Alien invasion films are a dime a dozen so it takes a special premise or characters to make one stand out from the pack. Summit Entertainment’s The Darkest Hour is saddled with the lamest of premises, and its characters are only worth about a quarter note each.
Alien invaders show up at earth on one fateful night and simultaneously attack all the major cities around the globe. It’s implied they are after minerals, but before the mining can begin, they’ll need to evaporate as many humans as possible to minimize any resistance.
And, in what could be an under-the-table deal with budget controller, the aliens are invisible behind a cloaking shield. How convenient.
The initial attack sees thousands of the aliens appear in the night sky, first as glowing balls of light and then completely invisible to the eye after they touch down. One of them takes out a police officer in front of a Moscow nightclub, sending its patrons running into a nearby building for their lives.
Amongst the first night survivors are a pair of American IT nerds, a couple Russian girls they met at the club a few hours earlier, and a poser Swedish entrepreneur. They emerge from the building the following day and, low and behold, what was a mass invasion a half day earlier has turned Moscow into a ghost town. The aliens now number in the “one here or there” rather than the “you’re screwed” category. That’s great for the script since the survivors need to be able to traverse the city encountering only one or two aliens at a time.
The Darkest Hour would have better served the Syfy Channel rather than a theatrical release, even if it was a rare joint production between the U.S. and Russia. It reeks of B-movie fare with effects range from decent in the evaporating of humans, to abysmal when the aliens when their shields are down.
Jon Spaihts’ screenplay feels more like a project he cut his teeth on than a polished Hollywood production. If a runaway bus needs to stop right next to the people it should be half a mile from to squeeze in an extra line of dialogue, it will.
Director Chris Gorak has worked in the art department on some big projects including Minority Report and Fight Club. You can see his keen eye for visual aesthetics shine through in the drab ruins of Moscow.
For every interesting visual shot there are five more of the cast, which surprisingly includes Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby, laboring through drab dialogue and senseless exposition to find purpose for their characters. Sure they want to stay alive, but other than that there’s nothing to them. I don’t mention their names as I can’t remember them, nor did they ever click in during the film.
Gorak gets sloppy on multiple occasions including one survivor firing countless rounds of ammo at an alien while his friends are directly in the line of fire on the other side, but never seem to be in danger of being hit. For as quickly as the aliens were able to kill millions of people, their inability to take out a small group of survivors on multiple occasions goes against everything they easily managed in the opening attack.
The only bright spot in The Darkest Hour is when the hour and change runtime is up.
3D Presentation
The Darkest Hour was converted to 3D after it was shot and the results fall squarely on average. There is mild separation between characters, objects and the backgrounds, enough to initially notice but then forget about a couple minutes into the film. Surprisingly there are few “in your face” 3D moments to remind you there’s any 3D at all. Most of the best 3D moments are when the aliens first attack and evaporation count is high, the only moderately intense and entertaining sequence in the entire film.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is a pleasant surprise in an otherwise dull affair. There are great subtle hints of noise from all directions as the survivors make their way through a nearly empty Moscow. When there is action, it comes with intensity including a rumbling building collapse that will jar a half-asleep viewer back to attention. There are no instances of muffled or drowned out dialogue whether guns are blazing or the score is pounding.
Beyond the Feature
In addition to a Blu-ray 3D slipcover and the Blu-ray 2D version of the film (which is naturally a bit brighter than its 3D counterpart), Summit has packed in a handful of extras, some of which are better than the film they support. Gorak’s audio commentary is rich with information about his approach to the film and getting it made. If only the final product matched his enthusiasm.
All the bonus features are presented in 1080p HD video.
Feature-Length Audio Commentary with Director Chris Gorak
Visualizing an Invasion (12 minutes)
Deleted and Extended Scenes w/optional Director Commentary (5 minutes)
Survivors (8 minutes) – a decent short film set in the same world as the feature
The Darkest Hour made for a great trailer when Summit began marketing it. The glowing aliens falling from the sky looked creepy and evaporating humans even more so.
Beyond the initial invasion lies mediocre entertainment that not even solid lossless audio can bail out. The aftermath of an apocalyptic event has never been so boring and the fate of dull and unmemorable characters so disinteresting. Average post-conversion 3D doesn’t add much, so participate in The Darkest Hour on Blu-ray 3D with caution.
