Review Detail
9.8 12 10
(Updated: February 02, 2021)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Who would have thought 8 minutes of insects going about their business would be such a meditative experience...me neither . For a time there i was ensconsed.
I bought the bluray on the premise of watching Last Survivor's edit after I viewed the original. I had an inkling that I'd seen Phase IV in my younger days but it turned out I hadn't. I'm so pleased the editors passion for the project drove me to explore some horror/sci-fi in all its 70's glory. The film was great but this Evolution cut has turned the dial up another level. The new music is nuance -bordering on native to the original, as if it has always been there under the surface like the movies ant-agonists ...Last Survivor enticed the separate audio channel out for us to enjoy for the rest of our days or at least until the ants takeover.
I wholly agree with the disposal of the unneeded narration ..let the visuals do the talking. Some fine sound FX replacement was carried out, so kudos to the editor for his undertaking.
Now for the crowning glory , the reinsertion of the original Saul Bass ending...im so pleased this become available - its a thing of retro beauty - tinges of 007 opening credits, historic cigarette & perfume commercials, a real experience of the time period and kitsch as kitsch can be - a visual and musical crescendo of the 80mins of celluloid that came before it, heightened by the rescoring.
I have no technical issues with the edit but I would have made one dialogue edit, when Kendra wakes up and Michael asks her if she remembers him - this is a personal choice.
This edit is one of the strongest i've seen - as strong as an ant
I bought the bluray on the premise of watching Last Survivor's edit after I viewed the original. I had an inkling that I'd seen Phase IV in my younger days but it turned out I hadn't. I'm so pleased the editors passion for the project drove me to explore some horror/sci-fi in all its 70's glory. The film was great but this Evolution cut has turned the dial up another level. The new music is nuance -bordering on native to the original, as if it has always been there under the surface like the movies ant-agonists ...Last Survivor enticed the separate audio channel out for us to enjoy for the rest of our days or at least until the ants takeover.
I wholly agree with the disposal of the unneeded narration ..let the visuals do the talking. Some fine sound FX replacement was carried out, so kudos to the editor for his undertaking.
Now for the crowning glory , the reinsertion of the original Saul Bass ending...im so pleased this become available - its a thing of retro beauty - tinges of 007 opening credits, historic cigarette & perfume commercials, a real experience of the time period and kitsch as kitsch can be - a visual and musical crescendo of the 80mins of celluloid that came before it, heightened by the rescoring.
I have no technical issues with the edit but I would have made one dialogue edit, when Kendra wakes up and Michael asks her if she remembers him - this is a personal choice.
This edit is one of the strongest i've seen - as strong as an ant
L