Here we go . . .
Movie:
I did not see this film in the theater so I cannot tell what was added to the film to make it unrated but I can say one thing: I enjoyed it. From the first frame of the Universal logo being Mars to the ending i enjoyed the ride that is Doom. Some of the acting was not the best (The Rock) but hey I wasn't walking in expecting the best acting ever if the actors could read their lines I clapped. The big difference in this film from the game is that the monsters are not demons, I would drop a spoiler but its not my style but keep in mind one thing: even in the creation of the film they called the creatures Imps, Hell Knights etc. There are quite a few nods to the games throughout the film like: "I'm not going to become one of those demons." "This place has always been Hell." etc. and that just brings enough of the elements from the game to make me happy.
If you can get past the fact that it is only loosly based on the game then you will be far better off and will enjoy the film quite a few times over. The first person scene is the best part of the film. Ringing in at around 5min in length this is the best thing this film has going for it. If it were not for this scene then this film would be just another action movie with monsterss but this does elevate the movie somewhat (what little it can be). With the ass kicking music behind it and the visuals (and the chainsaw bit!) just make it feel like the game. Speaking of the music (I am listening to it as I write this) is a very good mix of industrial and orcestral bits to make a haunting yet ass kicking soundtrack. All in all I recomend that you check this film out even if you think its going to suck ass, that might even help things.
7/10
Being a dark film there needed to be detail in the transfer or else this would have failed on every level. I mean what good dark film has shitty black levels? Well a bit but not this one! There seems to be very little wrong with the transfer the only thing I could notice is that during the FPS scene some of its flaws were more apparent than before. It is also an Animorphic widescreen (full widescreen not half)
8/10
Audio:
Doom comes with the standard 5.1 in English, French and Spanish. The mix seems powerful enough and nothing to report. Nothing is drowned out so all seems to be well.
8/10
Being a single disk with a X-Box demo on it restricts the space on the DVD a bit. The big extra stuff is only on the Unrated DVD and those features are called "FPS Sequnce" and "GAME ON!" Both of these are ok features with FPS being the better one. Game On! is a throw away piece with a man giving you hints on how to play Doom3. There are some good bits in there but the one thing that threw me off was the fact that this is an Unrated DVD and one part is him telling you that swearing is a big part of playing Doom and they censor him that just gets me. FPS Sequence is just a run down on how they filmed the FPS scene. This is not fluff but close, with its main focus on telling you that it was hard and worth making the scene, but they show very little of the filming but whatever. The other features are on the rated disk but who the fuck whats that disck (its only in Full Screen). You get: Basic Training, Rock Formation, Master Monster Makers, and Doom Nation. All of these are good features with the weakest one in the bunch being the "Rock Formation." This is about the make-up they put on The Rock for the end of the film. They do show just how much they go through and they explain each step and not just "We spray his face with some shit and it does stuff."
Doom Nation has nothing to do with the movie but about the game series in general, the first half is just on Doom (Doom 2 is mentioned and shown a few times but not really talked about) then the second half was about Doom3 and how hard it was to make. Basic Training is about the training the actors went through to look authentic in being a troop. This is a nice piece (its funny seeing some of the actors fireing AKs) and is worth a view. And my favorite has to be Master Monster Makers. In this feature they show the work they went through to use mostly men in suits instead of CGI in this film. Its great to see people that are still doing their craft and it gets quite funny when the man that plays all the Imps is interviewed, that man is funny as hell. Its also very interesting to see all the work that went into making the Barrons.
8/10 (minus one for no commentary track)
For being a film that was slammed to Hell (tee hee) and back I found this film to be quite entertaining. I state that this worth at least a rental and if you have a X-Box and don't have Doom3 for it I recomend this DVD (you can even play some online!).
Overall 7/10