Mimic (1997)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1997
	Director: Guillermo Del Toro (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, Blade 2, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 & 2)
	Actors: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Giancarlo Giannini (Quantum of Solace, Man on Fire), Josh Brolin (True Grit, Men In Black 3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 23.07.2012, Blu-ray (Director's cut), Home cinema
Synopsis: A new breed of cockroaches is genetically engineered to eradicate an epidemy, and are supposed to die out quickly. Three years later, a strange bug is found, people dissapear, a man in overcoat is seen around...
Review: It is interesting that this movie is classified as Horror / SF on IMDB, while I replaced SF by Thriller, since I read an article last week about how mosquitos were genetically engineered to mate with disease-carrying ones in Brazil and have sterile offspring. So the subject is very actual although the movie is 15 years old. It is known that for his first Hollywood movie, the director had trouble with the producers of the movie, and the version that was released in theaters didn't show his vision. This Blu-ray edition shows a movie closer to this vision, at least "as much as legaly possible" or "as much as it will ever do", as Del Toro says in the introductory video.  Something else he says is that even if he changed the movie with this edition, the viewer should be more influenced by the fact that he himself has changed in 15 years. This is very true for me: last time I saw the movie was more than 10 years ago on an aging VHS and a 12" TV. Watching the movie again in much improved conditions was a delight. I found the story great, the actors good, and the filming immersive, with interesting orange and blue tones when underground, half way through the Del Toro of The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth. The story is still a B-movie one, but the quality of the way it is told is A-movie. The Blu-ray transfer is excellent, except for some dark scenes but I think this is more due to the original film. In particular the views of New-York from the sky at night are pretty ugly. The 7.1 surround sound is one of the best I have heard. Not so much the soundtrack but the sound effects like the creatures footsteps circling around you. The movie is accompanied with a full commentary by the director, in which he is supposed to tell all about the many conflicts at the time of film making. It is supposed to be the main reason for buying the movie, more than the movie itself! I am looking forward to hearing it.
Rating: 7 /10