On DVD: The Lost Room

Starring Peter Kraus, Levin Pollack, Juliana Margulies

The Sci-Fi Channel has been supporting some of the best genre series to hit TV in the past few years.  Eureka is a light hearted sci-fi comedy series and Battlestar Galactica may very well be the best science fiction drama ever on television.  So when word starting coming about a new mini series, The Lost Room, I was excited, plus I remembered that Battlestar Galactica got its start as a mini series too.
 
The Movie
 
This 3 night mini series tells the story of Joe Miller, a Pittsburg detective who starts a the series by investigating a murder at a local pawn shop.  At the scene Miller discovers a special key that transports its owner to a motel room on Route 66.  In this room were all sorts of typical looking objects such as a comb or this key.  Once in the room these objects were bestowed special powers such as time travel or the key's unique ability to bring the key holder to the room.  The person is transported to the hotel by using the key to unlock any standard door.  Once unlocked if the owner steps through the door they step into the hotel room.  From the hotel room the key holder can step back through the door and appear through any door of any place they've been before.  If the holder doesn't think of a place they will be dropped somewhere random. Most of these objects have been stolen by a collector, two warring groups or some other eclectic character.  In combination these objects can weild immense power.  Of course most of the objects have undesirable side effects.  The side effect of the key is that if someone enters the room with the key and someone else leaves with it, the person that originally had the key disappears immediately, which is exactly what happened to Miller's young daughter.

It turns out that the right combination of objects and powers could bring Miller's daughter back so he sets out on a road trip to find the objects and try to use them to get his daughter back.  His quest drops right in the middle of two groups, one that worships the objects like religious objects and another out to destroy them.  On the outside is a wealthy collector looking to own all of the objects for himself.  Wile Miller doesn't care about any of these people he finds himself working with them, and against them, to try and save his daughter.

The series is dark and atmospheric and the cast is top notch with Peter Kraus (Six Feet Under) leading the series and Juliana Morgulies, Kevin Pollack, and Elle Fanning also turning in top notch performances.  This is a road movie, hence the Route 66 hotel room playing a part literally and thematically so sets constantly change and a variety of quirky characters come in and out of Miller's life keeping each hour of the mini series feeling fresh but still maintaining a familiar pace and tone.  Along with the excellent actors the writing is also stellar.  The creators have crafted a idiosyncratic little puzzle of a story that's dark, sometimes dramatic, sometimes mildly humorous, and at least for the length of the mini series intriguing and fun.  A lot happens in this mini series seemingly as set up for a full blown series so you'll have to pay attention because things often blow through the episodes like a tornado, a few times to the detriment of the story.  There were a few instances where more description was needed but not given.

Overall though, there's so much to like about this mini series that I sincerely hope to see a full blown series come from it.  If that doesn't happen I at least hope for another mini series because this one ends with cliffhangers and I'd love to see the story told to completion.
 
8/10
 
The Video
 
The widescreen presentation is common to what I've come to expect from television transfers, colors are consistent and realistic and black levles are fairly deep but there is noticable grain throughout the mini series and detail level is inconsistent sometimes looking great and other times appearing a bit soft and out of focus.  There are a few instances of compression artifacting too, not enough to hinder the viewing experience but noticeable still.
 
6.5/10
 
The Audio
 
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is suitable for this dialogue heavy mini series.  Dialogue, score, and effects are all well balanced and clean.  Even though this is a surround mix most everything happens in the front speakers with only a few occasional bits of music or ambient audio comign through the rears.  The sub woofer doesn't get any real attention either.  A solid basic presentation.
 
7/10
 
The Packaging and Bonus Features

The two disc set comes in a standard amaray case with artwork that should well represent the series on the case and on a foil slipcover.  It's not mind-blowing, but it definitely gets the job done.

The only bonus feature on the disc is a featurette called Inside the Lost Room, that runs just under 20 minutes.  The featurette is your basic marketing piece with interviews and sound bites from the cast and crew.  Character, story, and special effects are all touched on but nothing is dug into to deeply.

A commentary could have really enhanced the viewing experience of this unqiue story, but alas, at least the mini series is out there for us to enjoy.

4/10

This is another of the ever growing line of surprises from the SciFi Channel and I hope the trend continues.  Check this DVD out.  If enough people give it a spin maybe we'll see a full blown television series or at least another mini to tie it all up.

Overall ( Not an Average) 7/10
 
The Review
The Show 8/10
The Video 6.5/10
The Audio 7/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 4/10
Overall ( Not an Average) 7/10

-Stephen Lackey