MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sequences of violence and sexual content
GENRE: Sci-fi
REGIONS: Available in all regions
::: DVD ARTWORK :::
DISC ARTWORK
ROOT MENU | SUBTITLES | SPECIAL FEATURES | SCENE SELECTION
::: DVD SPECS :::
TECHNICAL FEATURES
1 Disc Set
Offered in Anamorphic Widescreen or Full-Screen Presentation
English & French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Dolby Digital 2.0
English & Spanish Subtitles (Film and Featurettes)
BONUS FEATURES
5 Featurettes:
- Creating a World: Æon Flux
- The Locations of Æon Flux
- The Stunts of Æon Flux
- The Costume Design Workshop of Æon Flux
- The Craft of the Set Photographer on Æon Flux
2 Commentaries:
- Commentary by Charlize Theron and Producer Gale Anne Hurd
- Commentary by Co-Screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi
Theatrical Trailer
Assorted Previews
BONUS DISC:
- The Effects of Æon Flux
::: SYNOPSIS :::
Academy Award®-winner Charlize Theron stars as Aeon Flux, the underground operative fighting totalitarian rule in 25th-century Earth's last living city.
Aeon is the rebels' best hope of overthrowing the oppressively sterile, "perfect" society. But while on assignment to gun down the government's leader, Aeon uncovers a web of startling secrets that could completely change the world's future in this gripping sci-fi action thriller based on the ground-breaking MTV animated series.
::: DVD REVIEW :::
(Reviewed by Dwayne of Bregna 2415 – 8th June 2006)
MOVIE 8/10
This film has been receiving mixed reviews and generally didn’t go down well with critics. But that’s not saying much, as critics didn’t get a special screening. I’m not trying to defend the film, nor am I bashing critics for bashing Æon Flux – I’m simply observing.
If you’ve seen the trailer, you will remember it being marketed as a film with lots of action and one-liners. So if that’s what you were looking for when seeing this film for the first time, you were most likely disappointed. Unfortunately, the studios wanted to market this film as an action-film rife with explosions and fighting sequences. Æon Flux is certainly not without action – but it’s not mindless fluff.
If you’re looking for engaging and intelligent sci-fi with a decent plot and lots of style, then you should enjoy this film. If you’re looking for an Aeon Flux who has a waist the size of her neck, wears little pieces of cloth to cover her bits and has ram-horn curls for a hairstyle…then this is not for you.
As most of you may know by now, Æon Flux is based on the original animated series that aired on MTV in the 90’s. In the film, which takes place 400 years in the future, Aeon is the Monican’s top assassin and is assigned the ultimate mission to assassinate the leader of Bregna, Trevor Goodchild, who she believes is responsible for the death of her sister. On her mission, she discovers things which make her question everything she thought she knew…
The film grabs the essence of the show and takes it in a different direction. Karyn envisioned a beautiful, colourful, sterile society for the futuristic city of
The characters are wonderfully portrayed for the most part and the introduction of new characters is unique and makes for an interesting story. Charlize Theron does a great job with an interesting, realistic portrayal of Aeon Flux – good acting in sci-fi is not easily encountered. She gets to the core of the character and portrays what she is all about in a very human way. Marton Csokas seems a little bland in his performance as Trevor Goodchild - and it would have been nice to see a more brutal live-action Trevor… Jonny Lee Miller delivers a solid performance as the villainous brother, Oren Goodchild – and could have easily switched roles with Marton. Sophie Okonedo delivers a memorable performance as a supporting character, Sithandra, who is Aeon’s fellow agent and has hands-feet modifications to improve her acrobatic skills. Amelia Warner plays in a small role as Aeon’s sister, Una Flux – she delivers a fair performance, but you can’t help not feeling anything when Una is mudered. Freya is acted out well by Caroline Chikezie - she makes the most of her small role in the film and her fight scene with Aeon is one of the higlights of the film. Frances McDormand and Pete Postlethwaite who star in unusually small roles in this film, do a great job with what they’re given. They both play characters with mysterious origins who live in surreal environments, and both have an important effect on Aeon’s journey…
Æon Flux is easy on the eyes, and the special-effects are subtle and well executed. The upbeat soundtrack maintains a nice pace to the film and suits the various moods on display. The surreal qualities, the stylized feel and the strange and mysterious characters are present and the film is peppered with nods to Peter Chung’s original animated series.
