Product Details

• Actors: Jessica Alba
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00174RCHW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,027 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not entirely what I expected, July 18, 2008

By 

Smeddley - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eye (DVD)

Perhaps I enjoyed this movie more because I went into it with very, very, very low expectations. The plot and premise seemed flimsy and ridiculous, and even though I do like Jessica Alba, I wasn't sure decent acting could save a plot that seemed so trite and boring. But partway through my opinion began to change. I decided this isn't really a horror movie, not in the classical sense of what has taken over the horror genre (gore like Saw and Hostel). It's a supernatural mystery with a bit of suspense, if you want to get long-winded and technical. Nothing about it was implicitly scary, but it was interesting and drew me along. I wanted to see the end, and not just to find out if I'd won the classic 'guess who survives' horror movie game.

Sure, the premise is implausible and the entire story is completely unbelievable, but it was an entertaining movie and was fun to watch. I don't ask for realism in my movies (okay, not most of the time!), all I want is to be entertained and this movie, while neither greatly original nor brilliantly written, was enjoyable enough. Horror/suspense fans looking to pass an eventful evening would enjoy this one, but if you're looking for more than that, don't bother.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Here we go again...Hollywood got a hold of it, June 16, 2008

By 

R. Legendre (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eye (DVD)

Most of what I think about "The Eye" has already been said in the other reviews shown here.

My gripe is mainly with Hollywood. They are completely OUT of fresh ideas for cinema. The well has run dry, and now they're trying to dip into the wells of their neighbors. What I mean by that is the latest trend of ripping off movie ideas from foreign cinema (much like Bollywood rips of Amercian films). "The Eye" is the American remake of a similar Asian film that apparently did well in the eastern markets, so it's gotta do well over here. Right?

Wrong.

What other cultures find amusing, scary, offensive, etc. is not necessarily how our culture feels about the same material (ever seen what Russians consider comedy? Not funny at all; but maybe that's just me).

Anywho, to understand what I mean, watch any of John Woo's Hong Kong action films (The Killer, Hard Boiled) and then watch his Hollywood features (Broken Arrow, Face/Off). There is no comparsion. Woo's Hong Kong films are gritty, real, down to earth, and in-your face. His Hollywood films are formulaic and prepackaged for the masses. That's what happens when Hollywood gets its greedy little nubs on something.

My whole point is, this film is predictable, formulaic, and rehashed. It's not something we haven't seen before. Jessica Alba does OK with her role, but nothing award-winning to say the least.

If you are in love with Alba and simply cannot resist looking at her (who could blame you?), then this movie is definitely for you.

If not, skip it and rent something else.

20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars [3.5] The eye doesn't see everything clearly., February 12, 2008

By 

Steven Hedge "Movie Fan" (Somewhere "East of Eden") - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Paging Sarah Michelle Gellar . . . You've missed your audition . . . Never mind. We've found a suitable substitute for you.

Gellar could have easily played this role and so could have Jennifer Love Hewitt, but Jessica Alba does an adequate job here as Hollywood continues its Asian horror remake kick and with good reason: Japan is making some highly effective films these days. This one is less exciting or spooky in comparison to some others, but it's still decent entertainment.

The gorgeous and almost always appealing Alba, disliked her overacting "bridezilla" bit in Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer, is the star of this flick and she plays a character, Sydney Wells, who went blind from a firecracker mishap with her sister when she was around 7. She's moved on, accepted her blindness, and is now a violinist of some note. I heard she really did learn to play the violin for some of those brief close up shots, but you know how Hollywood rumors are. Anyhow, her sister feeling guilt over the accident continues to push Sydney to get cornea transplants. The first attempt earlier in her life failed, but now some new procedures should make it successful and depending on how you view success, it is, but it has a catch . . .

Sydney can now see, much more than she had ever planned to as she sees, drum roll please, "dead people." Yup, an actual line said, in humor, by Sydney's "seeing" therapist, played by Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III), as Dr. Paul Faulkner. I'm not sure if this doctor is problematic in the way he was written or in the way Nivola plays him, or the way the directors tell him to play him, but he's far creepier than any vision Sydney gets. Let's forget that he is played stereotypically like our usual crop of 20-30 something youths who claim to be "professionals", but all walk around with Don Johnson, Miami Vice: The Complete Series circa 1980's, five o'clock shadows and suits that haven't seen a drycleaner or iron in years and let's instead focus on the fact that while he does give some really practical advice on coping with her new-found vision, he's a total idiot in his approach to her as a person having serious psychological problems (if her visions are delusions as he thinks they are). He's also just plain creepy in the way he just looks at Sydney. I just felt my skin crawl whenever he was on the screen and never once accepted him as a doctor.

Over time Sydney's vision become more long lasting, violent, and the line between vision and reality become blurred (pun intended). It is no spoiler to say that Sydney has received the corneas of a person who committed suicide as the film opens with that and then cuts away to her eyes and the looming surgery, but explaining her visions would be a spoiler even though the mystery is light and the story fairly predictable as it follows greater films like The Sixth Sense all too closely.

"The Eye" relies heavily upon its star and even though Alba is stunning, although so overly thin here that they had to use a significantly heavier body double for her nude shower scene (PG-13 kind of suggestive nudity here), can act well enough to carry the role, and has a nicely tone of voice for the voice-over segments, the role could have been played so much better by what I would consider a serious talent (with all due respect to Alba who is just okay or good at best). Of course, the problem here is that no serious talent would have taken on this very contrived role.

The story, although slow and even lame at times, does move quickly, and the vision sequences are fairly clever at times with very limited use of CGI (a welcome rest from that technology). The film is also helped along by a cast of familiar faces of which Rachel Ticotin is one. I adored this actress when she first got started, but, sadly, her star never rose to the level it should have risen to. Her role here, like all too many in her career, is brief, but memorable. In addition, Rade Serbedzija is underused as Sydney's conductor and mentor, but he's always a pleasure to see on the silver screen, and Sydney's surgeon is played with great believability and professionalism by Obba Babatundé. Even an all too brief scene with Tamlyn Tomita who has graced more TV shows than any other actress I can think of is greatly appreciated. Some may recall this actress from her youth when she was the love interest in The Karate Kid II and later in The Joy Luck Club. In 1991 People magazine voted her one of the top 50 most beautiful people in the world (and she's lost little of that beauty since then). These supporting actors seriously help a somewhat flawed film as they add both interest and depth to the film.

The only two cast members I can not praise at all are sadly key supporting roles. I've already mentioned Nivola's creepy therapist bit, but Sydney's sister is played with such little presence that she nearly evaporates into the set designs. I actually had to look up her name and part in the film on IMDb website as she is so vacant in her role. Parker Posey is just there . . . she acts without a clue as to how she should react to anything. Is this poor writing, directing or acting? Dare I say all three . . . YES, but a better actress could compensate for a poorly written role and lack of direction. Posey is so forgettable that the second the camera is off her we hardly noticed she was there at all.

Do I recommend this film? In spite of a few serious flaws, I say yes. Alba, while not at her best, certainly carries the film well enough and most of the supporting cast is very good in their limited roles. The storyline is interesting even though familiar and the lack of CGI overkill is a welcome change. Most will like this film for Alba and that is understandable, but there are some other elements that make this film a decent ride.

FYI: The Asian film version spawned a sequel . . . I'm crossing my fingers that they leave this American version alone though. :o)