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Dom Robinson reviews
(Superbit Edition) 
Columbia TriStar
- Cert:
- Cat.no: CDR 32044
- Running time: 107 minutes
- Year: 2002
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 28 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English, Dutch, Hindi
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Trailer, Filmographies
Director:
- David Fincher
(Alien 3, Fight Club, The Game, Seven, Panic Room)
Producers:
- Cean Chaffin, Judy Hofflund, David Koepp and Gavin Polone
Screenplay:
- David Koepp
Original Score :
- Howard Shore
Cast :
- Meg Altman: Jodie Foster
Sarah Altman: Kristen Stewart
Burnham: Forest Whitaker
Raoul: Dwight Yoakam
Junior: Jared Leto
Stephen Altman: Patrick Bauchau
Stephen’s girlfriend on phone: Nicole Kidman
First things first. A Panic Room is a specially-designed room within a house in which you can lock yourself should intruders enter the premises. Styled like a nuclear bunker with 3-foot-thick steel walls, you can effectively seal yourself in and there’s zero chance of anyone actually breaking in to get at you. Coupled to this fact is an emergency phone on a separate connection from the main line and a bank of monitors, the cameras for which survey every inch of the house so there’s no hiding place for the uninvited guest(s).
On a tour round the new property, since her split from boffin husband Doctor Stephen Altman (Patrick Bauchau), Meg (Jodie Foster) is the first one to notice that amongst the massive house she’s taking a recce, the master bedroom is smaller than she expected. Once this has been spotted, the estate agent tells her she’s the first to notice without having to have it pointed out to her and, thus, reveals the aforementioned panic room. Of course, upon first glance, her pre-teen only daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) remarks on the whole kit and caboodle, “This has got to be my room!”
As (bad) luck would have it, they’ll find a use for that room on the very first night they spend there because three burglars have got their dates mixed up about when the house would be empty, but still they go ahead to take what they believe is theirs because there’s something they want that’s in the house.
Guess which room it’s in… and guess which one Meg and Sarah hole themselves up in?
It’s difficult to review a film like this and describe aspects of it in detail because while it’s bound to have its predictable moments and those which seem a bit on the cliched side, I can’t give examples as that would rob the point of finding these out for yourself, but it’s safe to say that it’s not just two hours of the two females sitting in the room while the three males stand outside it killing time.
What I can say is that the burglars are led by Junior (Jared Leto), who has a personal, vested interest in what’s locked away up there and he’s brought along Burnham (Forest Whitaker) because he used to install panic rooms for a living and, as such, knows that they’re impenetrable. Hence, leave it to mad foreigner Raoul (country singer Dwight Yoakam) to do his damnedest to find a way. Raoul’s an incredibly over-zealous and obtuse man and Burnham certainly doesn’t like him. It was Junior who brought him along and he’s proving to be more a hinderance than a help.
Meg and Sarah discover the
director was also responsible for Alien 3.
It’s a small cast and all the better for it since that does away with pointless tertiary characters who would normally pop up for a minute before going off camera. Jodie Foster puts across a good reliable performance in the lead role, but I was still at a loss as to why one woman with a child would need such a big house, even though money was no object since her divorce. Her role is complimented by newcomer Kristen Stewart as her daughter Sarah, even though she spend much of the film looking like Macaulay Culkin with a long fringe.
The burglars are all stereotypes but that doesn’t cause much of a problem as anyone trapped in the same tense situation for a few hours would hardly be expected to have a range of emotions – you’d have a single purpose in mind and would stick to it.
Of the rest of the cast, that leaves just Patrick Bauchau as Meg’s ex-husband Stephen who pops up just after halfway through the film and after having his face bashed in looks very reminiscent of Michael Gambon to these eyes.
Come out, come out, wherever you are…
As I said earlier, I couldn’t divulge plot aspects that you’ll have to see for yourself when you watch it, but while there are a few predictable pieces, there’s also a fair number of slighty scary bits too – not such that you’d jump out of your skin, since you can see many of them coming, but the film expertly gives you that feeling like when you’re having a dream in which you can’t run away from an attacker and the deafening silence suffocates you… so it’s probably not a film for claustrophobics to watch in the cinema since there’s no escape.
I was impressed with the clever camerawork as it appears to spin round the house in an early scene letting you see all around as the two females sleep while the burglars break in. Director David Fincher certainly gives the film a flashy visual touch, but I would’ve liked to have seen more of this kind of thing, even if it would’ve brought it down to the level of a pop video.
Before I close this review, a special mention must go to the striking, but bizarre, opening credits, all of which are placed static in Copperplate Gothic Bold font against the backdrop of the city landscape and town buildings. Never heard of Copperplate Gothic Bold font? See the logo atop this review. Now you have.
Film trivia: If you’re wondering who played the uncredited cameo voice of “Stephen’s girlfriend on phone”, it’s Nicole Kidman, originally slated to star in Jodie Foster’s role but pulled out because she hurt her knee whilst filming Moulin Rouge; and I’m glad because Ms. Kidman couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag.
…and likewise.
I understand this is one of the new Superbit releases, but the test disc I received made no mention of this and neither do any online shops I’ve seen. A Superbit release means that extra features have been sacrificed so as to make more space for the film’s picture and sound quality. In the US a number of DVDs such as Desperado and The Fifth Element have been given this treatment, but does it really provide the extra kick that it probably doesn’t need (unless the original transfer was pretty shoddy) or is it just a way of re-releasing films at full price but WITHOUT any decent supplemental material? Joe Punter might see it that way.
As things stand, the picture is dark (because the film is) – so doesn’t get full marks because it doesn’t look as striking as a brightly-lit film – and the sound creaks at every turn when it should perfectly recreating the atmosphere I felt in the cinema, apart from when someone in that establishment laughed(!), so there’s no problems whatsoever overall. Also, with the extra space there’s room for Dolby Digital 5.1 and a full-bitrate DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Apparently other non-Superbit DVD releases only use half the bitrate that they could, but to these ears they still sound first-rate if the material is strong enough.
Then comes the extras: a two-minute non-anamorphic Teaser Trailer and Filmographies for the main cast and crew members. These were the sort of ‘features’ we used to get on early Columbia/Universal DVDs about three years ago and I thought those days were long gone.
I’d rather they’d ditched the Dolby Digital soundtrack and filled the space up with extras, that’s if anything else has been put together for a future DVD. As such, this DVD is worth a rental, but it’s not the kind of film you’d watch again and again. Wait for a special edition… I hope.
There are 28 chapters to the film, the subtitles are in three languages (English – with extra subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, Dutch and Columbia’s favourite, Hindi – I say that because no other company seems to bother, although Warner have an affinity for Arabic). Dutch is also used for the subtitled trailer, but it doesn’t get a look-in in English (Why, Columbia, Why?? You always avoid English subtitles in your extras!!). Also, the main menu features creepy music from the film and similar animation effecting the look of the titular room.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.