Source Code (2011)

Director Duncan Jones' second feature (after 2009's MOON) and another study of loneliness and isolation within a science fiction storyline, gets a 4K UHD release from Studio Canal.

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal), a US military officer, wakes up one morning in someone else's body, sitting on a commuter train bound for Chicago. He barely has time to register what has happened to him before the train explodes and Colter finds himself in a dark room surrounded by mostly broken equipment. The only thing that works is a video screen on which he sees the face of Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) who explains the bizarre situation Colter is now in.

The train he was on blew up due to a bomb and now the bomber has set his sights on a bigger target. The problem is nobody knows who he is, but they do know he was on the train that blew up. Using a technique known as Source Code, Colter has to keep playing out the last eight minutes on the train until the terrorist is found, while learning some truths about his own situation.

With a jump in budget after MOON, Duncan Jones was able to deliver a complex but never confusing piece of science fiction that touches on elements explored in that film while also asking big questions about what reality actually is or could be. Gyllenhaal makes for a likeable hero and that, combined with a tight run time of 93 minutes, means that SOURCE CODE never outstays its welcome while also managing to cram in some science fiction concepts that might well have lost audiences if the film were in less capable hands.

Extras include a commentary track from Jones, Gyllenhaal and writer Ben Ripley, interviews with Gyllenhaal (8 minutes) and Jones (12 minutes), Five Crazy Things You Might Have Missed (only two minutes but I learned a couple of things), 27 minutes of Cast & Crew Interviews, and 24 minutes of the science behind the ideas explored in the film.

Duncan Jones' SOURCE CODE is out on 4K UHD from Studio Canal on Monday 20th May 2024