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Chill Factor
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
While watching "Chill Factor", I found myself remembering the line used on the poster for the movie version of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". "Every year Hollywood makes hundreds of movies. This is one of them." "Chill Factor" is one of those movies where it's neither bad nor good. It manages to be a couple hours worth of moderately entertaining action, and nothing more.
The plot is sorta like "Speed". In "Speed", if the bus went below 50, it would blow up. In "Chill Factor", if the temperature of a top secret weapon goes above 50 degrees - it blows up, and will probably take a good chunk of a state with it - we're shown the power of the weapon in one of the film's early sequences. When the scientist behind the making of the weapon needs help, he turns to Arlo(Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Tim(Skeet Ulrich). Tim forces Arlo at gunpoint to help him transport the weapon across the desert. Since they hate each other for a good deal of the film, most of the film involves them arguing with each other while being chased. In between, stuff blows up real good.
And that's what kind of movie this is. Not too heavy on dialogue or characters, it does succeed at some decent action scenes and explosions. This is director Hugh Johnson's first picture, and although he was previously a very excellent cinematographer in pictures like "G.I. Jane", he hasn't exactly picked the best project in the world to start off his directing career. The actors are energetic, but the script doesn't give them any help. Gooding, Jr. simply screams at Ulrich and swears every few minutes, which becomes tiring. The picture tries for a few instances of humor, which fall rather flat.
"Chill Factor" has some decent elements and provides a few moments of good tension (especially some of the final scenes), but it just never manages to quite work. It's one of those things I'd highly recommend as a rental, but probably not a purchase, unless you've seen the movie before and liked it.
The DVD
VIDEO: Warner Brothers has provided an anamorphic transfer of "Chill Factor", letterboxed at 2.35:1. It's of really strong quality, with images that are, with a couple of slight exceptions, sharp and with good detail. Colors are rich, warm and vibrant, remaining nicely saturated throughout. Flesh tones are natural, and black level is solid as well.
Flaws are very minimal; a couple of slight traces of pixelation, but really nothing that I found distracting, and no shimmering. The print used remains very clear with the exception of a slight mark or two. A very good job by Warner Brothers. The layer change is at about 1 hr. 30 min. 28 sec.
SOUND: A very entertaining suprise, "Chill Factor" is agressive in terms of audio throughout much of the movie, with plenty of effective use of the surrounds - and of course, there are a couple of great explosions. Even subtle sounds, such as the sound of the jungle in the early scenes, are nicely detailed. I didn't think this was the best score that composer Hans Zimmer has ever done(although he does remain one of my favorite composers), but it sounds very dynamic, and comes through clearly. Dialogue is natural, clear and easily understood. Explosive audio that's definitely a lot of fun.
MENUS:: The menus here are really very well done, with the score playing in the background - almost all menus are animated in some form, and are quite entertaining. Always appreciated is the fact that the scene selection menu has clips playing for each scene.
EXTRAS: Although the commentary track with director Hugh Johnson that was announced is not included, there are still a handful of extras on this release
Visual Effects Documentary: This is a 14 minute documentary narrated by the visual effects supervisor, and gives the viewer a very in-depth look into every step of the production of the scenes that contain various effects. We see the crew at work, as well as concept art and rough work of the effects. Fascinating stuff, and the documentary doesn't leave out any details.
Trailers: Quite a few trailers on this disc - 13 to be exact. Not only is there the trailer for "Chill Factor", but for: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls", "Exorcist 3", "Incognito", "The King and I", "Pacific Heights", "Robin Hood: Prince Of Theives", "True Romance", "Two If By Sea", "Wild America", "Wrongfully Accused", "Young Guns 2"
Production Notes/Cast&Crew Bios: What's rather different here is that the text for the cast/crew bios scrolls slowly upward rather than just being basic text. The score also plays in the background. If you look under the bios for director Hugh Johnson, Skeet Ulrich, Peter Firth and actress Hudson Leick, you'll find interviews with each that run about a minute or two in length.
DVD-ROM: A "Chill Factor" Game and web links.
Final Thoughts: I would have liked to have heard the commentary that was originally announced, but overall, I'm still quite happy with the job that Warner Brothers has done on the DVD. It's not really a great movie, but it does offer a couple of hours of basic entertainment. If you haven't seen it, rent it. If you saw it in the theater and liked it, I'd recommend the DVD.
