SKYLINE
Universal Home Entertainment / 2010 / 94 mins / PG-13

THE MOVIE:
When SKYLINE opened theatrically, it was met by a nearly unanimous flood of negativity. The online movie geeks didn’t just dismiss the movie as bad; they eviscerated it to the nth degree. Surprisingly, the bad reviews didn’t stop it from making money. Reportedly budgeted at a very modest $10 million, the film went on to earn just over double its budget. So even though it was pretty much a hated film, it wasn’t a failure.

More often than not, when a movie is relentlessly bashed (or praised to the heavens for that matter) it doesn’t live up to the hype. I went into SKYLINE with low expectations. I had not heard a single good thing about it but I remember the trailer being pretty decent. The story wasn’t exactly original: aliens descend on the major cities and suck the humans up into their massive ships. We witness this by following a small group of people trying to escape their high rise apartment in Los Angeles. Okay. After CLOVERFIELD, MONSTERS, INDEPENDENCE DAY, DISTRICT 9 and the recent BATTLE: LA, we pretty much know what to expect. Just show us some cool aliens, awesome destruction and a couple of likable characters we can take the journey with and we’re good to go.

The thing that surprised me with SKYLINE was that it wasn’t THAT bad. As I was watching it I thought it wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrible by any means. What was everyone complaining about? Yes, the characters are kinda bland and generic and the acting is so-so but not bad enough to warrant the reviews it was getting. The aliens and the special effects were all decent and actually pretty good. The story was limited by the budget, but that was forgivable. We were getting a good amount of alien bang for our buck. Then the movie ended.

And that was clearly the problem. SKYLINE has a horrible, horrible ending. It just ends. Directors Colin and Greg Strause say on the commentary on this disc that they fought to keep the ending as it is for reasons unknown. This got me wondering. Can just one single aspect of a film make or break it? If everything in a movie is good and only one single thing is bad, do we write the entire movie off as worthless? In my review of LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS I said the film was good with the exception of one character. Everything about the movie was well done except for one thing, but I still thought the movie was good. SKYLINE is a low budget, mediocre film that is mildly enjoyable up until the end. But because it is the ending that is bad, because the last thing we see of the film leaves a bad taste in our mouths, do we dismiss the rest?

THE DISC:
Since the Brother Strause are special effects people at heart, the big question here is did Universal give SKYLINE a good transfer to show off the effects? The answer is a resounding yes. This is a gorgeous looking disc. The anamorphic 1.85 picture is very sharp allowing you to scrutinize the aliens as closely as you like. Shadow detail is excellent and the many light bursts are accurately vibrant. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is also very active with strong bass and a spacious soundscape.

THE EXTRAS:
The supplements include two commentaries: one with the directors (who are simply ecstatic about every single thing) and one with co-writers Liam O’Donnell and Joshua Cordes (which is far more informative). Both tracks were recorded before the film was released theatrically and all the participants are certain they have the next DISTRICT 9 on their hands.

The deleted, extended and alternate scenes (nine total) are all character based and only add the slightest bit of backstory.

Two “pre-viz” sequences are presented with commentary by the Brothers Strause and are actually very informative and well worth checking out (just be prepared for frat-boy style enthusiasm from the Brothers).

The teaser and final theatrical trailers (also available with director’s commentary!) round out the supplements.

MY SAY:
Nowhere near as bad as it has been made out to be, SKYLINE will leave you ticked off by its ending but the aliens and special effects are worth checking out for sci-fi fans.