The Darkest Hour Blu-ray 3D Review
Alien invaders show up at earth on one fateful night and simultaneously attack all the major cities around the globe. It’s implied they are after minerals, but before the mining can begin, they’ll need to evaporate as many humans as possible to minimize any resistance.
And, in what could be an under-the-table deal with budget controller, the aliens are invisible behind a cloaking shield. How convenient.
The initial attack sees thousands of the aliens appear in the night sky, first as glowing balls of light and then completely invisible to the eye after they touch down. One of them takes out a police officer in front of a Moscow nightclub, sending its patrons running into a nearby building for their lives.
Amongst the first night survivors are a pair of American IT nerds, a couple Russian girls they met at the club a few hours earlier, and a poser Swedish entrepreneur. They emerge from the building the following day and, low and behold, what was a mass invasion a half day earlier has turned Moscow into a ghost town. The aliens now number in the “one here or there” rather than the “you’re screwed” category. That’s great for the script since the survivors need to be able to traverse the city encountering only one or two aliens at a time.
The Darkest Hour would have better served the Syfy Channel rather than a theatrical release, even if it was a rare joint production between the U.S. and Russia. It reeks of B-movie fare with effects range from decent in the evaporating of humans, to abysmal when the aliens when their shields are down.
Jon Spaihts’ screenplay feels more like a project he cut his teeth on than a polished Hollywood production. If a runaway bus needs to stop right next to the people it should be half a mile from to squeeze in an extra line of dialogue, it will.
Director Chris Gorak has worked in the art department on some big projects including Minority Report and Fight Club. You can see his keen eye for visual aesthetics shine through in the drab ruins of Moscow.
For every interesting visual shot there are five more of the cast, which surprisingly includes Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby, laboring through drab dialogue and senseless exposition to find purpose for their characters. Sure they want to stay alive, but other than that there’s nothing to them. I don’t mention their names as I can’t remember them, nor did they ever click in during the film.
Gorak gets sloppy on multiple occasions including one survivor firing countless rounds of ammo at an alien while his friends are directly in the line of fire on the other side, but never seem to be in danger of being hit. For as quickly as the aliens were able to kill millions of people, their inability to take out a small group of survivors on multiple occasions goes against everything they easily managed in the opening attack.
The only bright spot in The Darkest Hour is when the hour and change runtime is up.
3D Presentation
The Darkest Hour was converted to 3D after it was shot and the results fall squarely on average. There is mild separation between characters, objects and the backgrounds, enough to initially notice but then forget about a couple minutes into the film. Surprisingly there are few “in your face” 3D moments to remind you there’s any 3D at all. Most of the best 3D moments are when the aliens first attack and evaporation count is high, the only moderately intense and entertaining sequence in the entire film.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is a pleasant surprise in an otherwise dull affair. There are great subtle hints of noise from all directions as the survivors make their way through a nearly empty Moscow. When there is action, it comes with intensity including a rumbling building collapse that will jar a half-asleep viewer back to attention. There are no instances of muffled or drowned out dialogue whether guns are blazing or the score is pounding.
Beyond the Feature
In addition to a Blu-ray 3D slipcover and the Blu-ray 2D version of the film (which is naturally a bit brighter than its 3D counterpart), Summit has packed in a handful of extras, some of which are better than the film they support. Gorak’s audio commentary is rich with information about his approach to the film and getting it made. If only the final product matched his enthusiasm.
All the bonus features are presented in 1080p HD video.
The Darkest Hour made for a great trailer when Summit began marketing it. The glowing aliens falling from the sky looked creepy and evaporating humans even more so.
Beyond the initial invasion lies mediocre entertainment that not even solid lossless audio can bail out. The aftermath of an apocalyptic event has never been so boring and the fate of dull and unmemorable characters so disinteresting. Average post-conversion 3D doesn’t add much, so participate in The Darkest Hour on Blu-ray 3D with caution.
– Dan Bradley
Shop for The Darkest Hour on Blu-ray 3D for a discounted price at Amazon.com (April 10, 2012 release date).
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