Director Steven Spielberg’s obsession with extraterrestrial life visiting Earth delivered a more thought-provoking sci-fi conspiracy thriller early this year and is now available in home theater’s 4K disc realm in Disclosure Day: Collector’s Edition (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, rated: PG-13, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 146 minutes, $29.95).
The story explores the eventual intertwining of two lives — cybersecurity specialist Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) and a Kansas City local meteorologist with emerging psychic abilities, Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), both aware that they have special powers and on a dangerous quest to find out why.
Mr. Kellner is on the run with a vast source of stolen information to expose to the world that extraterrestrials exist on Earth, and he eventually meets Miss Fairchild. The pair work together with a clandestine group of believers to potentially spread the word to all of mankind.
With the world on the brink of nuclear war, a secretive U.S. government contractor Wardex Corp., led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), wants to stop them at any cost, including using alien technology against the whistleblowers.
Topping the popularity of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “War of the Worlds” was going to be a monumental task for the director, and he did not succeed, as far as box office results have shown.
Unfortunately, the humanist drama, more than a thriller, fell short at a key point in the narrative and lacked a sweeping and heart-stopping final act the director has been known for in previous films.
Specifically, Mr. Spielberg gives viewers a cliffhanger, never going deep enough to explore the effect that the disclosure could have on humanity. I really wanted to see that level of chaos or acceptance as mankind’s beliefs are shaken to the core.
“Disclosure Day” is not a bad film; Ms. Blunt delivers a career performance, and some of the action sequences are exhilarating. It’s just not the definitive, adult extraterrestrial adventure I was expecting from Mr. Spielberg.
4K in action: As expected, Mr. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski deliver a meticulously shot and well-lit visual masterpiece that would even look great on VHS tape.
The translation to the ultrahigh-definition format shines throughout with crisp visuals and excellently toned natural colors, even when recreating the various alien footage from decades prior, going back to the Area 51 incident.
Jaw-dropping moments such as a car chase into and out of a farmhouse and a vehicle being dragged by a speeding freight train will need to be reviewed nearly a frame at a time to appreciate the intense, harrowing and often practical action.
Best extras: Hardly a “collector’s edition,” the package offers 4K and Blu-ray editions for the film and just a couple of digital goodies but lacks an optional commentary track.
Viewers do get a 54-minute production documentary starting with Mr. Spielberg explaining that he wanted to make a realistic movie extending the concepts of his “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and shares his strong belief that intelligent life does exist outside of Earth.
We then spend a bit too much time with actors explaining the plot’s finer points, but key crew members do manage to also touch on topics such as the script (from frequent collaborator and writer David Koepp); production design (from Adam Stockhausen); costuming (from Paul Tazewell); creating the extraterrestrials (from puppeteers Alan Scott and Savannah Suderman); and visual effects (from supervisor Matthew Butler and VFX producer Lauren Ritchie).
More than two dozen cast and crew eventually comment in the well-rounded documentary that also dissects key action scenes, such as the car and train collision, but I could have used more one-on-one information from the director.
Also included, a brief four-minute-long featurette offers a look at the relationship between Mr. Spielberg and legendary musical composer John Williams as the nonagenarian works on the film’s score, and we are reminded that it’s his 30th collaboration with the director.
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