Altered - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Altered

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
We like to joke all the time that Hollywood has run out of ideas, and pretty much borrows the same story lines over and over again these days. And while I wouldn’t call Altered a Hollywood film, it certainly is kind of chuckle-worthy over the fact that the flick barely “alters” plot points from previous sci-fi films and pastes them together into what we have here today. Gattaca, Guyver, Repo Men, the MCU films, and countless other story lines are borrowed from, spliced together, and then wrapped up very gently and presented as something new in Altered. Not to say that borrowing is a new thing for movies, but the title of the movie is a bit on the nose, all things considered.

Tom Felton plays Leon, a man who lives in a dystopian future where the world has been split into two different factions. Those with genetic modifications, and those without. Naturally, those with the money for genetic mods are the elite, leaving the rest of humanity to live in squalor while the modified humans get to live in the lap of luxury. Leon wants to fight the system, but sadly, he’s not only left without any modifications but is stuck in a wheelchair as well. He gets along thanks to the help of his niece Chloe (Elizaveta Bugulova), but is stuck in a helpless cycle due to his disability.

Refusing to let this get him down, Leon gets help from the McGuffin of the film, a flower that has been born out of nuclear holocaust, and allows for the proliferation of modifications that the elites benefit from. While said elites keep the flower close to their vest, Leon is able to snag a cutting of one and uses it to create a modification of his own. Except in this case, he’s not modified himself, but rather uses it to power an exoskeleton he designed that will allow him to LITERALLY “fight the system”.

The film uses more than enough tried and true tropes, including calling the areas that the non-modified humans live in “districts” (seriously?), as well as the classic reveal of the super villain leader being directly linked to Leon himself. But despite the obvious alterations of more popular films, Altered at least tries to make itself unique in some ways. Tom Felton is having a ball with the character, and while he looks like a cheaper version of the Ghost costume from the MCU, he does well in the fight sequences. They’re not choreographed that well, and the stunt guys are doing their best, but Felton’s enthusiasm for the role can’t really elevate the overall production more than a quarter notch.

The whole class war and genetic modifications have been done to death, but what makes Altered so unique is that it doesn’t stem from the typical Hollywood productions. The Russian-influenced film borrows and copies a lot, but feels cheaper and poorly acted. I’m all for low-budget films, but this one just feels like it was an attempt at being something larger than life, but ultimately ended up being a passion project without the proper support.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images, and language




Video:

For once IMDB gives us the cameras used for a Well Go USA shoot, as well as the native master. According to said interwebs, Altered was shot using Arri Alexa 35 cameras and given a native 4K master for the home release (both Blu-ray and 4K UHD). And just like the 4K disc results are quite stunning, as this shoot aims for a glossy and shiny looking digital production. Complete with bright colors, rich saturation, and that “apple” white and gray look that is popular in modern Sci-fi. The CGI sadly is a bit obvious due to the budget (not shocking), and overall the Blu-ray disc really pushes the limits of the format. It doesn’t have as good a saturation level for some of the colors than the 4K UHD disc, and I noticed some very mild crush in the darker lab shots, but really, this is an exquisite 1080p disc. The fake digital grain is clean and free of any clumping or obvious quirks, and I really can’t complain at all with this encode









Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track (which is the same one found on the 4K UHD disc, so this portion of the review will be identical to that review) is one of the more active varieties, giving us a rather boisterous action mix that is more than effective considering the budget. Surrounds and overheads are always active with the whirring of the mechanical exosuit, as well as the swoosh and roar of ships overhead. Immersion is top-notch all around, and I couldn’t find any issues with the dialogue whatsoever. LFE is maybe not perfect, but it’s more than weighty enough for the action and adds some depth to the score when needed. Again, this is a wildly good track for a low budget Sci-fi film, and I can not really find anything wrong with it except for wishing for a little more LFE.







Extras:

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Final Score: ​

I actually went into Altered with the expectation that this would be a low-grade B movie, but potentially a FUN B movie in the same vein as many of the foreign superhero movies of the last decade. Maybe not up to Hollywood standards, but fun in a cheesy and silly sort of way. What we got instead was a B-grade movie that was NOT fun, but rather a chore to slog through. Felton is having fun with the role (he’s also one of the producers), but that is not enough to overcome the weak story and poor fight sequences. Luckily, the audio and video are top-notch, so fans of the film will enjoy the Blu-ray release, but for the uninitiated, I would HIGHLY recommend streaming it somewhere first before you shell out cash.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Felton, Aggy K. Adams, Richard Brake, Nika Savolainen, Igor Zhizhikin
Directed by: Timo Vuorensola
Written by: Timu Vuorensola
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, French
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 85 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 20th, 2026

Recommendation: Skip It