Disc Reviews

Elysium Blu-ray Review

• 26th Dec 2013

The future it seems finds the world becoming a dried up and diseased dystopia, ran with military precision by automata. The rich and healthy are in the outer atmosphere on Elysium – a spinning man made paradise where every home is a mansion, and every home has its own machine for curing any disease.

Factory worker Max, (Matt Damon) has a past littered with trouble, but his unluckiest day strikes when he finds himself trapped inside a machine that poisons his body giving him only a few short days left to live.  His only hope is to get to Elysium where he can literally be cured in seconds. Trouble is – they don’t want just anyway coming up there, and are prepared to defend the utopia with extreme prejudice.

Heading up this defence is Jodie Foster’s high powered walker and talker. Her man on the ground though who presents a more physical force is Kruger (Sharlto Copley) a part cybernetic nut-bar whose only too happy to go on a hunt when called upon to do so.

It isn’t hard to see the Rich/Poor – Sick/Healthy parameters drawn so plainly by Blomkamp in this very stylised world. The attention to the details of the world feels very lived in, and it’s almost a shame you only get so much time to spend living in it. But the on screen work from almost every department is applaud worthy in a time where we are suffering from a lack of visions that feel fresh in any science fiction world.

And the Blu-ray edition of the film packs quite  a punch.

First of all we should mention the 4K mastered picture. This is Blu-ray working to its full potential. The picture detail on screen is nothing short of jaw dropping.

The extras for the Blu-ray are deftly put together.  The lack of commentary or feature length making off may make a few people balk, but those that actually check them out will be swiftly rewarded.  The three-part making of gets right behind the scenes incorporating much of the pre-production, design and shooting material.

There is a constant narrative from the key players behind the camera on building this new future. The amount of sketch and digital design prep is nothing short of amazing. There is also a featurette on the building of the Elysium world itself which includes the work from Syd Mead.

Narrative, logic as well as basic functionality is incorporated into the design of almost everything in this film – The vehicles, the robotics, the clothing, the weaponry and tools, the world itself and Elysium in the sky (with its own set of logic rules). It’s a decent batch of extras for anyone interested in this very creative film.

There is only one deleted scene, which is an extended scene featuring Sharlto Copley which ends on quite possibly the funniest line from the entire film. It also expands on just how nuts the character is.

There is also plenty of gallery work and trailers as well. A decent package for any science fiction fan, even if the story itself lacks the punch and depth of District 9.

Steven Hurst