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Extras:
Audio Commentary, The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees, By Any Means
Necessary: The Making of Jason X, Jump to a Death, Theatrical Trailer.
Director:
Jim Isaac
Screenplay:
Todd Farmer
Cast:
Jason/Uber Jason: Kane Hodder
Rowan: Lexa Doig
Kay-Em 14: Lisa Ryder
Azrael: Dow Tiefenbach
Janessa: Melyssa Ade
Briggs: Dylan Bierk
Kinsa: Melody Johnson
We all knew it would happen.
After the supposedly
"Final Friday"
Jason has finally made the trip that every slasher makes eventually: space.
Don't even get me started about Leprachaun in Space or Hellraiser's
little outing. The only slashers I cannot see making the journey would
be Michael Myers and the Scream killers. Freddy would have probably even
made it eventually. Not in a million years I would have imagined an idea
as ridiculous as Jason going to space. But the filmmakers knew this (as
revealed in the commentary) and took the extra strides to make it make
sense in a way. The results are decent, not as bad as it could have been
and better than it should have been.
First thing before you watch these types of films is you have to analyze
the genre. After you realize there is really not much to it then you'll
be fine. I made this mistake when I saw it at the cinema on opening day
on April 26th, I actually expected it to be smart and good film. Now,
after watching the DVD almost 5 months later I know what to expect, a
fun movie that isn't great but is still decent on some level. Being the
first Friday flick I've seen at theaters this was a better viewing at
home (I hope I can say that about Freddy vs. Jason next year).
Being delayed for nearly three years I was expecting the worst. And
rightfully so, I got what I expected. But with a DVD as good as this
it's hard not to like it the second time around. Jason X tells a
relatively simple story. Jason has been captured and is being held at
the Crystal Lake Research Center (Crystal Lake has a research center?
Give me a break). He's chained and awaiting cryogenic containment. It is
learned that they have tried to execute him in every way possible (I
thought after they unsuccessfuly blew him up in
Jason Goes to Hell
they would have realized he can't be stopped). While waiting, Jason escapes
and kills seven guards (28 total kills at the end of the movie by the
way). A researcher by the name of Rowan is the only one left when Jason
escapes. She lures him to the cryogenic chamber and shoves him in. Like
the typical sterotype, she approaches the chamber and is stabbed in the
gut. The cryogenics leak and seal them both inside.
Four hundred years later, on a now-dead Earth, a college class stumbles
upon Jason and Rowan. They take them both back aboard. Rowan is revived
and when they're told not to revive Jason, surprise surprise, he's up and
killing again! Now Jason must hunt down everyone on the ship and kill
them one by one as always.
With the exception of some truly bad lines (a girl is being sucked into
space and her only reply: "This sucks on so many levels!") the film is
enjoyable in that cheesy 60s horror film sense. You're not going to find
Oscar worthy material here or anything but you'll be hard pressed to
find a more enjoyable slasher these days. And yes I know I said Jason X
was worse than
Rollerball
but I am here by expunging my review of that
film from any future references. In other words, my film content score
for Rollerball was a 4, change that to a 2 if you read it.
The video presentation is typical New Line: great. Every piece of film
was transfered to a digital source and redone in the fashion of O
Brother, Where Art Thou?. So it should be no suprise at how good it
looks. Presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen, blacks are very solid,
colors are sharp and bold. Fleshtones and enviroments have a cold feel
but this was meant to be, the digital process gives it the impression of
being a big budget film rather than a 10 million feature. Pixelization
and other compression artifacts are nowhere to be seen and edge
enhancement is nilch. This is as good as the transfer on Blade II and I
didn't think that could ever be topped. But another digital film to DVD
by the names of Star Wars-Episode II: Attack of the Clones is getting
some good marks already...
And just as good as the presentation, the sound quality pulls out all
the stops. Although I do not care for the soundtrack, (it sounds
cartoony in a way), the composer was also the same for Jason Goes to
Hell, the sound is great. Offered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
2.0, and DTS 5.1 (let's hear if for New Line for being a reliable studio
for DTS). The track is agressive and loud, especially during the fight
between Kay-Em and Uber Jason.
New Line's presentation puts Paramount's Friday the 13th discs to shame.
Over here in Region 1, Paramount's discs are jokes. Bad transfers, bad
sound, and a trailer if you're lucky. While not bursting at the seems
the extras are good. Friday fans finally have a DVD to be proud of.
Here's how it stacks up:
Audio Commentary:
This track features director Jim Isaac, producer
Sean Cunningham, and writer Todd Farmer. This is a well done track and
even more appreciated are the conversations regarding Freddy vs. Jason.
Would have been cool to see Jason himself, Kane Hodder, present but this
is a great track nonetheless.
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of Jason X:
Finally a good making-of! Most making-ofs these days feature just a bunch of clips and
actors telling you what the story is about but not this one. Great
detail is explained in the film to digital process and numerous other
factors are explored. This runs 16 minutes and is presented in
anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen.
The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees:
Now this is great. I would recommend
the disc for this documentary alone. Jason's film history is presented
here in great detail, from the first complaints of the film to the
making of the pop culture icon. Interviews with Kane Hodder, Sean
Cunningham, the two guys from American Movie, and more make this a great
supplement. Runs 29 minutes and is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1
widescreen.
Jump to a Death:
Similar to what New Line did back in 1998 for the
Mortal Kombat Annihilation disc (I'll review that if I ever get around
to it like I said). This features every single death, even the
uninteresting ones (like the sucks on all levels death) but this is a
good concept. Video presentation is still great by the way.
Theatrical Trailer:
Presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. This is
a hastily made trailer and a poor one at that.
Definitely puts the Paramount discs to shame huh?
Jason X is divided into 26 chapters. Packaging is amaray and features
the theatrical poster as it's cover (something I wish every studio would
do). Animated menus featuring that bad soundtrack are here but are done
well.
Overall, this is a decent movie tha is pretty fun on a brainless cheesy
level. This is a fun movie made even better with a great DVD
presentation. Oh and you can also pick up the newly released
Jason Goes to Hell
for cheap when you get this one.
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Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
