The title ‘Rogue‘ flicked across the 50 inch rectangular screen of my Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Plasma TV. I thought, ‘Wow!’ the title was displayed below the wide opened mouth of a huge crocodile along with the words ‘How fast can you swim?’ Now, that was interesting. I grabbed my bag of pop-corn and prepared myself for a 90-minute croc-a-scare.
The movie started on the usual lines of a journalist going on a trip to the wilds. The 1920×1080 pixel resolution of my plasma TV ensured that the image quality was perfect. This, along with the 31 watt power from the two surround speakers and woofer some how distracted me initially from the rather mundane story line. I didn’t sulk for long, though. Michael Vartan looked rather spiffy as an American journalist. Hailing from a sophisticated lifestyle, his initial shock at the cold faces of the locals of the Australian countryside is quite realistic. I couldn’t but help admiring my Panasonic’s slim flat panel display. Not bad, I thought. Not bad at all. It matched Vartan’s stylish French looks. Director Greg McLean made sure that he got the best of shots of the silent Australian backwaters well known for its high concentration of crocodiles and Radha Mitchell did a good job as a talkative guide cum boat captain for the ill-fated river cruise.
Greg McLean will definitely be a happy man if he gets to catch a glimpse of the 24p playback feature of my plasma tv. The pristine waters and the expressions of Stephen Curry, who plays Simon, an irritating prick, Kate( Radha Mitchell) and Neil, the clodhopping ex-boyfriend of Kate played by Sam Worthington are well characterised, and well presented by the remarkable plasma device. Rogue was probably shot at 24 frames per second and this feature of my plasma tv enabled me to appreciate it to the finest of details.
The tussle between the uncouth Neil who arrives in a speed boat and the cultured McKell was fun to watch, but the star of the movie arrived minutes later – The giant croc. The croc’s entry didn’t give me goosebumps or anything of that sort, but it did keep my eyes glued to the television, if only for a few moments. The 50” screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and advanced pixel resolution gave me quite a good watch of the 25-foot beast’s introduction. My eyes did not feel any fatigue either, mainly due to the massive 30000:1 contrast ratio and comfortable viewing angles and display brightness.
The movie has some popcorn-munching entertainment, if not a lot. I enjoyed the simmering romance between the lead actors. The croc succeeded in giving even a sceptic as I, a few shills when it started tearing up the cast, one-by-one. I couldn’t help but find a few similarities with “Wolf Creek”. I must say that I appreciate the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U’s video noise reduction and contrast auto tracking system. It enhanced the croc’s action in the untamed waters. The travelers suddenly find themselves stranded in a small island that is being swallowed by the high tides, as a result of the crocodile’s atrocities. The scenes that follow, as they decide upon an escape route from the sinking island were quite a watch.
The wild beauty of the Australian wilderness is captured well and the THX picture preset made sure that the TV’s picture was perfect and that in-depth calibration was precluded. I also liked the anti-reflective screen and the deep colour levels of the croc. These, along with the damp greenery were brought out effectively by my plasma TV. Francois Tetaz has composed some haunting tunes that goes well with the impending danger. The stereo speakers did their part to present Tetaz’s compositions well. During one of my cool-drink breaks, I discovered that my TV had controls such as “Surf Mode,” “all,” “favorite,” “analog only” and “digital only.” and decided to explore them after the movie.
The croc was on a killing spree ripping all but the substantial characters that in the end, you can easily guess who’ll survive. It was good entertainment, though, mainly due to the exceptional sound and picture quality of my Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Plasma TV. In the end, I remotely wondered if even Steve Irwin would ever dare approach this sort of a monster croc. Finally, I settled to laughed it off along with pleasing concluding theme, “Don’t ever smile at a crocodile”. I dunno why these movies always portray animals extra mean and blood-thirsty. It’s a bit unfair, if you ask me.
