Earth to Echo - DVD

Film: Alex (Teo Halm), Tuck (Brian Astro Bradley) and Munch (Reese C. Hartwig) are best buddies and simply inseparable. But their friendship faces a severe test. With their idyllic housing development slated to make way for a new highway, the three boys face a move to an uncertain future. They will no longer be able to see each other every day and will no longer go to the same school. It's a real disaster, and one that probably can't be stopped. But then something unusual happens that makes the friends forget their worries for the time being: they receive cryptic messages on their mobile phones that they can't decipher. Their parents can't be expected to help, so the boys set out on their own to uncover the mystery. Their search leads them to a strange object that at first looks like a rock. But by the time they find out what the strange thing is all about, they are already deep into an exciting, but also dangerous adventure that will change everything...

Earth to Echo tells a really nice story that was obviously inspired by classics like E.T., Stand by me or the Goonies. At times, the parallels to E.T. in particular are so obvious that it's impossible not to compare the two films. And that's where Earth to Echo doesn't really do well. Actually, it's not a negative thing that director Dave Green tried to adapt his story to the tastes and viewing habits of the younger generation. The decision to go with the found footage look, however, was not a good choice for several reasons. For one, the style is not followed through consistently. For example, whenever the little alien robot comes into play, the action takes on more classic feature film forms with typical film music and a somewhat steadier camera. Otherwise, however, the mobile phone video look dominates.

And this ensures that the film loses precisely the charm that made its obvious role models timeless classics. J.J. Abrams recently proved with Super 8 that a fantastic story about friendship, growing up and aliens can be told with classic charm and modern effects. But Earth to Echo is far from that. The mere fact that even when the kids experience incredible things, they immediately turn the camera on themselves first to recite some useless comment to potential YouTube users robs the story of much of its actual magic.

Surely, young viewers won't really mind. True, they'll barely remember the movie in a few weeks, and certainly won't cherish it as a fond childhood memory twenty years from now. But as an entertaining adventure treat on the side, Green's production may be perfectly adequate, especially since the child actors are fully convincing. It's just a shame that by desperately pandering to the YouTube generation, a potentially genuinely enjoyable story has been robbed of so much potential. So all in all, no real letdown, but the makings of an imaginative youth film classic Earth to Echo definitely doesn't have. For an entertaining DVD afternoon the shaky children's adventure offers enough entertainment. And for that, it just about gets a: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: There is nothing to complain about the technical implementation. The DVD's picture is very clean and pleasantly sharp, despite some quick camera pans and shaky moments. The coloration is very authentic and also the contrasts are mixed coherently. The audio is presented as a lively Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which provides some good sound effects, especially in the final third, for powerful use of the surround channels. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has featurettes on the casting of the children (approx. 6:37 min.), the truck scene (approx. 5:15 min.), as well as on the topic of friendship (approx. 7:51 min.) to offer. There are also a few cut scenes (approx. 5:17 min.), a short making of (approx. 8:45 min.) and the trailer for the film. There are unfortunately no subtitles for the extras.

Conclusion: Earth to Echo seems a bit like the YouTube version of E.T. crossed with a dash of Super 8. The pandering to the young mobile video generation costs the film much of the potential charm of what is, in itself, a fine story. For short-lived entertainment for a rather young audience, it may be enough. However, Earth to Echo definitely does not have what it takes to become a youth film classic in the style of its great predecessors. The DVD presents the film in good picture and sound quality and also the bonus material is completely in order. This is altogether just enough for a: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp