Ex Machina - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Ex Machina

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

​

Movie
Rewatching Ex Machina shows that a good movie gets better (or stays the same) with time, while an overhyped film starts to show the cracks and flaws after some time away from the hype machine. Several years after my first viewing I get to rewatch it again for the 4K UHD release, and I have to say the film REALLY holds up well. I went in wondering if some of the magic would be gone after the reveals are already known, but I was as much enraptured with the complex notions of defining what makes a person a PERSON that I didn’t mind having already seen the reveals. It’s amusing to go back to this film as it was Alicia Vikander’s big “breakout” role that gained her so much critical acclaim and shot her into a decent run of stardom the last few years (and well-deserved stardom I might add).

Ex Machina baits the audience with a tale of artificial intelligence, but is actually an introspective tale of human definition underneath. Gone are the flashy props and motifs of the AI/Robot world and instead we see a much more intimate story that focuses on the dissection of our existence. The room is closed off, the locations almost never vary, but that doesn’t hamper the story in any way are you’re glued to the screen watching this three-person show play out. Based off of the theories that were explored with Isaac Asimov and Nick Bostram involving technology, we get a glimpse into the future as we start to struggle in our own world with the ideas of creating something that very well could rival us intelligence wise.

I REALLY wanted to see the film in theaters, but was sadly very sick at the time, so I had to watch it on my projector at home when I first reviewed it. Luckily, it’s not a visually sumptuous affair ala Ghost in the Shell that just came out, but rather an intimate affair that does well with close up shots and constrained environment to pull in the tension. We open up with brilliant young coder named Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) having won a giant prize package where he has the opportunity to visit with his elusive, but brilliant, CEO of the tech firm he works at for the weekend. Initially thinking it’s just a meet and greet, Caleb soon finds out that it’s soooooooooooo much more.

The CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaacs) has him there for a completely different reason. It seems that Nathan has been hard at work crafting an artificial intelligence in his enormous backwoods estate. An intelligence that seems to be just about perfect. Caleb is naturally fascinated with the breakthrough technology and is overwhelmed when Nathan allows him to communicate and talk with his final beta version (nicknamed AVA, played by Alicia Vikander) of the AI. As Caleb spends more time with the VERY humanlike Ava, he begins to form a bond with her and soon finds himself starting to blur the lines between human and artificial. Something which is not lost on Nathan, who has ulterior motives of his own with the little human/android experiment going on in his basement.

I was absolutely fascinated by “Ex Machina” from beginning to end and it just goes to show that you don’t need a billion dollars thrown at the screen to become a great movie. The pace and plot itself are fairly simple, but also incredibly dense. Alex Garland (who both directed and wrote the film) has a tendency to being very verbose at times, followed up by long continuous shots that have almost no dialog whatsoever. The premise is simple, but the devil is in the details and that’s where the real meat and potatoes come from. Caleb is there to test the machine with a Turing Test (a test to see if an AI can pass the “realism” test, so to speak) and soon begins questioning whom is testing whom. Even though it’s pretty obvious from the beginning how this is going to turn out, Garland keeps enough details hidden until the very end, leaving you constantly guessing which direction the film is going to turn.

The only flaws I can find with the story is that Garland does a mixed job at telegraphing and keeping things hidden form the viewer. There are some twists and turns along the way that keep you guessing, but far too many of the major plot points are just THERE in front of your eyes. Especially when it comes to WHY Caleb is REALLY there (not just the candy coated reason Nathan gives him). The same goes for Nathan himself. He seems like a brilliant, hardworking inventor, but his persona and personality are that of a hard drinking frat boy, leaving you with doubts on just how Nathan could be this brilliant man he’s supposed to. There’s a sense of weakness and stupidity on his part that just doesn’t jive all the time. It’s never a major issue, but one that does leave niggling doubts in your head as to why Garland directed him this way.




Rating:

Rated R for nudity, language, sexual references and some violence




Video:

Before you start saying "ewwwwwwwwwwww, look a 3.5 star rating!", let me preface this by saying I'm not surprised in the least and there is a reason why. Ex Machina is a very uniquely stylized film that was shot using several different digital cameras that each have their own pros and cons. The detail and clarity are usually excellent, but the movie was shot with a lot of shadowy interior shots and a weird gauzy look that dominated many of the outdoor scenes. The 4K UHD shows a minor improvement to the clarity and the fine detailing (look at up close facial shots. That's where most of the improvement comes from), but the gauzy and light blue look of the film keeps the detail from going to stunning heights. It's something that I fully expected knowing the style and shooting conditions of the film's creation, and it's not a BAD encode in any way, shape, or form. It's just a matter of fact that Ex Machina won't look much better due to how it was created. It's a minor improvement, but those looking for the best the film has ever looked will definitely not be disappointed.






