Tarsem Singh's Immortals arrived on Blu-ray and DVD this week from Universal Pictures. I had the chance to check this film out in theaters and again now on DVD. Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, John Hurt, and Stephen Dorff star in this Greek mythology action movie. Sometimes my opinions of movies change with time and viewings--my thoughts on Immortals have not.
Singh has left his mark on the film with a unique visual style that looks wonderful on both big and small screens. Immortals is from the producers that brought us 300, so if you like sword and sandal action films, than this is right up your alley. It is easy to compare Immortals to 300, but I think the latter is a better film overall. The action scenes are pretty epic, but the parts in between lack energy and are at times very boring, as a result of a poor story and horrible dialog. I am usually one who overlooks story if the action sequences really wow me. The biggest and best scene from the film was shown at Comic-Con last year, and the rest of the good bits were ruined by trailers and clips.
The film's saving graces are the visual effects and costume design. The costumes are downright cool, and they look like they were fun to wear. Some of the helmets and weaponry looked especially cool. The muted colors mixed with darker tones looked great in the trailers, and trust me, they look awesome on screen. Immortals uses the same type of CG used for 300, so it is nothing new. The violence during some of the epic battles is really intense and ever bloodier.
DVDs do not typically come with too many extra features, and Immortals is no different. My disc had a featurette called “It’s No Myth” and eight deleted scenes, as well as two alternate endings. If you are looking for more features in your home viewing experience, I always recommend you check out the Blu-ray version of the film. Both are in stores now, so choose which one you want based on the info above.
In conclusion, Immortals has solid performances by Rourke and Dorff, but a lackluster story and dialog. I was not impressed by Cavill too much, so let's hope that he takes it up a notch in Man of Steel. If action and men with few clothes on is what you crave, Immortals has you covered.