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JOHNNY MNEMONIC --THE SUPERBIT EDITION

This JUST RELEASED SPECIAL SUPERBIT version of this film (10/09/01), means that all available disc space is used to present the film supposedly at the very finest visual quality possible. The disc space is devoted to improving the resolution of the film. That means no extras, no bells and whistles, behind the scenes documentaries, commentaries, nothing, nada. Perhaps an extra disc of extra's would have been nice. . . but this release is not geared to please everyone, only the pickiest DVDophiles amongst us. * * * * *

Johnny Mnemonic should have been a delightful camp-fest with some remarkable sequences full of colorful digital effects. An excellent pop-artist Robert Longo directed the film, and it's all based on famed cyber-punk/ science fiction writer William Gibson's short story. He even adapted it for the screen. * * * * *

The film to me is about as much fun as getting dumped off the internet just as your finishing writing a long e-mail you've not saved. I'd have to strain quite a bit to tell you something that is worthwhile in the film. The cast might look promising on paper, (Keanu, Dina Meyer, Ice-T, Takeshi (BEAT)Kitano, Henry Rollins, and Udo Kier) but nobody is particularly good in the film. * * * * *

There's a pretty interesting sequence when Johnny quite literally surfs the internet. It's got some dazzling visuals for a few minutes. Well, that's about all I can come up with. * * * * *

The plot sets up one long chase scene. Keanu Reeves plays Johnny, a human computer information courier. The safest way to transport corporate information from computer to computer is by implanting the information into a chip inside a human couriers brain. Johnny wants to retire from the courier business so he takes on a more dangerous than usual assignment which also means he needs to complete his assignment in 48 hours or his brain shorts out and he becomes a vegetable. There's some good guys who help him try get to where he needs to go, and there's the bad guys who want to download the information from him. * * * *

Most of the futuristic sets look too cheap to be convincing. The dialogue stops just short of being hilariously bad, which means it isn't quite bad enough to be fun. The film doesn't have the right tone or pace to be a fun, guilty-pleasure type camp-fest either. There's quite a few similarities to TRON , and the far superior The Matrix that might be of some interest to completists. * * * *

Still someone out there likes this thing. One of them obviously works within the studio and decided this was a good film to give the full SUPERBIT treatment to. I'm not sure exactly why…. But they have done it.

SUPERBIT TITLES are produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital video, sound and mastering technicians and engineers. Superbit DVDs are encoded at twice their normal bit rate which improves video resolution and gives you a choice of both Dolby 5.1 and DTS audio. They are fully compatible with region 1 DVD players already in use. * * * *

Utilizing more space on the disc for bit-rates improves the over-all picture resolution. It's not a dramatic difference but the image will look a little sharper and there will be additional detail In low light situations. It also means there is less compression of detail being used which should cut down on visible edge enhancement, what is called mosquito noise, haloing, artifacting, and color pinging or shifting. This also means grain and other imperfections on the film stock might be somewhat amplified as well. The disc type is a DVD-9 (a single sided and double-layered disc with a capacity of 7.95 gigabits). * * * * *

Once again, it appears the digitally stored transfer that was used to create the previous edition of Johnny Mnemonic seems to be used. There are some blemishes on the print, and when it was originally transferred the black levels were not adjusted to the levels they should have been which resulted in some blacks appearing grayish. This results in selected scenes being robber of some added visual dynamics they would have had since the Superbit process increases the details over all. * * * * *

The film looks very good, but if a new corrected film transfer had also been done, the results could have improved even more. * * * * *

It's even more noticeable on this version, that not a lot of creativity went into the sound mix on this film. Brad Fiedel's electronic score utilizes the surround capabilities of a good home theater system much better than any of the sound effects in the film do. The center speakers are the primary focus of most of the sound and dialogue in the film. There is not much punch to any of the explosions or low bass effects used in the film. All of the sound (unless intentionally distorted) is clear and well separated. * * * * * *

The Superbit Version was made from a run-of-the-mill type digital transfer of the film that was used for the original DVD release of the film. * * * * *

I'm sure this one is an improvement over the original, but perhaps not substantially.

If you like the film and you want to see and hear it better than you have ever been able to hear it before, this DVD is worth getting. There are no extras as all of the disc space is utilized in giving the highest possible bit rate possible. I hope some truly classic films will offered using the Superbit process in the future. I would also like to see an additional disc of extra material being offered for those films that have available extras. * * * * * * *

Christopher Jarmick, is the author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder a critically acclaimed, steamy suspense thriller. For more information visit the web site at: http://www.radiofreegallery.com/jarmicknholder.htm * * * * * * Original portions of this review Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2001. The above work is protected by international copyright law.