Hoping to perhaps parlay his involvement in one of the biggest franchises of all time into leading man/action/sci-fi hero, Adam Driver‘s prehistoric sci-fi actioner 65 was a decent sci-fi film that unfortunately came and went in theaters perhaps before an audience could be rallied in support of it. I, for one, missed it in its initial run, realizing a bit too late that it had been released. Having received a copy of the blu-ray, however, this is a solid film that gets in, gets out, and doesn’t tend to stray too far outside the lines of its concept, which, admittedly, is pretty straightforward. For a mid-budget science fiction actioner, 65 manages to get in, get out, and not overstay its welcome, which makes it a great, fun film to watch at home. Being conceived by the writers of the equally high-concept A Quiet Place, 65</> uses its fair share of sound and silence to bring equally thrilling scenes to life.
Adam Driver stars as Mills, a cosmic courier with a sickly daughter who signs up for a 2-year gig ferrying a ship full of hibernating humans to a far off planet. He is awakened from his own cryogenic freezing to find his cargo vessel, the Zoic, is struck by several asteroids. Severely damaged, the ship crashes onto what, to Mills, is an alien planet, but which the audience comes to realize is actually Earth…some 65 million years in its past. Discovering a young survivor (Koa, played by Ariana Greenblatt) of the Zoic, together they must survive a legion of reptilian, prehistoric dinosaur threats to traverse a mountain, where the last remaining functioning escape pods has landed, and escape Earth before a meteor collides with the planet. Yes…THAT meteor.
As stated, the movie is pretty cut and dry. It had the feel and scope and wonky high concept that would not have been out of place in the early 2000s, when similar mid-budget sci-fi, high concept actioners were in vogue (looking at you, Reign Of Fire). And given that this is ostensibly a one-man show, Driver’s natural intensity and physicality actually works to his, and the film’s, advantage here. He is entirely believable as a grunt ferrying cargo around the cosmos, dealing with dangerous, physical odds. Writing/directing duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have a keen sense of pacing, as well, and their use of sound design does wonders to create an alien landscape that has just hints of the familiar on Earth (sounds design is actually one of the most effective elements in this film that ratchet up the tension, I wish there was a whole special feature on the sound design and audio mixing alone).
This blu-ray release is not without it special features, though. I’m a sucker for making-ofs and behind-the-scenes documentaries, and this blu-ray features more than the usual token fluff piece that some newer releases tend to offer. One of the more interesting was a feature detailing the final confrontation between Mills and a carnivorous dino that makes up the climax of the film; from pre-conceptualization to pre-visualization, the entire process is explained in detail, allowing for even the most lay of laypeople to appreciate the work that goes into the filmmaking process. For a cinephile like myself, features like these are worth price of owning physical media in this age of streaming. And as for a home release…the picture and sound quality is PHENOMENAL. I can’t compare to how the movie looked on the big screen in a theater, but at home. depending on what screen you have an whether it’s calibrated properly, this is a gorgeous transfer with an absolute crisp audio track.
Fast, breezy, no-frills, and with a concerted, committed performance by Adam Driver, 65 is slick enough to guarantee a fun night at home. Given that one of the producers is none other than Sam Raimi, it seems fairly obvious that this film would have such a strong understanding of how to build tension, and to use sound to enrich its world. This film fills the big-concept studio fare that has since been taken over by franchise, cross-media universes, and is refreshingly self-contained. My wife and I had a good time watching it at home, and this is a worthy addition of our late-night weekend viewing.
3.75/5 brontosaurus burgers