In the 23rd Century, Earth’s natural resources have been exhausted by mankind and battle rages between the soldiers of the world’s four leading corporations: Capitol, Bauhaus, Mishima and Imperial. In an era marked by warfare and social regression, the earth is on the verge of ruin. Amidst heavy combat, an errant shell shatters an ancient buried seal releasing a horrific mutant army from its eternal prison deep within the earth. As the mutant scourge threatens human extinction, a single squad of soldiers descends into the earth to fulfil the ages-old prophecy of the Mutant Chronicles and save mankind...

Mutant Chronicles is a science fiction adventure film starring Thomas Jane (The Punisher) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy). Directed by Simon Hunter, the movie is set in the same world as the Mutant Chronicles roleplaying game which was first released in 1993. The year is 2707 and mankind is once again reliant on steam powered machinery after Earth's natural resources have been exhausted.

This reliant on steam powered technology is one of the aspect of the movie which was interesting. There are things including flying steam powered ships and massive cannons that rely on steam, but there are other things that use a new form of technology including a fuel powered shotgun and various assault rifles.

The movie opens in what looks like a WWI battle sequence, but as the film progresses it soon becomes clear that it belongs in the genre of sci-fi horror, while still retaining the feel of a war movie.

Extras include The Making of (1 hour, 47 min, 34 sec behind the scenes making of Mutant Chronicles. Highlights include the background information on the sets and environment that is used to make the film authentic. For example, we learn that the production had to travel to the Isle of Man in order to set the right atmosphere for the movies scenes. Also we learn that the sets were miniature models (although they were still fairly large), hand made with intricate moving parts - then to make them appear real CGI elements were added); Interview with Tom Jane - Mitch Hunter (2 min interview with the director, and not the Tom Jane at all, where he points out the fact that the movie, like the animated film Steamboy, was designed to revolve around steam powered equipment and vehicles rather than electricity); Interview with John Malkovich - Constantine (1 min, 51 sec) Interview with Tim Dennison and Peter La Terriere - Producers (2 min, 15 sec); Interview with Ed Pressman - Producer (1 min 22 sec); Interview with Fredrik Malmberg - Producer (57 sec); and a few trailers for other releases.

While this is not a movie that's ever going to set the world alight, it does attempt to bring something new to the sci-fi genre, and for that it should be applauded. An entertaining action adventure from start to finish.

8

Carl Simpson