Audio:

Ex Machina was actually the first film to be released on Blu-ray with a DTS:X track (the competitor to Dolby's Atmos object based next gen audio format), and since that's kind of the peak of home audio right now, there's no change from the Blu-ray to the 4K UHD. It enjoys the same incredible audio track that the Blu-ray had, and that is in NO way a slight being that the Blu-ray was ahead of the curve for its time. The X track is an incredible experience, and one that actually took me aback when I listened to it. The drama centric nature of Ex Machine didn't exactly strike me as a film that would take full advantage of the next gen audio formats, but the movie is absolutely infused with incredible amounts of directionality and changing nuances. It's not an action movie, as it spends a LOT of time in Nathan's basement, but there are some really good points where the surrounds and overheads are utilized. The opening shot with the helicopter coming in for a landing was jaw dropping, with each individual turn of the rotors being tonally different and adding a sweeping feeling to the track. Not to mention the score which accents the haunting elements of the movie, changing the feel and tone of the movie with just a few changes of the music. Footsteps echo in the cement hallways and the whisper of cloth on a stone wall was so eerily accurate I was looking around wondering if someone else was in the room with me. Bass can be powerful and punishing, but never overly intense and is mainly used for a few small moments (such as the helo coming in for landing), outside of the incredible score, before softly fading back into the background.






Extras:

• Through the Looking Glass: Making Ex Machina
• SXSW Q&A with Cast and Crew
• Behind the Scenes Vignettes
- Making Ava
- Nathan's World
- New Consciousness
- Director
- Cast
- Meet Ava
- God Complex
- Music

Final Score:
​

While Ex Machina is not the PERFECT robot movie, it is easily one of the closest ones that I have seen to perfection in my lifetime. The film portrays complex questions and thoughts in different ways, some of which are pseudo answered in the dialog, while the rest are answered in the actions of the people themselves. The movie is simply mesmerizing from beginning to end I love it as much today as I did when I first popped the 2015 Blu-ray in a few years back. Now, the question is always "should i upgrade" for those who have the Blu-ray. Honestly, The video is where we're keeping our eyes focused (no pun intended) as the audio is identical across both formats, along with the extras. It's a tough call, but the video makes for a mildly tangible upgrade over the Blu-ray. It's not going to blow your socks off, but the video was shot in such a way that it makes a huge upgrade almost impossible. Honestly, if you're really satisfied with the Blu-ray I can understand skipping this upgrade. However, if you have never bought the movie before, or you're looking for the best video version available, then the 4K UHD may be for you. Still a Must Watch film though.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac
Directed by: Alex Garland
Written by: Alex Garland
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS:X, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 7.1 (core of DTS:X track), DTS Headphone:X
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 108 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 6th, 2017

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Must Watch

 

[Todd Anderson]

One of my favorite films of the last few years. Awesome stuff... and kind of brutal in a slow-drip kind of way.

Bummer on the video quality front. My biggest complaint about the BD release was its overall image softness (almost a slight blur). Doesn't ruin the movie, but certainly doesn't match the awesome audio this flick has. I think I'll stick to the BD disc I own...

 

[Jon Liu]

I really liked this movie, however the inherent softness of the image was a bit of a distraction to me when I saw it on Blu-ray. I knew full-well that it was intentional, but that still didn't stop me from drawing my eyes towards the hazy, out-of-focus edges of the screen. While I agree it didn't ruin the movie for me in the slightest, it would have been so much nicer to have a film all about advanced technology and AI to have such a "dated" look to it.

 

[Todd Anderson]

While intentional... it almost seems like the film's presentation on disc has too much of a blur? It's distracting! Not enough to ruin the movie, though. ;-)

 

[Michael Scott]

from what I gather it was intentional to create a "dreamy" state of mind. I didn't have a problem with it, but I new it was a high probability that the UHD wouldn't be a GIGANTIC leap over the blu. still a moderate improvement, just much more subtle.