Upgrade
DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:
Decided to give this a shot, when someone randomly tweeted the trailer at me. I love cyberpunk dystopian sci-fi and this looked like it was inspired by the likes of Robocop, Johnny Mnemonic, Shadow Run and Cyberpunk 77. Seems it was never out in my area and I didn’t even know it existed until today, which sucks, because this was quite a fun watch. Can you see the twist coming if you’ve ever read or watched or played cyberpunk fiction? Well, yeah. Did it matter? No. Very few films have actually surprising endings.It was well acted, with some great choreography, cool color palette and slick cinematography, a tight script and fast pacing, with just the right amount of body horror not to make me want to turn it off in disgust. I was shocked by the lead’s performance, seeing as he was an unbearable charisma black hole in Prometheus. Here, he’s funny, relatable and believable as an ordinary man thrust into a nightmare scenario. His co-star was an excellent foil, as well. The setting is ripe for more movies or a better yet, a TV series, especially with an online service that can ignore ratings restrictions, exploring the beginnings of a new sci-fi dystopia before it turns into something like Mega City One.-The Hanged Man
“Upgrade” is a well-done sci-fi action movie with a simple message: relax and let Cortana in. I’ll try not to spoil the story. But it’s about a blue-collarish car dude who doesn’t trust invasive tech. He gets turned into a cabbage the night his rich programmer wife is murdered in front of him. The movie then dwells on how miserable his life is as a helpless quadriplegic, then how – with the simple insertion of an AI interface into his spine – he quickly becomes an unstoppable, badass revenge machine. Every man’s deepest fears and fantasies in one cool CGI fairytale. It’s way better than “Transcendence” with Johnny Depp and not nearly as flashy as say “Iron Man”. But the message is the same: flesh is weak; let technology make you a god!… I’m absolutely sure that droves of people will someday swallow this fishy-smelling pill without blinking an enhanced eye. Actually, by the time the credits roll (even with the ambivalent ending) it’s hard not to yearn for one’s very own “upgrade”… I’m obviously not buying into it… But I am looking forward to a sequel. This is one great propaganda piece, and it’s entertaining as hell!- Josiah
When I ordered this movie I was expecting a B-movie, something mediocre at best. But this movie was actually very good. The story line is unique. The story takes place in a future where very powerful and complex computers are commonplace. Grey Trace and his wife are attacked by thugs. His wife is killed, and Grey is mortally injured and left for dead. He is found and taken to a hospital for care. He has a lengthy hospital stay but is left quadriplegic and unable to do anything for himself. His mother helps him, and his home has some futuristic gadgetry to assist him. He becomes despondent and attempts suicide by a drug overdose but is again rescued. But then he is offered the opportunity by an eccentric inventor to undergo an experimental surgery to implant a special computer chip called STEM that can take over his peripheral nervous system and enable him to regain his physical abilities, but he must never tell anyone about it. Grey finds STEM not only restores his physical function but enables him to greatly exceed his normal abilities when controlled by STEM. His newfound abilities enable him to pursue and seek revenge on those who attacked him and killed his wife. But as time goes on, Grey discovers he has far less control of his abilities than he thought.- Terry R. Nye
DVD Wholesale Main Features:
Actors: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson
Directors: Leigh Whannell
Writers: Leigh Whannell
Producers: Jason Blum, Kylie Du Fresne, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: French, Spanish
Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: R-Restricted
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: August 28, 2018
Run Time: 100 minutes
ASIN: B07D58Y348
