Project-Blu Echelon Conspiracy, by M. Enois Duarte

Echelon Conspiracy

By: M. Enois Duarte, 7.16.2009

The Movie Itself:
Like the forgotten underachieving stepbrother of Eagle Eye, Echelon Conspiracy arrives with a reasonable cast of well-known actors trotting along a very unreasonable script. It's not that the movie is completely awful or even unwatchable, but rather the story's been done before with less than stellar results, making this utterly uninspiring and amateurish by comparison. The high-tech mystery tale is weighed down heavily by its own thought-process, thinking itself more clever than it really is. Lots of car chases and explosions in the vein of the Bourne films are attempted to conceal the inadequacies of its simplistic plot, but come off instead as obvious lame imitations. Then again, this is the movie's only saving grace.

Things actually start surprisingly interesting when young computer engineer Max Peterson (Shane West) receives mysterious text messages from a strange cell phone. Appearing as seemingly friendly advice, it soon becomes clear that the texts are weirdly ominous predictions that take Max to Prague, where he scores millions at a casino. As for why he doesn't just ditch the phone and run with the money at this point is beyond me. If I'm receiving messages from an unknown stranger that predicts plane crashes, accurate stock tips, and winning bets at blackjack, I'm taking my share home - which is all of it - and communication is over. Find yourself another sap. It's amazing how gullible even engineers can be in the movies.

Unfortunately, Max doesn't seem to posses those sorts of smarts, as he wishes to keep gambling without a care in the world. Again, only in the movies are engineers stupid enough to not see the probability of being caught sooner or later. Of course, head security of the casino John Reed (Edward Burns), via security cameras, suspects Max of cheating, since he makes it blatantly obvious that he receives text messages before each winning bet. John actually seems like a fairly intelligent guy, an ex-FBI agent removed from service for having a big mouth and he calls them as he sees them: "What a douche." But after a quick little foot race, Max is nabbed by the still-active FBI agent Dave Grant (Ving Rhames), who's only interest is in Max's mobile.

Oh, and by the way, did you know that the FBI has jurisdiction in foreign countries like the Czech Republic? Well, apparently, in this alternate to reality, agents like Grant are allowed to pick up folks like Max in public places, even when those with proper authority, like casino security, should have the right to arrest him first. No matter, "suspension of disbelief" seems like a popular concept, enough where reasonable logic is the clear adversary of any conspiracy, including film titles. Speaking of which, I had no idea what the heck the word "echelon" meant prior to watching this. Turns out, the definition is the only original thing about this techno thriller that actually makes any sense. I'll give you the pleasure of finding out for yourself.

In the end, the sender of the text messages is someone with a great deal of power and access, because Max is being vigilantly watched. That the scope of the mystery. Is there any other kind? If he's not doing as instructed, things go awry. Ah, duh. I don't know what's a tougher cookie to crack: the fact that Martin Sheen's character makes no sense whatsoever (is he NSA, FBI, CIA, or congressman?) and seems completely pointless; or the fact that this movie was released theatrically rather than straight-to-video. Maybe, someone should make a movie about that conspiracy with a clever title as well.
Rating: 4/10

The Presentation:
Although the movie may not be up to par, Paramount Home Entertainment allows Echelon Conspiracy to shine on Blu-ray and it does so surprisingly well. Framed in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and using the MPEG-4 AVC encode, the picture exhibits remarkable facial complexions in actors that appear richly textured and natural. They did, however, lean a tad too much to the red and orange tones, which distracted a bit.

Blacks can be deep and dark, while contrast is comfortably bright and bearable. Daylight sequences display great clarity and visibility of architectural details. Low-lit interior scenes are more problematic, as delineation is sometimes weak with blacks losing some of its punch. Even film grain comes off heavier than normal, and distractingly so. The majority of the time, though, these scenes look fantastic. The image arrives with a nice depth of field, and colors are vivid and bold, but they feel somewhat exaggerated. In the end, the hi-def picture can be jaw-dropping gorgeous, but fails to be consistently impressive with a few scenes appearing softer than the rest. Still, Echelon Conspiracy looks much better than it deserves to be.
Rating: 8.6/10

Making things a bit more exciting, Paramount includes a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack that from the start promises plenty of action and excitement. Surrounds are employed quite a often for ambiance, but the activity is more random than consistent. The front soundstage delivers precise, intelligible vocals and a wide, spacious soundscape that generally convincing. The musical score pleasantly spreads itself out into the rear speakers for the only moments of immersion. Action sequences shows good definition and clarity, while low bass provides some nice "oomph" to every crash and explosion. Much like the video, the lossless track is more impressive than the movies deserves, but it's also not as consistent as it should.
Rating: 8.4/10

Overall Presentation: 8/10

** 9 - 10 = Reference / 8 = Excellent / 7 = Good /
6 = Satisfactory / 5 = Average / 4 & under = Below Average **

The Extras:
The true shocker of this package is that it's empty, not even the original theatrical trailer. Rating: 0/10

Final Thoughts:
Echelon Conspiracy offers really nothing new in terms of mystery, thriller, or even plotline. While it offers an easy way to lose track of time, the movie will quickly be forgotten for having little replay value. At least, the A/V presentation is much better than expected, making it worth owning for those who actually enjoyed watching this, but the overall package lacks supplemental material. Other than that, most are likely skip it.
Rating: 4/10