The film isn’t without its flaws however – there is lack of character development and poor editing in parts. But to be fair, there is a Director’s Cut (not yet released) which is at least 25 minutes longer.
It’s a film with a style of it's own - that you won't find in other films, and most importantly it has heart and maintains human qualities. If you’re looking for a good futuristic mystery with some decent action, an engaging plot and some good acting, then look no further…
VIDEO 9/10
The video transfer on this DVD is excellent – there’s really nothing to complain about. The colours are vibrant and the detail is beautiful. A visual treat!
AUDIO 9/10
The audio quality on this DVD is awesome – the dialogue comes across very clear and the surround sound is put to good use in action sequences and it makes for some great atmosphere. An awesome score in the background is delivered perfectly, and it never overpowers any of the dialogue. Scenes that come to mind when mentioning amazing use of the surround sound are the crossing of the frontier garden and the gun showdown in the cherry orchard.
EXTRAS 6/10
The first commentary track is with Charlize Theron (Lead Actress) and Gale Anne Hurd (Producer). It’s rather slow in pace at times, and while they do cover a lot of areas of Æon Flux, you are left wanting more – there are times when it feels like there is a long pause. To be fair, a lot of the filmmaking process of Æon Flux is covered in the featurettes and online material, but a more energetic approach to this commentary might have been more enjoyable. We do learn a bit about Charlize’s neck-injury that she suffered on set though and we learn about a few interesting on-set stories. It might have been better to pair Charlize with the director, Karyn Kusama.
The second commentary track with Co-Screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi is quite interesting and they seem quite enthusiastic when discussing the film. We learn how there was a battle between the filmmakers and the higher-power (the studios) with regards to editing issues i.e. the pace of the film. They also make mention of scenes that were inspired by the cartoon, original ideas that got cut for the theatrical release and scenes that were intended to be longer to make for more character development.
The first (and longest) featurette is ‘Creating a World: Æon Flux’. In this featurette we see how Karyn Kusama envisioned this film and how she went about creating an original futuristic look for it, with the help of storyboard artists and production designers. We see how the filmmakers wanted to create an original look, yet an adaptation that stays true to the animated series in terms of its surreal world. They wanted a sci-fi world that had a perfect sterile look to it, as opposed to the dark apocalyptic sci-fi worlds we’ve become accustomed to in film. It’s the kind of featurette you would expect to see on most DVD releases nowadays – a general look behind the filmmaking process.
‘The Locations of Æon Flux’ is the second featurette which takes a look at some of the amazing locations they chose to shoot some of the scenes in the film. While architecture-buffs might get the most excitement out of this, it’s an interesting featurette for anybody who liked the film. We learn that they originally thought of shooting in the capital city of
The third featurette is ‘The Stunts of Æon Flux’ which is a look at the training some of the actors underwent to be able to execute the stunts. Charlize is obviously the major focus here since she does play the lead character. The behind-the-scenes look at her training/rehearsal sessions is amazing to see and what’s even more interesting is the fact that the stunts performed behind-the-scenes are far more superior to those seen in the theatrical cut, which is a shame, since Charlize is amazing at performing the stunts and is capable of more than what we see in the film. Sophie Okonedo is also part of the focus here, and we see her training/rehearsing with Charlize in
‘The Costume Design Workshop of Æon Flux’ featurette is, in a way, disappointing. While Beatrix Aruna Pasztor does cover a lot of areas in terms of the style of clothing seen in the film, there wasn’t much focus on the major costumes that the lead character, Aeon, wears. It would have been nice to learn a bit more about Aeon’s costumes and perhaps see some screen-tests of the costumes or screen-tests of costumes that didn’t make it into the film. A lot of time was spent focusing on the overall style of the clothing worn in the film. We don’t really see anything about the costumes worn by Aeon, Sithandra and The Handler. We do see a little bit about The Keeper’s costume though and we also learn that Freya’s costume was in fact a rental from a costume-prop company. This featurette is informative, but it doesn’t focus on most of the major outfits seen in the film – so it is boring at times and it could have been a lot better than it was. However, they do give credit to people in the costume department who deserved it – they had a difficult task to face when creating outfits for not only the major characters, but for all of the extras in the film.
