(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that's transporting him.”
On paper and perhaps in pre-production, Jason X (2001) likely had potential.
You see, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see fundamental similarities between, say, the unstoppable killing machine that is Jason Voorhees and Ridley Scott’s Xenomorphs, those otherworldly creatures that figure prominently into the wider Alien film franchise. Both are relentless in their pursuit of blood, and both possess the ability to practically defy death at every turn. Even when one of the hunted on screen believe they’ve turned a corner, lo and behold something develops to the benefit of the hunters, putting them in the unique position to continually rule the day. So, it’s easy to see why when screenwriters Todd Farmer and Victor Miller pitched the scheme to Friday The 13th’s producer Sean S. Cunningham saw the dollar signs in his eyes and ordered them to ‘go for it.’ What could possibly go wrong?
Well … a lesser picture could’ve been made, and sadly that’s what happened.
Any amount of reading into the early production days of Jason X will also inform you that New Line Cinema and Cunningham found themselves kinda/sorta somewhat painted into a corner over the development of this chapter in the continuing bloody saga. As I’ve come to understand, all involved firmly believed that the next time Voorhees would be seen on the screen would have been to take part in the ultimate theatrical showdown: our dreaded antihero had died a grisly death in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993), and that flick’s closing scenes had promised a forthcoming matchup – in the afterlife – between him and Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare On Elm Street’s franchise. Alas, all of those contractual arrangements – along with the perfect script – took longer than anticipated, leaving producers with a quandary: how long can we let sleeping dogs lie when money was ripe for the picking? Into this debate, Cunningham and his cohorts opted to go ahead with Jason X, knowing full well they’d have to sidestep whatever franchise developments were intended to occur between Freddy and Jason, so going boldly into the future seemed like a good idea at the time.
Sigh.
To accomplish this feat, Farmer proposed setting this film a few years into the future at a point wherein Voorhees had been captured and contained in the cutting-edge Camp Crystal Lake Research Facility. Modern science had uncovered the slasher’s biggest secret – he was, basically, imbued with regenerative DNA, which accounts for mankind’s inability to significantly harm him in any way. Naturally, the U.S. military wants a chance to crack that genetic code; but their attempt to transport him to a base for further study goes awry, with Jason getting the upper hand by establishing an early kill count within the feature’s opening moments. However, Dr. Rowan (played by Lexa Doig) manages to outsmart Voorhees by cornering him in a cryogenic chamber. Little does she realize that an unfortunate leak will her have her joining the worst camper ever on their very own Rip Van Winkle trip into the 24th century.
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that's transporting him.”
On paper and perhaps in pre-production, Jason X (2001) likely had potential.
You see, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see fundamental similarities between, say, the unstoppable killing machine that is Jason Voorhees and Ridley Scott’s Xenomorphs, those otherworldly creatures that figure prominently into the wider Alien film franchise. Both are relentless in their pursuit of blood, and both possess the ability to practically defy death at every turn. Even when one of the hunted on screen believe they’ve turned a corner, lo and behold something develops to the benefit of the hunters, putting them in the unique position to continually rule the day. So, it’s easy to see why when screenwriters Todd Farmer and Victor Miller pitched the scheme to Friday The 13th’s producer Sean S. Cunningham saw the dollar signs in his eyes and ordered them to ‘go for it.’ What could possibly go wrong?
Well … a lesser picture could’ve been made, and sadly that’s what happened.
Any amount of reading into the early production days of Jason X will also inform you that New Line Cinema and Cunningham found themselves kinda/sorta somewhat painted into a corner over the development of this chapter in the continuing bloody saga. As I’ve come to understand, all involved firmly believed that the next time Voorhees would be seen on the screen would have been to take part in the ultimate theatrical showdown: our dreaded antihero had died a grisly death in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993), and that flick’s closing scenes had promised a forthcoming matchup – in the afterlife – between him and Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare On Elm Street’s franchise. Alas, all of those contractual arrangements – along with the perfect script – took longer than anticipated, leaving producers with a quandary: how long can we let sleeping dogs lie when money was ripe for the picking? Into this debate, Cunningham and his cohorts opted to go ahead with Jason X, knowing full well they’d have to sidestep whatever franchise developments were intended to occur between Freddy and Jason, so going boldly into the future seemed like a good idea at the time.
