In the near future, a jaded politician fresh off an electoral loss escapes with his controlling wife to the Southern Lake house, where he spent summers as a teen. Their vacation is disrupted by the appearance of his first love, who has just returned from a 20-year space voyage and hasn’t aged a day.
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Video Quality
The Time Capsule comes to Blu-Ray in an AVC encoded transfer courtesy of MVD Entertainment that is very pleasing. While the film might not feature much beyond some standard lakeside community landscapes, these environments really shine in high definition. The sun-soaked locales really illuminate the natural looking skin tones. Textural details render cleanly, along with the lush greenery which leaps off the screen. There are also hues in certain outfits that add a bit of vibrancy to the frame. This presentation is quite beautiful and offers a consistent image quality throughout. There is no trace of compression artifacts or other digital nuisances outside a very minor bit in a bar with low lighting. You really could not ask for much better from a modern film.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 track that delivers a very gentle experience for this story. One of our favorite aspects of the track is the score and a few songs that are showcased well here with an enveloping use of the surround speakers. This film is largely subdued, but the track does prove to be robust when it comes to the environmental sounds. The dialogue comes through perfectly clear without ever being overshadowed by any other sounds. The sound design is precise when it comes to directionality with all of the sounds positioned just right in the mix. Activity in the low end is very sparse, which fits with the narrative, but a few moments add a bit of texture. This audio presentation is just as capable of the video side of things. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Alternate Opening: A two-minute alternate opening is provided in which Jack is gazing up at space and doing a good deed.
- Deleted Scene – Jack Goes Out: A 42-second unused scene in which Jack makes an excuse to go into town.
- Alternate Patrice Scene: A nearly three minute unused scene in which Jack gets updates from Patrice along with some additional life details that he is too selfish to ask about himself.
- EPK: A two-minute collection of interviews with the cast and creative team in which they offer insights into the story.
- Photo Gallery: A collection of stills from the film.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
The Time Capsule is a film which has the potential to be interesting, but completely misses the mark due to who is telling the story. You can tell without even looking at the credits that this was written by a man, as this tale works as more a wish fulfillment for dudes instead of a potentially interesting tale of a girl feeling lost in the world after coming back to Earth after years away. The characters are very shallow and underdeveloped, and the conceit is pretty creepy in the way it tiptoes around the legality of the situation. If you are even going to attempt to tell this story, you have to write your female characters better. There is the odd amusing or intriguing moment, but there is too much wrong at its core to call this a decent movie. MVD Entertainment and FilmRise have released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a couple of brief supplemental features.
The Time Capsule is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: MVD Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.