Odd Thomas [Blu-Ray]

Director: Stephen Sommers

Cast: Anton Yelchin, Addison Timlin,Willem Dafoe

Release Date: Now Available on DVD & Blu-Ray/DVD Combo

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8.5/10

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Plot Summary:

In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.

‘Odd Thomas’ is based on the bestselling novel by Dean Koontz, which also serves as the first novel in his ‘Odd Thomas’ series that is still ongoing at this point and which I’m personally a huge fan of. The film adaptation from director Stephen Sommers has been plagued with issues from the get go it seems, so much so that at one point those involved were going so far as to say it might never see the light of day. Fortunately for us, that was not the case, and while it sat in limbo with no distribution for some time, it was finally acquired for US distribution by IMAGE Entertainment and additionally premiere last year at Toronto After Dark.

Fans of the novels can rest easy, for as of a huge fan of these books myself, I can confirm that this is one of the truest adaptations of book to film that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. Koontz himself gives the movie his full backing and even went so far as to dedicate one of his recent ‘Odd Thomas’ novels to Sommers for ‘keeping his promises in a world where so few do’ which I personally feel speaks tremendously to how phenomenal of a job Sommers did here bringing this beloved novel to the screen.

Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra) penned the screenplay and also directs, while Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Star Trek: In Darkness, Terminator Salvation) portrays the lead role of our hero Odd. I felt Yelchin did a tremendous job filling the characters shoes. From the moment I first heard he had been cast as Odd I had a good feeling that he was perfect for the role and I was in no way disappointed in the outcome. Willem Dafoe, Patton Oswalt, Addison Timlin and a number of others also star in the film version of ‘Odd Thomas’ and are all very capable in their portrayals of these characters, though Oswalt’s character (Ozzie) has been altered from the book in a few ways and unfortunately is only present in one scene but this is something that is fairly easy to overlook in the grand scheme of things. Overall this is one that I highly recommend everyone check out because I really think most will be pleasantly surprised with just how fantastic of a film this is. Both fans of the books and newcomers to the story of ‘Odd Thomas’ alike should be very satisfied with this one and I urge you to check it out as soon as you’re able to.

VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Odd Thomas’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.35:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty wonderful on this one. Everything is sharp, detailed, while the fast moving and action oriented sequences hold up tremendously without artifacts or issues being present aside from on brief yet rare occurrences that most will not even notice. Fans of the novel as well as those entering Odd’s universe for the first time should both be quite pleased with the high definition video presentation we are treated to on this long awaited film’s Blu-Ray release.

AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack which sounds pretty fantastic and definitely adds an additional level of fun to the overall experience of this film. The film provides opportunity after opportunity for this lossless multichannel soundtrack to show off its stuff and for the most part, it delivers pretty solidly. During scenes with action and car chases, as well as creatures floating throughout the viewer’s field of vision, the experience is significantly amplified by this lossless multichannel soundtrack and I would highly recommend watching this one with the surround sound utilized should you have the option to do so.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Unfortunately, the one down side of this Blu-Ray release is the lack of bonus content. There are no special features present on this release, but personally I’m just grateful that this fantastic adaptation of Kean Koontz’ phenomenal novel is finally seeing the light of day and that I can own it on Blu-Ray at long last.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Film Rating: 8.5/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

‘Odd Thomas’ is now available to own on DVD & Blu-Ray/DVD Combo from Image Entertainment & RLJ Entertainment.