Hmm. Another made for television sci-fi series. Most of the recent sci-fi made for television series have been quite disappointing mainly because they usually run too short, are horrible condensed forcing the creators of the show to either A. introduce characters very quickly, B. have extremely poor set design, or C. have another random plot that has been done a million times over. While The Triangle plot is nothing brand new, the director by Craig R. Baxley with production by Bryan Singer (X-Men) and D…an Devlin (Independence Day) help bring a bit of higher quality to the project.
The basic plot to this mini-series is; A team of specialists races to solve the mystery of why an alarming number of cargo ships are disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle. Made by Craig Baxley and genre veterans Dean Devlin and Bryan Singer, we naturally get scenes filled with tons of FX effects. One of the more surprising positives for this series was the cast. Boasting such actors as Sam Neill and Catherine Bell, the acting level is taken to the next level. The direction was quite surprising with a lot of the scenery and acting feeling top notch. The show, if you didn’t know it was a mini TV series, could have easily passed off as a film.
Now of course there are some negatives to the series. Due to the running time of 255 minutes, there are numerous instances where it the show seemed like it had to take a quick sidestep to either introduce a new character or give us a small subplot that would never really get the time devoted to it that a subplot deserves. Moments like this really make the series fall a bit from an otherwise high throne.
The series boasts a lot of interesting characters who actually appear in more than a few scenes, a pretty neat twist on the mystery type plot and tons of effects that all equals a nice way to spend 3-4 hours of your time. Don’t expect the film to be a rocking ride the whole way through like some of Devlin and Singer’s other productions, but for a made for television show, the end result is just fine.
Video
The Triangle is presented in an 16X9, 1:78:1 Widescreen Aspect Ratio. For a made for TV series, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this show. Colors were on spot while flesh tones were just fine. A lot of locale selections, especially the ending scene where there’re flying over an ice barrier, is simply great. I did notice a bit of grain around minute 23 of part two but this was probably because of the brighter scene. Otherwise form this little mishap the quality was great.
Audio
We’re given either a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Audio Track or a 2.0 Audio Track. Dialogue was easy to understand while the sub got a nice workout from the booming lighting storms. The score by Joseph LoDuca gives the film that creepy aspect in some scenes while also providing a lighter tone in some of the less tenser scenes. Just like the video, the audio was at TV standards.
Special Features
One basic feature here
- Sci-Fi Inside: The Triangle: This twenty-one minute feature is your standard making of feature. We get to hear from nearly every member of the cast and producers. They inform us about how massive and time consuming a project like this was. As making of features go, this making of was pretty interesting despite being short.
Closing Thoughts
The Triangle was a surprisingly entertaining brief TV series. Even though the show took a while to get into due to the common mishaps and side-paths the show took, I did enjoy the whole show. The DVD boasts fine picture for a TV series while the audio is just as good. We do get one interesting feature, but it would have great to see a bit more. I’m going to recommend this only for sci-fi fans, as I don’t imagine many others who don’t enjoy this type of material will want to watch this.
Special Features List
- Sci-Fi Inside: The Triangle