Sigh.
To accomplish this feat, Farmer proposed setting this film a few years into the future at a point wherein Voorhees had been captured and contained in the cutting-edge Camp Crystal Lake Research Facility. Modern science had uncovered the slasher’s biggest secret – he was, basically, imbued with regenerative DNA, which accounts for mankind’s inability to significantly harm him in any way. Naturally, the U.S. military wants a chance to crack that genetic code; but their attempt to transport him to a base for further study goes awry, with Jason getting the upper hand by establishing an early kill count within the feature’s opening moments. However, Dr. Rowan (played by Lexa Doig) manages to outsmart Voorhees by cornering him in a cryogenic chamber. Little does she realize that an unfortunate leak will her have her joining the worst camper ever on their very own Rip Van Winkle trip into the 24th century.
Much like Star Trek went boldly into its ‘next generation,’ Friday The 13th wastes no time in reanimating Jason for the purpose of exercising his bloody Prime Directive. Pairing up his unquenchable blood lust with Tomorrowland’s science never quite awards him the chance to explore strange new ways of inflicting bodily harm – at least, not as much as a more creative script could have – and the killings are far too routine in the face of our obvious technological advancements. There is one fabulous demise which involves Jason freezing a woman’s face in liquid nitrogen and then smashing it into millions of pieces that is quite inspired; but the rest of the film lacks any departure significant enough from what has come before to truly be all that interesting.
Even worse, nowhere in sight are any men, women, children, or aliens who can effectively stand toe-to-toe with Voorhees to any lasting degree. The short parade of possible victims is about as bland as they can be, with the sole holdout being an Artificial Intelligence answering to the name of Kay-Em 14 who actually grows a bit more aggressive once her sexual subroutines serve up a logical epiphany which has her hungry for violence. It’s a clever textual parallel between her and Jason – longtime fans know all-too-well what effect the premarital couplings of others has on the seminal Voorhees, so it is clever to see much of the same desire to extract punishment emerge from a synthetic being – but it winds up hollow once the Crystal Lake renegade gets a cybernetic upgrade all of his own in the last reel.
While the picture ends on a saving grace – producers have found a way to position their signature assassin in the future where a whole new generation of violence could’ve been explored – Jason X really served as little more than screen fodder. It filled the time between the last installment and then-still-forthcoming 2003’s Freddy Vs Jason in order to keep the audience on the edge of their seat; and nothing more. Though I’ve read that X has kinda/sorta been forgiven over the years since with some suggesting it even has a cult following, I personally find it far too milquetoast an adventure on almost every level. What few bright spots it musters gets snuffed out deservedly in the vacuum of space, much like the sensuous holographic campers Jason beats the stuffing out of before going boldly where no man had gone before.
Jason X (2001) was produced by New Line Cinema, Crystal Lake Entertainment, Friday X Productions, and Sean S. Cunningham Films. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still attest that the sights and sounds here look very good: there are some obviously dated special effects sequence that may’ve been pretty standard quality for the era yet don’t hold up as well a few decades later. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Arrow doesn’t disappoint, shelling out three commentary tracks and a bevy of interviews, shorts, and whatnot. In order to be precise, I’m doing the copy-and-paste from the company’s press release original posted to Blu-ray.com:
Even worse, nowhere in sight are any men, women, children, or aliens who can effectively stand toe-to-toe with Voorhees to any lasting degree. The short parade of possible victims is about as bland as they can be, with the sole holdout being an Artificial Intelligence answering to the name of Kay-Em 14 who actually grows a bit more aggressive once her sexual subroutines serve up a logical epiphany which has her hungry for violence. It’s a clever textual parallel between her and Jason – longtime fans know all-too-well what effect the premarital couplings of others has on the seminal Voorhees, so it is clever to see much of the same desire to extract punishment emerge from a synthetic being – but it winds up hollow once the Crystal Lake renegade gets a cybernetic upgrade all of his own in the last reel.
