Customer Reviews

Mutant Chronicles 2-Disc Collector's Edition

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

 

 

Mutant Chronicles finally makes its way to DVD, and despite some negative press surrounding it, the film as a whole isn't so bad at all. Taking place in the distant future where Earth is run by four warring corporations, a race of mutants is awakened and begins laying waste to everything and everyone in sight. Spiritual elder Brother Samuel (Ron "Hellboy" Perlman) thinks he knows how to lead humanity to salvation, so he gathers a crew of soldiers for a suicide mission. Most notably among them are Thomas Jane (The Mist, Hung) as rugged soldier Mitch Hunter, and Sin City's Devon Aoki; and they all make their descent to save the world. While Mutant Chronicles is capably directed and features CGI effects that range from halfway decent to Sci-Fi Channel (or is it ScyFy Channel now?) quality, the film's biggest flaw lies in its pacing. The first half of the film is sadly boring, but it does manage to pick itself up for the second half, and doesn't let go as the film races towards its conclusion. Jane and Perlman are good, and despite the dim lighting, there are some fairly decent action scenes to be found here. All in all, Mutant Chronicles isn't anything special in the least, but it is definitely worth a look for sci-fi/action fans at the very least.

I was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this litte film.

I loved the look of the movie--it had a sort of retro-future feel to it. I absolutely loved the look of the technology, the coal-powered flying machines were just about as awesome as anything I have ever seen in any movie.

The characters were well-played by all of the actors (including a small part by John Malkovich, and a favorite of mine--Ron Perlman). Thomas Jane did a terrific job as the lead character. His scene at the end of the movie was perfect.

I am impressed with what the director (Simon Hunter) did with a small budget and will definitely be watching for any other films directed by him.

What more can I say--it was great fun for me!

This movie was exactly and precisely what I was hoping it would be. The cast was great. The story was great. And the ending was right on. I loved it. It was a little hard sometimes to understand the dialog, but that was a minor inconvenience. Thomas Jane has turned into a pretty good action star, and John Malkovich will mesmerize you as usual...especially with his strange speech impediment. Enjoy

I have seen mixed reviews of this film with a lot more leaning toward negative than positive so I wasn't expecting much. I think that mindset helped me really enjoy this film. This is one of those films that may very well garner a cult following especially if it enters into a heavy cable rotation. It can be a bit confusing at times and the effects do betray the budget limitations here and there but all in all I really did enjoy the movie. Pop in this one and the viking/spaceman/alien monster flick Outlander for some good quality, low budget, sci-fi escapist fun.

I only caught part of this movie on the scifi network, so it didn't make much sense then. Now I got to see it from the beginning, and there's nothing difficult about the plot line. Granted, they left some obvious things unsaid ... like why a sword would short circuit the mutant's bio-chemistry while firearms projectiles just blows right on through without doing too much damage. Being a former Jarhead, I pay attention to the little details.
Other than that, it was dark, gloomy, apocalyptic, and had enough going on to keep a scifi junkie engrossed.
Some people knock the movie because there's no way a coal-driven technology could be that advanced .. right?
Wrong. It's all about driving the compressors. The whole technology is slapped together from old archives from the past. Notice the buried skyscrappers from our own era? So it's a lot of fun seeing this alternate technology thing in action.
It's scifi folks .. and it's a morality play .. ignore the things you can't explain and enjoy the show. I sure did.

This is the first "steampunk" movie I have seen (barring animation). It is an interesting piece of work and quite successful on many levels. Ron Pearlman shines again as a sort of monk (he must love to work in fantasy, science fantasy and science fiction). Where else can you see an entire society running on coal technology, including (somewhat improbably) coal-fired spaceships. Quite an interesting effort and the plot line is solid, the actors can act and the dialogue is well done.

It was a great movie. I saw it on Sci-Fi channel first than ordered the movie.

First off, I bought this movie because I was and still am a fan of the old "Mutant Chronicles" Role Playing Game. It's rare for a RPG to make it to the big screen and rarely will a book or a rpg of any kind come off perfectly on the big screen (Dune, A Clockwork Orange, Dungeon & Dragons, etc.). This is the same for Mutant Chronicles but I was more than pleasantly surprised with the film's adherence to the "flavor" of the "world" of Mutant Chronicles- that is the semi-World War One feel with large weapons, early 20th century technology mixed with interplanetary travel, corporations dominating mankind, etc.
The movie doesn't explain the "proper" setting of the "Mutant Chronicles" genre/world and begins with the script- which is much simpler than the original "story setting" and is faster in moving the movie along than explaining why things are, etc.
It was a thrill to see the old corporations being represented and to see them warring against each other while a large evil exists that mankind tends to ignore for the focus on the "now" (profit, revenge, lack of faith in myths, etc.).
Unlike the acutal RPG, the movie is set on Earth and not much is discussed about the colonization of our solar system. The movie also focuses on "mutants" as captured humans changed by "the machine" versus the RPG which focuses on an actual, thoughtful evil ENTITY that uses various citadels and lieutenants to advance the cause of darkness.

If you're into simple movies about people shooting "mutants" or people infiltrating vast underground fortresses in the name of good with some gore and some "higher purpose" blips to go in the dialogue, this movie is for you. If you're a fan of Mutant Chronicles, this movie is a MUST! If you want to see a close rendition of an actual role playing game with good action sequences with some moral tales and an alternate setting than you're used too, I do recommend this film.