The last featurette on the disc is ‘The Craft of the Set Photographer on Æon Flux’. It’s not a featurette you would expect to see on a DVD, but it is interesting and offers a look at the work of Australian photographer, Jasin Boland, on this film. We learn how he takes still photographs bearing in mind that they’re all possible ‘posters’ and how the shots aren’t necessarily positioned in the same position as the camera. For a short featurette, he sure does cover a lot of areas and his pace and enthusiasm makes the featurette quite watchable.
The special features wrap up with the theatrical trailer and previews of ‘Mission Impossible III’, ‘
With some releases of the Special Collector’s Edition, a bonus disc is included and contains ‘The Effects of Æon Flux’. It runs for around 28 minutes and goes into depth of what went into some of the effects seen in this film. We learn about the Relical interior, the orbs, Sithandra’s hand-feet, the monorail sequence among other things… It’s a nice addition, especially if you’re interested in CGI and special-effects…
Overall, the DVD is a great collector's item for both fans and movie buffs - there are a couple of great special features on offer, but you're left wanting more out of the DVD.
OVERALL DVD RATING: 7.5/10
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sequences of violence and sexual content
GENRE: Sci-fi
REGIONS: 2
::: DVD ARTWORK :::
DISC ARTWORK
ROOT MENU | SET UP | SCENE SELECTION | SPECIAL FEATURES
::: DVD SPECS :::
TECHNICAL FEATURES
2 Disc Set
Anamorphic Widescreen 16:9
Japanese & English Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese, English Subtitles (Film)
Japanese Subtitles (Featurettes)
BONUS FEATURES
5 Featurettes:
- Creating a World: Æon Flux
- The Locations of Æon Flux
- The Stunts of Æon Flux
- The Costume Design Workshop of Æon Flux
- The Craft of the Set Photographer on Æon Flux
- Message from Charlize Theron to Fans
- Cast Interviews (Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller)
- Tokyo Press Conference Coverage
- Tokyo Premiere Coverage
2 Commentaries:
- Commentary by Charlize Theron and Producer Gale Anne Hurd
- Commentary by Co-Screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi
Theatrical Trailer
5 TV Spots
::: SYNOPSIS :::
*See synopsis above
::: DVD REVIEW :::
(Reviewed by Dwayne of Bregna 2415 – 6th October 2006)
MOVIE 8/10
*See review above
VIDEO 9/10
The video transfer on this DVD is excellent – there’s really nothing to complain about. The colours are vibrant and the detail is beautiful. A visual treat!
AUDIO 9/10
The audio quality on this DVD is awesome – the dialogue comes across very clear and the surround sound is put to good use in action sequences and it makes for some great atmosphere. An awesome score in the background is delivered perfectly, and it never overpowers any of the dialogue. Scenes that come to mind when mentioning amazing use of the surround sound are the crossing of the frontier garden and the gun showdown in the cherry orchard.
EXTRAS 7/10
The first commentary track is with Charlize Theron (Lead Actress) and Gale Anne Hurd (Producer). It’s rather slow in pace at times, and while they do cover a lot of areas of Æon Flux, you are left wanting more – there are times when it feels like there is a long pause. To be fair, a lot of the filmmaking process of Æon Flux is covered in the featurettes and online material, but a more energetic approach to this commentary might have been more enjoyable. We do learn a bit about Charlize’s neck-injury that she suffered on set though and we learn about a few interesting on-set stories. It might have been better to pair Charlize with the director, Karyn Kusama.
The second commentary track with Co-Screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi is quite interesting and they seem quite enthusiastic when discussing the film. We learn how there was a battle between the filmmakers and the higher-power (the studios) with regards to editing issues i.e. the pace of the film. They also make mention of scenes that were inspired by the cartoon, original ideas that got cut for the theatrical release and scenes that were intended to be longer to make for more character development.
The first (and longest) featurette is ‘Creating a World: Æon Flux’. In this featurette we see how Karyn Kusama envisioned this film and how she went about creating an original futuristic look for it, with the help of storyboard artists and production designers. We see how the filmmakers wanted to create an original look, yet an adaptation that stays true to the animated series in terms of its surreal world. They wanted a sci-fi world that had a perfect sterile look to it, as opposed to the dark apocalyptic sci-fi worlds we’ve become accustomed to in film. It’s the kind of featurette you would expect to see on most DVD releases nowadays – a general look behind the filmmaking process.
