If you were a watcher or you had some magical sequence of numbers that revealed DVD release dates and sales results, you’d know you should be prepared for a double dose of sci-fi on July 7th. Not only is Summit Entertainment releasing Knowing on DVD and Blu-ray, but Push as well.
First to hit theaters was Push starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle and Dijmon Hounsou. Nick (Evans) is hiding from an organization referred to as Division. He tries to use his ability to move objects with his mind to make a living, but is far from successful at doing so. With the help of a Watcher (Fanning) and a Pusher (Belle), Nick must come out of hiding to try to take down the agency using a dangerous drug to create an army of super powered soldiers.
Knowing made it to the big screen a month later. Nicholas Cage’s character is a professor whose son receives a piece of paper when his class opens up a time capsule. While all of his classmates get notes with drawings, he gets one with a series of numbers. His father takes an interest in the series eventually becoming so obsessed with the numbers people think he’s crazy. Can he prove to the world the accuracy of his theory that the numbers coincide with terrible disasters and the resulting deaths before the sequence runs out?
While both plots are convoluted and borderline ridiculous, Knowing holds your attention and gets you to care about the characters in the film. By the end of Push I was still so busy trying to figure out the different between a Pusher, Mover, Watcher, Bleeder, Shifter and whatever else these people were that the plot of the film went completely over my head. Push may be worth one watching just to see Fanning try to look less like a innocent child and more like a cool teenager, but not worth owning. On the other hand, your money will be well spent on Knowing. It isn’t the greatest disaster film I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly entertaining. The whole concept is riveting. Also, the major issue plaguing sci-fi and disaster films - the difficulty in creating an ending that satisfies audiences while sticking with the film’s out-of-this-world nature - is well handled. Without giving anything away, I think you’ll be pleased with the conclusion of this film.
There’s no word on the price of these films in the press release, but Amazon has a $26.99 list price for the DVD and $34.00 for the Blu-ray of both films. The release does mention the modest selection of bonus material they will have. Knowing has director commentary and two featurettes: “Visions of the Apocalypse” and “The Making of a Futuristic Thriller.” Push has deleted scenes with director commentary, “The Science Behind the Fiction” and director and cast commentary. Fox should have used Blu-ray advancements to include some sort of cartoon bubble explanations on Push.
