Search - Godsend on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 2004 DVD Release: 08/17/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 42 mins Studio: Lions Gate Total Copies: 117 Genres: Horror, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Sci-Fi Horror See Also: Godsend [UMD for PSP]

Paul (Greg Kinnear) and Jessie Duncan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) have barely begun the grieving process when Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro) attends the funeral of the Duncans' eight-year-old son, Adam (Cameron Bright), with a pressing question in tow. Head of the Godsend Fertility Clinic, Dr. Wells claims he can use Adam's rapidly dying cells to clone a replica of the boy, though the necessary DNA will only be viable for another 24 hours. The process in itself is completely illegal; not only must Jessie and Paul be forced to relocate, but they will also be forced to sever all ties with friends and family in order to ensure the secret remains so. Within the space of a day, the Duncans consider the legal and ethical implications of such a procedure, ultimately deciding that their love for Adam is enough to trump the law and any high-minded philosophical questions. After resettling in an idyllic town near Dr. Wells' clinic, Jessie is impregnated with the late Adam's living cells, while Paul is given a beautiful home and a more than suitable job. Shortly afterward, the new Adam -- seemingly identical to the original Adam in every way -- is born and lives a life quite similar to his predecessor until the morning of his eighth birthday. A series of night terrors is the first thing to disturb the Duncans' otherwise serene lifestyle. Adam's violent visions eventually mutate to ill temper, and an aura of menace permeates the aura of a boy who had otherwise been sweetness incarnate from the day of his birth. Eventually, Paul discovers that Dr. Wells is not a pediatrician, but a geneticist, and that their playing God may have been a Faustian bargain of epic proportions. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Greg Kinnear - Paul Duncan
Rebecca Romijn - Jessie Duncan
Robert De Niro - Dr. Richard Wells
Cameron Bright - Adam Duncan
Marcia Bennett - Principal Hersch

Experimental genetics turn a young couple's grief into outright horror in Lions Gate Home Entertainment's release of director Nick Hamm's Godsend. Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, the image is near flawless, with bright colors, solid blacks, and virtually no evidence of edge enhancement or digital artifacting. Audio is offered in closed-captioned English Dolby Digital 5.1 and is free of distortion and hiss. For adventurous viewers who may be curious to delve a bit deeper, Lions Gate has seen fit to include a lively commentary track with director Hamm, who is aided briefly by director of photography Kramer Morgenthau in discussing some of the more technical aspects of the shoot. Hamm is obviously very interested in the psychological and moral questions raised in the film, and though he spends much of the time pointing out the obvious to viewers (plot devices such as the child's toy dinosaur are explicitly singled out), it's DP Morganthau whose commentary -- however brief -- will truly be of interest to aspiring photographers. Four alternate endings with optional writer and director's commentary offer a glimpse into the indecision by the filmmakers on how to wrap up the feature, and a few pages of storyboards round out the presentation nicely. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide