pieces, and in the end, it's entertaining.

The blu-ray release is a bit late to the party - the was one of the first HD-DVD titles released and it's taken a while to come out on the "other" HD format. The picture is stunning - dead perfect black levels, zero noise, crisp detail, no artifacting at all. The audio is great - only rarely do the action scenes break down into "noisy chaos" - overall it's highly detailed and nuanced.

Fans of the game are treated to some "in-jokes": The names of most of the scientists in the UAC lab are based on the names of the primary developers of the video game - John Carmack, Tim Willits, etc. While most of the weaponry in the movie is standard military type gear, the BFG 9000 from the game makes an appearance in the movie (looking sort of like a V-8 engine with a trigger). The teams names (Sarge, Reaper, etc.) come from another ID game - Quake 3. The "first person shooter" sequence in particular is a shout-out to fans of the genre, and is very well done.

Love it, hate it - it's a very well produced HD version of the movie, and despite it's flaws, it's a very entertaining action movie.

Everyone has mixed feelings on movies based on videogames. But every once in a while there is a good one that shines through the muck. This isn't that movie. That being said, Doom definitely stands on its own as a movie worth watching.
So long as you watch this movie without expecting anything but a action flick worth laughing at, then you will enjoy this movie. Not too mention the over the top First Person shooter bit at the end of the film. The movie at times gets a bit silly. But that's where its charm comes in. This is a top dollar B movie.
You will either love it or hate it, but as long as you don't watch it expecting demons from Hell popping up, you should be fine to give it a chance. I found the scenes with the Rock to be fun and entertaining. While Keith Urban truly gave me a reason to watch his other films after seeing this. There are some excellent one-liners in the movie, some which will haunt me for the rest of my life... But I am glad I saw this movie and am happy to own it on Blu-Ray.
Speaking of Blu-Ray, the transfer is quite good. A definite step up from the DVD, the action doesn't cause the frame rate to diminish in quality. The sound is as good to be expected in a horror film. All in all, a solid title for what it is. I give it 4 out of 5 stars based on the quality of the film itself rather than the quality of the Blu-Ray.

This will not win awards - so if you're looking for Oscar worthy performances - skip this movie.

If you played the Doom games on the PC back when you had to save for months to purchase 4megs of RAM - then this is for you.
If you bought a surround sound system with your meager allowance 'just' for this game so you could hear the breathing sound all around you - then this movie is for you.

Game to Movie (or vice versa) adaptations are never all that great. But in their defense, I think the expectations are always too high.

Everyone interprets their favorites differently and this movie is no exception.

Earth Marines infiltrate and try to take back a science station on Mars and find something..from the planet's past.

The Rock (before he was billed as Dwayne Johnson) gives the kind of performance people expected of him considering his WWE persona - hilarious one-liners with a focus on his strength.

Karl Urban was just getting popular around this time and he plays a top dog in the Rock's Marine unit.

Special Effects were cool, story line was good enough (c'mon its Doom!)
If you're a fan, you won't be disappointed. If you're hyper-critical of movies, then save your money.

Personally - I own it in HD and will buy Blu-Ray when it comes down in price a bit
Good times!

A fun nasty romp through monster filled halls. Even more fun if you enjoyed the game back in the day.

I love this movie, it's fun, action and has a sense of humor...and the two main guys aren't bad either....my type of movie all around.

Funny, 5 years later... I really liked it! I hated Doom when it first came out. The plot was very different from the game, and not better, it had "The Rock," the next Hulk Hogan wannabee as a main actor... and just wasn't what I expected, so I was disappointed.
So I just popped it back in years later... and enjoyed every minute. It's actually a pretty decent movie in it's own right. The plot, while different, is pretty good, the effects well done, excellent sets and I don't have the same problem with The Rock as I did back then.
Some movies, like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Van Helsing and Doom, are much better once you get over the "they weren't what I was expecting or what I wanted" disappointment.
So give it another try and enjoy.

This IS the same 113 minute Unrated Edition as one the costing 50% more, but without the extra DVD copy of the movie.

Sorry, I totally LOVED this movie. I love my video games, and I love my movies. This movie rocks. The FPS action scenes were just *awesome*.

If you didn't like this movie, try pulling your head out of your gamers arse and get real.

Great action flick!

This is a good movie. It aliitle too much videogame at the end though...The audio was excellent...almost blew my 500 Watts Klipsch speakers. Maybe Time to upgrade for bigger one ...hahaha...

This was a blood and monster killing type movie based on a great Video game DOOM. The problem is the producers did not follow the game and thus miss the point. When making movies of games - follow the exact game. People who played the game will go see the movie and enjoy watching it.
The Rock added a little humor to it which made it more enjoyable and the BigFGun from the game was added, but, they still added things to the movie which just did not make sence.
Overall - the movie is not bad with good fight scenes and alot of blood and guts and alien monsters which make it tolerable and in blu-ray make it enjoyable. I give it a 3 out of 5 for at least trying to follow the game.

I think the positive reviews above mostly state my opion on the MOVIE. For me it would be a 5 star EXCEPT... It's another Blu-Ray rip-off in that this is NOT the extended version. Why oh WHY do the companies keep screwing us?
DON"T BUY THIS BLU-RAY VIDEO!