While the picture ends on a saving grace – producers have found a way to position their signature assassin in the future where a whole new generation of violence could’ve been explored – Jason X really served as little more than screen fodder. It filled the time between the last installment and then-still-forthcoming 2003’s Freddy Vs Jason in order to keep the audience on the edge of their seat; and nothing more. Though I’ve read that X has kinda/sorta been forgiven over the years since with some suggesting it even has a cult following, I personally find it far too milquetoast an adventure on almost every level. What few bright spots it musters gets snuffed out deservedly in the vacuum of space, much like the sensuous holographic campers Jason beats the stuffing out of before going boldly where no man had gone before.
Jason X (2001) was produced by New Line Cinema, Crystal Lake Entertainment, Friday X Productions, and Sean S. Cunningham Films. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still attest that the sights and sounds here look very good: there are some obviously dated special effects sequence that may’ve been pretty standard quality for the era yet don’t hold up as well a few decades later. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Arrow doesn’t disappoint, shelling out three commentary tracks and a bevy of interviews, shorts, and whatnot. In order to be precise, I’m doing the copy-and-paste from the company’s press release original posted to Blu-ray.com:
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Again, as I’m only provided an industry copy of the disc I cannot speak to the efficacy of any physical supplementals – i.e. booklets, artwork, etc. In those regards, I can only provide the customary advice of “buyer beware.”
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Although Jason X (2001) never quite rises to the challenge of exploring its few good ideas (how was Jason ultimately captured and incarcerated, how did scientists crack the killer’s deepest and darkest genetic sequences, what did these dastardly experts hope to accomplish with such evil DNA, etc.), it remains the kind of feature which can be watched and mildly appreciated with one’s brain entirely on pause. One fabulous kill doesn’t make up for the fact that the rest of the picture is far too tame and far too predictable to authentically be measured alongside so many other impressive chapters in the franchise. Even as an oddity, there’s just so little texture to this one that I can’t help but wonder if the cast and crew would rather see it lost in space than resurrected for another attempt at building a legacy on home video.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of Jason X (2001) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- Original lossless stereo and DTS-HD 5.1 surround audio options
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Introduction to the film by actor Kane Hodder
- Brand new audio commentary with film historians Michael Felsher and Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton
- Archival audio commentary with writer Todd Farmer and author Peter Bracke
- Archival audio commentary with director Jim Isaac, writer Todd Farmer and producer Noel Cunningham
- Scoring the Stars, a brand-new interview with composer Harry Manfredini
- Outta Space: The Making of Jason X, an archival documentary on the making of the film featuring interviews with producers Noel Cunningham and Sean S. Cunningham, actor Kane Hodder and writer Todd Farmer
- In Space No One Can Hear You Scream, an archival interview with writer Todd Farmer
- Kristi Is a Headbanger, an archival interview with actor Kristi Angus
- Jason Rebooted, Sean S. Cunningham on Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X
- The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees, an archival documentary on the history of the character
- By Any Means Necessary: The Making of Jason X, archival making-of documentary
- Cast and crew interviews
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- Electronic Press Kit
- Theatrical trailers and TV spots
- Stills, behind-the-scenes and poster galleries
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
- Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
- Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Matt Donato and JA Kerswell
Again, as I’m only provided an industry copy of the disc I cannot speak to the efficacy of any physical supplementals – i.e. booklets, artwork, etc. In those regards, I can only provide the customary advice of “buyer beware.”
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Although Jason X (2001) never quite rises to the challenge of exploring its few good ideas (how was Jason ultimately captured and incarcerated, how did scientists crack the killer’s deepest and darkest genetic sequences, what did these dastardly experts hope to accomplish with such evil DNA, etc.), it remains the kind of feature which can be watched and mildly appreciated with one’s brain entirely on pause. One fabulous kill doesn’t make up for the fact that the rest of the picture is far too tame and far too predictable to authentically be measured alongside so many other impressive chapters in the franchise. Even as an oddity, there’s just so little texture to this one that I can’t help but wonder if the cast and crew would rather see it lost in space than resurrected for another attempt at building a legacy on home video.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of Jason X (2001) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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