I hope this review helps.

Exactly what I expected - perfect dvd, & received within a week of purchase. Absolutely no complaints!

I never turn down a chance to see a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure film. However, I become a bit more leery whenever I learn that the film is based on a video or role playing game. Very few cinematic adaptations have done justice to the source. Off the top of my head, the cream of the crop number the LARA CROFT and RESIDENT EVIL series. DOOM, MORTAL KOMBAT, and SILENT HILL tend to fall under the umbrella of so-so adaptations. And then you've got bottom of the barrel picks like MAX PAYNE, ALONE IN THE DARK, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, STREET FIGHTER, BLOODRAYNE, etc.

And then there's MUTANT CHRONICLES, a doom and gloom Indie sci-fi film co-starring Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, and an apathetic John Malkovich. The cool premise, intense worldbuilding and internal mythology, and brutal violence induce me to give it a thumbs up. The poor execution, the monotone delivery of dialogue (shout out to Malkovich!), the laughable attempts at character development, and the sheer oppressive tediousness of the thing reluctantly convince me to give it the finger.

At the end of the Ice Age the Machine came from outer space with the sole purpose of converting mankind into mutants. After much struggle and bloodshed a massive seal was placed on the Machine, and for thousands of years it lay dormant. In the distant future, in the 28th Century, four warring mega-corporations hold dominion over a ravaged planet. But one brutal skirmish in the trenches between two corporations cracks open the great seal and soon ghoulish mutants erupt from the bowels of the earth and very quickly overrun civilization, forcing the remnants of humanity to flee to otherplanetary colonies - providing they come up with the rare transport ticket. A grizzled warrior monk from an ancient brotherhood gathers an elite team of soldiers and descends underground with the intent of putting an end to the infernal Machine once and for all. They bring with them a tome of prophesy and an ancient device which they think is a bomb. It's not a bomb.

The film is relentless with its violence and gore, even though the crack troop pretty much frags over and over the same six actors who, rumor has it, portrayed the hordes of mutants. It helps that these lobster pincered freaks lack individuality and look the same. But the fight scenes are pretty cool, and I wish the silent monk warrior girl had more chances to swing that sword of hers. She's the assigned protector of the Book of Chronicles. And, no, she doesn't know how to read the thing, but she sure protects the shizzy out of it!

But the movie collapses under the weight of its taking itself too seriously, at being too solemn, and it doesn't get much support from a story that is lacking, cinematography that is depressingly gritty and monochromatic, and actors who turn in B-movie performances. All the religious babblepalooza doesn't help, either.

Ron Perlman is decent as the warrior monk Brother Samuel, but he doesn't bring his best stuff. Thomas Jane who plays the tough-as-nails Sgt. John Mitchell Hunter seems to be positioning himself as the next Christopher Lambert. The rest of the cast aren't developed enough. There's a listless cameo from John Malkovich who I guess just couldn't be bothered. He drones out lame lines like "The absence of gravity interferes with my digestion." Man, what's happened to you, John Malkovich? You used to bring it, even if you were always on the quirky side.

As mentioned, the look of the film may be gritty and monochromatic, but, on second thought, it really doesn't bug me that much. Overall, I have no problems with the special effects. A comment from the DVD's special features informs us that the CG work was heavily bolstered by old school f/x techniques (matte paintings, make-up, and miniatures, etc.). The film imagines a grimy steampunk sort of technology, and it's kind of neat that the machines in this world rely heavily on coal power.

I missed this during its theatrical release, but I had hopes, so I got the 2 disc set, in which lurks an abundance of bonus features. Disc 1 offers the widescreen presentation, as well as audio commentary by Ron Perlman and Director Simon Hunter. Disc 2 has the following: the extensive Making Of documentary (107:25 minutes); six deleted scenes, all of which if inserted would've dragged the pace even more (7:49 minutes); Green Screen & Storyboard Comparisons for three scenes (13:57 minutes); the promotional teaser short film with optional Director's commentary (7:15 minutes); the Making Of the promotional teaser short film (3:26 minutes); a heck of a lot of short interviews with the cast & crew; HDNet: A Look at MUTANT CHRONICLES - a look at the world and characters of MUTANT CHRONICLES (4:40); 94 slides of Storyboard art; Concept Art (50 illustrations); Visual Effects (2:48); MUTANT CHRONICLES Panel Q&A from the 2009 San Diego ComicCon, the end of which has Ron Perlman thinking that the crowd was laughing at him but, really, the chuckles were for Thomas Jane who just couldn't stop slamming down glass after glass of water (11:35); 12 brief webisodes mostly exploring the characters in the film; and the trailer to the thing.

As at least one other reviewer had mentioned, the first half-hour or so crawls like a mother. But it picks up once the suicide mission team is assembled. I'm almost tempted to recommend this movie because it has its share of cool elements. But ultimately the downside tilted the balance to the other direction. So, 2.5 out of 5 stars for MUTANT CHRONICLES. Not quite worth purchasing, but it makes for a nice rental or cable viewing. But hope springs eternal. Maybe the upcoming live action flick PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME can do its gaming origin proud.