While watching "Chill Factor", I found myself remembering the line used on the poster for the movie version of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". "Every year Hollywood makes hundreds of movies. This is one of them." "Chill Factor" is one of those movies where it's neither bad nor good. It manages to be a couple hours worth of moderately entertaining action, and nothing more.
The plot is sorta like "Speed". In "Speed", if the bus went below 50, it would blow up. In "Chill Factor", if the temperature of a top secret weapon goes above 50 degrees - it blows up, and will probably take a good chunk of a state with it - we're shown the power of the weapon in one of the film's early sequences. When the scientist behind the making of the weapon needs help, he turns to Arlo(Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Tim(Skeet Ulrich). Tim forces Arlo at gunpoint to help him transport the weapon across the desert. Since they hate each other for a good deal of the film, most of the film involves them arguing with each other while being chased. In between, stuff blows up real good.
And that's what kind of movie this is. Not too heavy on dialogue or characters, it does succeed at some decent action scenes and explosions. This is director Hugh Johnson's first picture, and although he was previously a very excellent cinematographer in pictures like "G.I. Jane", he hasn't exactly picked the best project in the world to start off his directing career. The actors are energetic, but the script doesn't give them any help. Gooding, Jr. simply screams at Ulrich and swears every few minutes, which becomes tiring. The picture tries for a few instances of humor, which fall rather flat.
"Chill Factor" has some decent elements and provides a few moments of good tension (especially some of the final scenes), but it just never manages to quite work. It's one of those things I'd highly recommend as a rental, but probably not a purchase, unless you've seen the movie before and liked it.
The DVD
VIDEO: Warner Brothers has provided an anamorphic transfer of "Chill Factor", letterboxed at 2.35:1. It's of really strong quality, with images that are, with a couple of slight exceptions, sharp and with good detail. Colors are rich, warm and vibrant, remaining nicely saturated throughout. Flesh tones are natural, and black level is solid as well.
Flaws are very minimal; a couple of slight traces of pixelation, but really nothing that I found distracting, and no shimmering. The print used remains very clear with the exception of a slight mark or two. A very good job by Warner Brothers. The layer change is at about 1 hr. 30 min. 28 sec.
SOUND: A very entertaining suprise, "Chill Factor" is agressive in terms of audio throughout much of the movie, with plenty of effective use of the surrounds - and of course, there are a couple of great explosions. Even subtle sounds, such as the sound of the jungle in the early scenes, are nicely detailed. I didn't think this was the best score that composer Hans Zimmer has ever done(although he does remain one of my favorite composers), but it sounds very dynamic, and comes through clearly. Dialogue is natural, clear and easily understood. Explosive audio that's definitely a lot of fun.
MENUS:: The menus here are really very well done, with the score playing in the background - almost all menus are animated in some form, and are quite entertaining. Always appreciated is the fact that the scene selection menu has clips playing for each scene.
EXTRAS: Although the commentary track with director Hugh Johnson that was announced is not included, there are still a handful of extras on this release
Visual Effects Documentary: This is a 14 minute documentary narrated by the visual effects supervisor, and gives the viewer a very in-depth look into every step of the production of the scenes that contain various effects. We see the crew at work, as well as concept art and rough work of the effects. Fascinating stuff, and the documentary doesn't leave out any details.
Trailers: Quite a few trailers on this disc - 13 to be exact. Not only is there the trailer for "Chill Factor", but for: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls", "Exorcist 3", "Incognito", "The King and I", "Pacific Heights", "Robin Hood: Prince Of Theives", "True Romance", "Two If By Sea", "Wild America", "Wrongfully Accused", "Young Guns 2"
Production Notes/Cast&Crew Bios: What's rather different here is that the text for the cast/crew bios scrolls slowly upward rather than just being basic text. The score also plays in the background. If you look under the bios for director Hugh Johnson, Skeet Ulrich, Peter Firth and actress Hudson Leick, you'll find interviews with each that run about a minute or two in length.
DVD-ROM: A "Chill Factor" Game and web links.
Final Thoughts: I would have liked to have heard the commentary that was originally announced, but overall, I'm still quite happy with the job that Warner Brothers has done on the DVD. It's not really a great movie, but it does offer a couple of hours of basic entertainment. If you haven't seen it, rent it. If you saw it in the theater and liked it, I'd recommend the DVD.
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