Here is the story.

In 1974, the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) project sends out a message into the galaxy containing basic information about the human race and our solar system.  In 1993, they receive a transmission back from an unknown extra terrestrial source that contains instructions on how to create an alien-human hybrid.

Seeing this as an opportunity, the hybrid is created as a female and is given the name Sil.  After an incredibly rapid growth process, there are signs that Sil might become dangerous so team leader Dr. Fitch (Ben Kingsley) reluctantly gives the order to destroy her, but Sil isn't so easily dispatched.  The young creature manages to escape and Dr. Fitch is forced to put together a team that can both find the creature AND kill her before she can wreak havoc on an unsuspecting public.

The team consists of a professional mercenary (Michael Madsen), an anthropologist (Alfred Molina), an empath (Forest Whitaker) and a scientist (Marg Helgenberger).  All of whom have a single goal, to stop a creature that may have the potential to threaten the entire human race.

Species isn’t high art.  It’s simply b-grade sci-fi horror mixed with some sex thrown in to keep the teenage boys happy.  The story is simple, the characters are fairly one-dimensional and the dialogue is rather clunky and uneven.  And yet, I can’t deny a certain appeal about it.  I’d like to think there’s more to it than the undeniably gorgeous naked body of Natasha Henstridge, but maybe I’m just kidding myself.  That said, I should point out that the production is slick and as basic as the characters and story are there is fun to be had thanks to those both in front of and behind the camera whose performances are hard to fault.

Speaking of those in front of the camera, Natasha Henstridge in her first acting role had to really come up with the goods and sell both the naive and sexual aspects of her character and thankfully she pulled it off and with some style in the process.  Sure, it's not exactly Oscar calibre material, but her role would have been a daunting challenge for any inexperienced actor.  Much like the way Basic Instinct propelled Sharon Stone into becoming a major movie star, I’m sure it was hoped that the beautiful Henstridge would receive a similar boost from Species.  And while she never quite reached the A-level status that Stone enjoyed after Basic Instinct, Species certainly launched her career with style.

Back in the 90s, I remember Species as a guilty pleasure of mine and I'm not ashamed to admit I still think that way to this very day. 

Species has been presented at its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and at a high definition resolution of 1080p.  The compression codec used is the AVC codec.

The opening few shots had me a little concerned as there was a softness to the image that reminded me of standard definition DVD, but as soon as we move inside the lab, we start to see the sort of foreground and background detail that only high definition can provide.  Colour is pleasingly accurate and impressive although it doesn’t quite pop with the sort of vibrancy and depth that I’ve seen on the very best high definition releases.

The print used for this transfer looks pretty good actually and I only really noticed a few minor blemishes and specks which is pretty impressive considering the film’s age.  The same can be said for film grain which I never found excessive or intrusive.  I didn't notice any compression issues.

Overall, Species may not look as razor sharp or as three dimensional as some other more recent high definition releases, but it comes across very well and is a definite improvement over the DVD.

Species has been provided with an English DTS-HD Master Audio (Lossless) 5.1 track and a German DTS 5.1 track at 768kbps.

If there’s something even more confusing than the myriad of HD resolutions and frame rates, it’s the new audio formats.  The PS3’s current inability to either decode or bitstream a DTS-HD Master Audio track to its full bit rate is unfortunate.

But rest assured, even with just the DTS-core of 1.5mpbs at my disposal this is still a pretty impressive audio presentation for a film well over a decade old.  Dialogue is clean and clear while the music provided features notable dynamic range and power.  The surrounds and subwoofer aren’t excessively used but still come to life on the odd occasion especially to support the foreboding music queues and action sequences.  Especially those with helicopters!

Again, it isn’t quite as stunning as some of the more recent HD audio presentations, but I was pretty impressed with how Species sounded on Blu-ray.

I’m not sure I’m completely sold on this as it’s rather disconcerting to be watching an extra and then suddenly get thrown straight back to the movie sometimes without warning and with an alarming increase in volume.  Unfortunately, they seem to see it as a sort of “bonus feature of blu-ray” so I think it’s here to stay.

Now that I've had my whinge, it's on to the Special Features on this Blu-ray disc.  Annoyingly, only SOME of the Definitive Edition DVD features have found their way on to this release, and there is no HD exclusive content. 

• Commentary by Director Roger Donaldson and actors Michael Madsen and Natasha Henstridge

Containing a number of interesting facts and anecdotes, this is a rather laid back and laconic commentary as all three participants reminisce quite fondly on a film they haven’t seen in some time.  While they can’t always agree on specifics, there’s no doubt that Species was an important experience for all of them.  An enjoyable track.

• Commentary by Director Roger Donaldson, producer Frank Mancuso Jr., Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund, and Creative and Special Make-Up Effects creator Steve Johnson

No surprise to find this a more technical and drier track with lots of location and special effects discussion.  When they’re not talking about what’s on screen they discuss their careers, how they ended up working on Species as well as other projects.  As the film winds down, things get a little looser and some gaps start popping up. 

With four participants there is the odd occasion when people talk over each other, but overall this is a decent track but probably for the diehard fans only.

FEATURETTES

• Designing a Hybrid (480i) (15.48)

Here we go behind the scenes with the special effects team as they work on bringing Giger’s unique art to the screen.  Seeing the difficulties of bringing that vision to the film and working during the infancy stages of CGI make for an interesting piece.

• H. R. Giger at Work (480i) (12.08)

I’m sure Giger fans will really get a kick out of this.  Here we get to go inside his workshop and actually see him working on some of the designs and models used in the film (especially the frightening train).  Love his designs or hate them, they are truly unique and instantly recognisable as pure Giger.

The HD video presentation on this disc is without a doubt an improvement on the DVD version, but it doesn’t provide quite as much of a step up as we would have hoped for.  The audio presentation is very good as well.  The extras aren't overflowing but are of good quality.

Overall, it's a decent HD release, it's just not a particularly great one.