‘The Locations of Æon Flux’ is the second featurette which takes a look at some of the amazing locations they chose to shoot some of the scenes in the film. While architecture-buffs might get the most excitement out of this, it’s an interesting featurette for anybody who liked the film. We learn that they originally thought of shooting in the capital city of
The third featurette is ‘The Stunts of Æon Flux’ which is a look at the training some of the actors underwent to be able to execute the stunts. Charlize is obviously the major focus here since she does play the lead character. The behind-the-scenes look at her training/rehearsal sessions is amazing to see and what’s even more interesting is the fact that the stunts performed behind-the-scenes are far more superior to those seen in the theatrical cut, which is a shame, since Charlize is amazing at performing the stunts and is capable of more than what we see in the film. Sophie Okonedo is also part of the focus here, and we see her training/rehearsing with Charlize in
‘The Costume Design Workshop of Æon Flux’ featurette is, in a way, disappointing. While Beatrix Aruna Pasztor does cover a lot of areas in terms of the style of clothing seen in the film, there wasn’t much focus on the major costumes that the lead character, Aeon, wears. It would have been nice to learn a bit more about Aeon’s costumes and perhaps see some screen-tests of the costumes or screen-tests of costumes that didn’t make it into the film. A lot of time was spent focusing on the overall style of the clothing worn in the film. We don’t really see anything about the costumes worn by Aeon, Sithandra and The Handler. We do see a little bit about The Keeper’s costume though and we also learn that Freya’s costume was in fact a rental from a costume-prop company. This featurette is informative, but it doesn’t focus on most of the major outfits seen in the film – so it is boring at times and it could have been a lot better than it was. However, they do give credit to people in the costume department who deserved it – they had a difficult task to face when creating outfits for not only the major characters, but for all of the extras in the film.
The last featurette on the disc is ‘The Craft of the Set Photographer on Æon Flux’. It’s not a featurette you would expect to see on a DVD, but it is interesting and offers a look at the work of Australian photographer, Jasin Boland, on this film. We learn how he takes still photographs bearing in mind that they’re all possible ‘posters’ and how the shots aren’t necessarily positioned in the same position as the camera. For a short featurette, he sure does cover a lot of areas and his pace and enthusiasm makes the featurette quite watchable.
The Message from Charlize Theron to Her Fans is exactly what the title suggests. It’s a short message from Charlize Theron to her fans thanking them for their support. Fans of Charlize will like this, even if it somewhat short.
The Cast Interviews are pretty much what can be expected in a cast interview – some standard questions about the film and the experiences working on the film. However, the interviewer does ask one or two different questions than what is usually asked. Charlize Theron and Marton Csokas answer the questions with an enthusiasm and give the interviewer what she is looking for. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Jonny Lee Miller – he doesn’t really provide us with any information and it can be a bit frustrating when he doesn’t answer the questions properly. He does have a dry and cheeky sense of humor, but unfortunately that does not make up for the actual interview.
The Tokyo Press Conference Coverage and the Tokyo Premiere Coverage provides us with a decent amount of coverage of both events – and features Charlize Theron answering a couple of questions. And we see the kind of enthusiasm that the Japanese have when it comes to promoting a film and the warm reception that they give the celebrities promoting the films.
The whole package is wrapped up with the US Theatrical Trailer and 5 TV Spots. The TV Spots last 30 seconds each (as most TV Spots do) and a few of them might even be new to some. The TV Spot ‘Bullets’ is the best of the lot and contains a small piece of footage that did not make the theatrical cut, the voice-over dialogue is entertaining and the entire execution of the TV Spot is brilliantly done – a 30 seconds that might have hooked more people into seeing the film. It’s a wonder why it was not aired much (or at all). It would have been a welcome addition if they included the Japanese Theatrical Trailer too.
The Premium Edition DVD (R2) is slightly more packed than the standard release and I would recommend it to all hardcore Æon Flux and Charlize Theron fans. The packaging is also pretty cool – a shiny slipcase featuring Aeon Flux on a white background (with simple, yet effective artwork) and then revealing the actual DVD featuring the same image of Aeon Flux on a black background. Inside the packaging is a small insert (in Japanese) for scene selections. And in some releases of this DVD, is a 14-page booklet.
OVERALL DVD RATING: 8/10
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