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Shaft, The
Artisan // R // May 20, 2003
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
I asked Geoffrey Kleinman to send me a movie to review and I got the shaft. Literally.
The Movie
"The Shaft" comes to us from Danish director Dick Maas, and is a remake of his 1983 film "The Lift". I haven't seen that one (always wanted to rent it, but never did), but it's got to be better than this pointless update.
Following a severe electrical storm, the elevators in the Millenium Building begin to behave erratically. At first, it's minor things, such as the doors opening and closing at random, but when a group of pregnant women are trapped in a stifling elevator car, management calls in repairmen Jeff (Erik Thal) and Mark (James Marshal) to check things out, but they can't find any problems. After a death occurs in the elevator shaft, Jeff and Mark are called in again, where Mark meets investigative reporter Jennifer (Naomi Watts). Once the bodies begin to pile up, Mark and Jennifer join forces to discover what is going on in the building. They soon learn that the elevators in the Millenium Building are far more than they appear to be.
Do you know what's scarier than a sinister elevator? Just about anything else that you can think of. But that's just one of the problems with this film. Despite the list of recognizable faces in the film - Naomi Watts, James Marshall, Edward Herrmann, Dan Hedaya, Ron Perlman, Michael Ironside -- the acting is especially bad here. Everyone just delivers their lines with no infleciton or emotion. And while the film apparently had a budget, as there are some New York exterior shots and many extras, the sets look very cheap and the CGI effects aren't very good.
The film's greatest sin is its length. At 109 minutes, the movie is simply far too long. This length ensures many, many boring passages of pointless dialogue and woefully undramatic scenes. The "plot twist" doesn't come until late in the film and by that time, it's far too late, as the viewer has sat through too many scenes of elevator doors opening and closing. Ooh, scary. At the 79-minute mark, a character looks into the camera and says, "It's not over. It's going to get worse." Amen, sister.
Video
According to the Internet Movie Database, the original aspect ratio for "The Shaft" was 2.35:1, but the presentation on this DVD is pan-and-scan. (The German DVD release, where the film is entitled "Down", is indeed listed as 2.35:1.) The image is surprising clear and free from overwhelming grain, but anyone the camera or a character moves, things to go to hell very quickly. These movements cause a very noticeable blurring effect and the image is full of artifacting. Also, some shots are poorly framed, giving the impression that only some of the transfer is actually pan-and-scan, while the rest is simply scan.
Audio
The DVD contains a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track (although the 2.0 track is the default one). For the most part, this track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. However, the dynamic range could certainly use some tweaking, as the volume fluctuates a great deal. The surround sound effects are too subtle at times, but the bass response is quite good.
Extras
The only extra on "The Shaft" DVD is the trailer for the film, which doesn't hype Naomi Watts' presence anywhere near as much as the DVD box does. (Notice how the logo for "The Shaft" resembles that for "The Ring".)
Having been bored to tears by "The Shaft" and having not seen "The Lift", at the moment, I can't recommend any film in the scary elevator genre. Do yourself a favor and just watch the beginning of "Speed" again.
The Movie
"The Shaft" comes to us from Danish director Dick Maas, and is a remake of his 1983 film "The Lift". I haven't seen that one (always wanted to rent it, but never did), but it's got to be better than this pointless update.
Following a severe electrical storm, the elevators in the Millenium Building begin to behave erratically. At first, it's minor things, such as the doors opening and closing at random, but when a group of pregnant women are trapped in a stifling elevator car, management calls in repairmen Jeff (Erik Thal) and Mark (James Marshal) to check things out, but they can't find any problems. After a death occurs in the elevator shaft, Jeff and Mark are called in again, where Mark meets investigative reporter Jennifer (Naomi Watts). Once the bodies begin to pile up, Mark and Jennifer join forces to discover what is going on in the building. They soon learn that the elevators in the Millenium Building are far more than they appear to be.
Do you know what's scarier than a sinister elevator? Just about anything else that you can think of. But that's just one of the problems with this film. Despite the list of recognizable faces in the film - Naomi Watts, James Marshall, Edward Herrmann, Dan Hedaya, Ron Perlman, Michael Ironside -- the acting is especially bad here. Everyone just delivers their lines with no infleciton or emotion. And while the film apparently had a budget, as there are some New York exterior shots and many extras, the sets look very cheap and the CGI effects aren't very good.
The film's greatest sin is its length. At 109 minutes, the movie is simply far too long. This length ensures many, many boring passages of pointless dialogue and woefully undramatic scenes. The "plot twist" doesn't come until late in the film and by that time, it's far too late, as the viewer has sat through too many scenes of elevator doors opening and closing. Ooh, scary. At the 79-minute mark, a character looks into the camera and says, "It's not over. It's going to get worse." Amen, sister.
Video
According to the Internet Movie Database, the original aspect ratio for "The Shaft" was 2.35:1, but the presentation on this DVD is pan-and-scan. (The German DVD release, where the film is entitled "Down", is indeed listed as 2.35:1.) The image is surprising clear and free from overwhelming grain, but anyone the camera or a character moves, things to go to hell very quickly. These movements cause a very noticeable blurring effect and the image is full of artifacting. Also, some shots are poorly framed, giving the impression that only some of the transfer is actually pan-and-scan, while the rest is simply scan.
Audio
The DVD contains a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track (although the 2.0 track is the default one). For the most part, this track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. However, the dynamic range could certainly use some tweaking, as the volume fluctuates a great deal. The surround sound effects are too subtle at times, but the bass response is quite good.
Extras
The only extra on "The Shaft" DVD is the trailer for the film, which doesn't hype Naomi Watts' presence anywhere near as much as the DVD box does. (Notice how the logo for "The Shaft" resembles that for "The Ring".)
Having been bored to tears by "The Shaft" and having not seen "The Lift", at the moment, I can't recommend any film in the scary elevator genre. Do yourself a favor and just watch the beginning of "Speed" again.
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