Plot: What’s it about?
Mercury Rising is decent story about a top-secret cryptography code, an autistic nine year old boy, an FBI agent in the process of getting driven out of the Bureau and how all of them affect the other.
Bruce Willis plays Art Jeffries, one of the best undercover men in the FBI. When one of his operations goes sour, Jeffries whigs out and decks the agent in charge that made the controversial decision. At this point, he realizes he is lucky to still a job and is not too surprised when he finds himself on stakeout assignments with new recruits.
Unbeknownst to Jeffries, miles away in Chicago, a nine year old little boy named Simon, portrayed by Miko Hughes (the same little boy from Apollo 13), with a penchant for working puzzles is given a puzzle magazine by one of his teachers. In this magazine is a test by the developers of Mercury, a top-secret cryptography code that cost over $2 Billion to develop, to see if there is a geek factor to worry about, whereas someone might just miraculously be able to decipher Mercury. Within the coded message, Simon is told to call an 800 number to win a prize, which he does. This starts a trace to the callÆs origin and thus the end of poor SimonÆs life as he knows it. At the head of the NSA department that developed Mercury sits Lt. Colonel Nicholas Kudrow (adequately played by Alec Baldwin), a particularly cold blooded leader who will even sacrifice his own people to preserve MercuryÆs status as an uncrackable code.
In the events that follow, Simon goes into hiding only to be found by FBI agent Jeffries. When Jeffries goes to extremes to protect Simon, he is completely ostrasized by the law enforcement community and they both end up on the run. Through the course of events, Jeffries tries to keep Simon alive and expose the corrupt, which is not an easy task since he is pretty much up against the toughest domestic intelligence agency known to man.
The video is a good solid transfer. There are several scenes that take place in dark setting and there is no noise or grain noticeable. The colors are bright with lots of contrast. The sound is also done quite well, but with the exception of an occasion helicopter or train, there is not a huge load put on the sound system with this movie. Not a shot at the quality of the sound by any means, it is just that the story does not present too many opportunities to show off a good sound system here. The extras were entertaining enough, with an interesting little Easter Egg puzzle hidden within the settings. I will let the viewer discover that and work it out for on their own.
Overall, it is an entertaining story, but I did not find myself as thoroughly engrossed as I have in other thrillers of WillisÆ. It is definitely worth renting and sitting down to enjoy, I just do not know that I could recommend it to someone blindly without previewing it first.
Video: How does it look?
The 2.35:1 anamorphic image positively shines, it’s so good. I saw no hint of artifacting at all, colors seems consistent, without any bleeding. Flesh tones were natural, and looked great. This is a new movie, and of course what to expect from a “new” movie with a new anamorphic transfer. Way to go!
Audio: How does it sound?
Simply unbelivable. Dialog is clear and unmuttled, and the effects…Well, let’s just say that they literally blow you away. The front speakers are used with a lot of “force”. Force is a weird word to describe it, but they seem to have a richness that the Dolby Digital versions (yes, versions) contained. The surrounds are used just as much with plenty of effects to boot. You will feel like you are right in the middle of the movie with this sound mix. If you have a choice on sound, go with DTS. If you have a choice on features, go with DTS and rent the Collector’s Edition version! I can’t say enough.
Supplements: What are the extras?
There’s not a whole lot of extras on this disc, in fact there aren’t any. Due to the compression (or lack thereof) of the DTS soundtrack, it comprimises the supplements, which also take up space. The image is a pure 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, that’s for sure. If you’re looking for good picture and good sound, this is what you’re looking for.
