PARANOIA Blu-ray Review
Paranoia arrived on Blu-ray and DVD on November 19th. Directed by Robert Luketic, the high-tech thriller stars Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, Amber Heard, Lucas Till, and Embeth Davidtz.
The film follows Adam Cassidy, a recent grad who has landed a job with Wyatt Telecom. After a disappointing team presentation to CEO Nicholas Wyatt Adam takes his team on a night out with the “discretionary funds” he was provided. Wyatt finds out that Adam used the funds and confronts him, Adam is faced with being charge with a felony or working for Wyatt to infiltrate Wyatt Telecom’s chief rival. Adam soon finds out that he is in over his head and when he realizes that he is a pawn in a much bigger game. He must use all of his smarts to protect his family and friends.
The concept of a thriller revolving around corporate espionage in the tech industry had a lot of potential, but the story is so un-intriguing. Paranoia’s potential is squandered by a poor script and a meandering plot. The found myself so bored that I contemplated turning off the Blu-ray.
Hemsworth’s performance as a tech genius is about as believable as him switching places with his brother Chris as Thor. He definitely has an onscreen presence, but he has a long way to go before he can be taken seriously as a leading man. Ford looks ridiculous with short hair, and he mumbles through his lines as if he’s sedated.
I would have loved to see Oldman push the envelope with his role as villain like he did in The Professional. It seems as though Luketic stifled his performance. Both Ford and Oldman are A-List actors that looked as though they just showed up for a paycheck.
The only thing that Paranoia has going for it is it’s video and sound quality. The disc boasts an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This makes the colors and details pop on-screen. It features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that would be better suited for a thriller with more action and intense dialogue.
Paranoia Blu-ray Features:
- Deleted Scenes
- Privacy is Dead Featurette
- The Players – Cast Profiles
- Theatrical Trailer
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