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Turning The Spotlight On: Monster Trucks (In Dolby Atmos) (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein

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When the studio sends out a screener hoping for a review, one has no choice but to give that film a look no matter how uninspired by the content. In this case, a family film by the name of Monster Trucks. For me, these were two subject matters that I had little interest in exploring. However, in the spirit of being a dedicated reviewer, I gave it my best shot....

Amazingly, going into this film knowing nothing, I was rather surprised by what I found -- and more importantly -- what I heard.

Maybe I shouldn't give too much away here, though if I had paid any attention to the Blu-ray cover, it would have spoiled the surprise. Good thing I went in as blindly as I did. Monster Trucks is a rather cute and very entertaining high-octane action film for the teenage crowd.

What makes Monster Trucks the perfect piece of entertainment for the entire family, is the fact that it has an excellent Dolby Atmos mix that really bursts the entire sound field wide open. Various sound effects are pinpointed not just across the 7 channels, but the overheads as well. Sounds of rain or thumps from atop a power tunnel radiate beautifully from the ceiling speakers. The mix sounds wide and enveloping.

Monster Trucks may be the kind of film that's best limited to family fare. That being said, for those of you that enjoy taking part in home theater presentations with your family -- especially teens -- Monster Trucks is an incredibly worthwhile watch. With the inclusion of Dolby Atmos, it really makes for a satisfying audio experience that should make this movie viewing even more intensive.

Very well done film for the crowd it was intended for. Even I liked it!


 

Alf S

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LOL.

I read that this was one of the biggest flops of 2016. It cost them $125 MILLION DOLLARS to make this flop and it only made $33 million overall in the U.S.

Even my 9 year old (target audience) said it looked "Sooo stupid!". :)

Maybe it can make up a fraction of its budget via home video.
 

Alf S

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Just stating the box office and a target audience reaction. :huh::)
 

Dave B Ferris

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The L.A. Times has covered this extensively. I suppose anybody could lob a charge of "fake news", or bias, but the Times' many reports have almost unanimously included a basic set of statements, including the eye-opener that Paramount took a multi-million dollar writedown, even before the film opened, because they already knew the film was going to tank at the box office.
 

Lord Dalek

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The film was shot two years ago and sat in a vault collecting dust. They literally KNEW it was going to flop.
 

Alf S

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I'm just shocked that it took $125 MILLION DOLLARS to make it!

There are no famous actors to pay for. CGI looks like Saturday morning cartoon quality. It's not a 3 hour epic movie....Where was all that money spent??
 

Robert Crawford

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Damn Ron, you like a film and people just crap all over it.:) Hang in there as long as you're happy with it that is all that counts.
 

Edwin-S

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I have no particular feelings about this film. Just wanted to note the regular Blu for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back also has an Atmos track on it.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Damn Ron, you like a film and people just crap all over it.:) Hang in there as long as you're happy with it that is all that counts.


I am not married to this film. For me, it was just okay. However, I think it does succeed well for its audience.
 

Johnny Angell

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Johnny Angell

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The trailers for this movie have not excited me, but this was a new one and has gotten me interested.
 

Interdimensional

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The L.A. Times has covered this extensively. I suppose anybody could lob a charge of "fake news", or bias, but the Times' many reports have almost unanimously included a basic set of statements, including the eye-opener that Paramount took a multi-million dollar writedown, even before the film opened, because they already knew the film was going to tank at the box office.

There are times when it can almost seem like a studio decides ahead of time which movie will be their flop. Then they just load a lot of unrelated studio expense and offset other costs on the back of that movie.

I remember listening to an audio commentary on another such expensive flop, where the director was praising the ingenuity of the crew and how they managed to make the movie look so big, which seemed odd to me, but then he went on to say that they had a lot less money to work with than the official figure. Of course there could be a lot of other reasons for that.

I have little interest in this particular movie on the basis of the trailers and promotion. It certainly looks like a bad movie, but it may be a reasonable piece of entertainment that they just don't know how to sell in a way that would attract enough of an audience.
 

Jesse Skeen

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Of course this was shown in 3D in theaters, but isn't getting a 3D disc release. I would have bought it on day 1 had it been in 3D, helping them recoup some of their losses, but won't even take it for free in 2D! (There was a 2D UHD release announced, but that was cancelled- likely nobody was going to buy that!)
 

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