“The Butterfly Effect” is one of the latest movies to get the high-definition treatment from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It was available as a Canadian import as far back as 2009 but now it comes directly from the U.S. This new Blu-ray version comes with both the Director’s Cut and the theatrical version. It also has an impressive amount of special features included.
Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) suffered from blackouts and memory loss most of his childhood. He keeps a diary of the events so he can read them later and remember what he did. After heading off to college, he begins to have the blackouts again. Evan soon realizes he has the ability to alter reality through time-travel.
Directors / writers Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber created quite a thought-provoking and suspenseful movie here. It makes you think about your actions in life and the sort of repercussions they have on those around us. It’s a disturbing reminder that the things we say and do really affect people.
This was Ashton Kutcher’s first real dramatic leading role and he handled it well. It can be hard to push the image of an actor’s character out of your mind if it gets stuck in there. I think Kutcher’s biggest obstacle was getting audiences to see him as anyone but Michael Kelso from “That 70s Show” at the time. He succeeded in my opinion.
The high definition transfer of the film looks and sounds great. The picture is clean and clear. All the color levels are well preserved. The 6.1 surround sound disperses the dialogue, audio effects, background noises, and musical score successfully throughout a home theater.
Bonus material in this version include four featurettes entitled “The Science and Psychology of the Chaos Theory,” “The History and Allure of Time Travel,” “The Creative Process,” and “Visual Effects.” There’s commentary for the director’s cut by co-directors and co-writers Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. Deleted / alternate scenes and a storyboard gallery are included as well.
If you’re a fan of this particular movie or ones like it, getting “The Butterfly Effect: The Director’s Cut” Blu-ray is a given. There’s no better way to see it than in high-definition. Consumers will be happy thanks to a good amount of special features and the inclusion of two different quality versions of the movie.
For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:
Blu-ray Review: “The Butterfly Effect 2”
Blu-ray Review: “Outland”
Movie Review: “The Dark Knight Rises”
