I must admit that I don't find 'LifeForce' as bizarre or outlandish as many others. Instead, this film simply takes the standard vampire legend and offers a science fiction explaination. The story opens with the discovery of an alien ship by the crew of a space research mission to Haley's Comet. Inside the ship, the crew uncovers the bodies of three humanoid beings preserved in crystalline containers. The containers are loaded on the reseach ship to be returned to Earth. Later, ground controllers locate the ship in orbit but when they are unable to make radio contact, a rescue mission finds that all on board are dead and the interior of the ship has been destroyed by a fire, all except for the three crystal containers with perfectly preserved humanoids inside. The containers are brought to Earth and soon the nature of the aliens is discovered. It turns out that these beings absorb the energy, or lifeforce, of humans leaving only the desicated remains. Authorities are at a loss to combat the alien threat until the commander of the research mission, played by Steve Railsback, having escaped from the ship in an escape pod before the ship was destroyed, is rescued. Only he has enough knowledge about the aliens to stop the extermination of mankind.
But, 'LifeForce' is less a story than a showcase for John Dykstra's ambitious special effects. The script suffers from plot holes big enough to run a spaceship through and the characters are little more than cardboard cutouts. The version of the film presented here contains 15 additional minutes of footage not seen in it's U.S. theatrical and previous video release. While the additional material does not correct this film's shortcomings, the narrative does seem a bit more coherent than I remember. Certainly, there is plenty of Mathilda May to see. May plays the leader of the alien vampires and, fortunately for us, generally eschews clothing. Also starring is Peter Firth a an SAS officer who, along with Railsback, is hot on the trail of the aliens. Look for Patrick Stewart in a supporting role. 'LifeForce' was directed by Tobe Hooper and scripted (from a novel by Colin Wilson) by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby. The score is by none other than Henry Mancini. Taken for what it is, 'LifeForce' can provide it's share of thrills and the effects are quite good. Just don't be looking for any deep meaning here.
'LifeForce' was filmed in anamorphic widescreen (Joe Dunton cameras and lenses) and this new transfer from MGM/UA is the first opportunity that most will have to see it as it was filmed. Though Hooper is not as artistic in his use of the widescreen as I have seen, the proper framing adds a good deal more to this film than the additional 15 minutes. The aspect ratio of this transfer looks to be spot on 2.35:1. The quality of the transfer is, generally, very good. The image is prone to a bit more graininess than one sees in the better transfers but this is minimal enough to not be intrusive and consistancy is quite good. I was unable to detect any changes from scene to scene than might give away where that additional material was inserted. Colors appear accurate and solid for the most part. Only one scene exhibited an appreciable level of chroma noise (side one, Carlsen's dream). Brightness and contrast are very good, as is sharpness and detail, important because much of the action takes place at night.
The audio is somewhat problematic. Though dynamics and range a better than average, the sound is often overly bright with an unusual amount of high frequency hiss. If you enjoy theatrical listening levels, you may find the audio on this disc less than satisfying. The Dolby Stereo soundtrack does, however, contain good directionality and a liberal and effective use of the surround channel.
This version of 'LifeForce' runs 116 minutes and the disc contains 24 chapter markers. As is usual for MGM, the theatrical trailer is included, though in a break with tradition, it's placed at the beginning of side one. One supposes this was done to improve the side break since, with the addition of the trailer, the total running time is very close to the 120 minute limit of a single disc. Personallly, I prefer having the trailer at the beginning. As it turns out, the break is still rather abrupt, coming in the middle of a scene, but does not seem as disruptive as some, probably due to the lack of background music or effects in this scene. List price is $34.98.
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