[wp-review id=”75741″]

On an airplane ready to land in Seattle, two strangers named Faith and Carter are talking it up because he looks incredibly nervous.  He begins to tell her that he saw the tape that curses the viewer to die 7 days after they see it.  His nose starts bleeding and he runs to the bathroom to take care of it.  Faith tells her friend, Kelly, what he said and she yells at her asking if he made a copy of it.  In the chaos of Kelly banging on the bathroom door and Carter inside freaking out, dark water rises up from the floor as well as the screens all show Samara rising up from her well.  She is there for him and she causes the plane to crash.
 
Two years later, a college professor named Gabriel buys an old VCR at a flea market that belonged to Carter.  He watches the tape and gets the call from Samara that he’ll die in 7 days.  He gets the idea to begin a “special project” to understand what is happening to him.
 
F. Javier Gutiérrez directs RINGS and this is his second feature film.  With this installment, it plays out very differently from the first two films.  The story doesn’t follow Rachel and Aiden, the main characters from the first movie, but there is a connection being that they were from the Pacific Northwest.  One other huge difference is the tape going digital with the use of it being a file.  The “rule” to save yourself is to make a copy of the tape and in this movie; simply copying the file of the video does the trick.  Being digital also puts Samara’s video on a much larger scale with an accidental email or even posting on YouTube could extend her reach exponentially. 
 
Cast
Matilda Lutz – Julia
Alex Roe – Holt Anthony
Johnny Galecki – Gabriel Brown
Vincent D’Onofrio – Galen Burke
Aimee Teegarden – Skye Johnston
Bonnie Morgan – Samara Morgan

VIDEO QUALITY:

The transfer is a 1080p AVC presentation and it was filmed digitally.  The picture is clean with a light graininess to give it a look similar to its predecessors.  The grain looks like noise but it doesn’t have a lot of the same issues that you see with noise such as when it comes to contrasting.  It maintains the details regardless of the lighting or setting.  The details are also sharp and you can see grime, makeup smudges and imperfections well.  The coloring at times has a blueish tint to it and like the grain, it matches up with the previous movies in the series.  The blacks are deep and inky creating the horror tone that the movie is going for. 

AUDIO QUALITY:

The audio is a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix that utilizes the entire home theater.  It begins with the speakers being filled by the normal sounds of a plane in stormy weather.  As the scene progresses, the sound near loses its clarity, even with the added effects being layered on top of it.  Some other scenes with crowds & busy areas like the flea market and the rooms with the “special project” and you get a lot of ambient sound filling the speakers.  The dialogue is clear and realistically replicated.  Overall, this is a strong mix.
 

SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING

-Terror Comes Full Circle: The featurette looks at the director’s vision with the previous films and the characters taken into account.
 
-Resurrecting the Dead: Bringing Samara Back: This featurette looks at the Samara’s character, getting the makeup right, and what it took to bring her back for this installment.
 
-Scary Scenes: This featurette is of the cast and the scary scenes in the movie.
 
-Deleted Scenes
 
-Alternate Ending
 
 
Disc Details
2-disc set w/ 1 Blu-ray and 1 DVD
Digital copy
 
Running Time
102 mins
 
Edition Ratings
Rated PG-13
 
Region Coding
Region Free
 
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
 
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1
 
Subtitles
English
English SDH
French
Portuguese
Spanish

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Unlike the first two films, the plot of RINGS has really gone its own way in the series.  I get it; the filmmakers have to keep things fresh or you’ll lose your fans and audience.  One thing you do get is a lot more backstory to Samara’s character in a similar manner to the first movie.  The video & audio are both very strong with clean pictures as well as a bold HD mix.  The are a few extras included but they sort of gloss over their given subject with no real depth. If you’re a fan of the series or you just love horror, I would check this one out but maybe rent it before you buy.