I enjoyed THE DARKEST HOUR.  It is pretty to look at.   You just have to leave your brain at the door and not think about the bad script writing.  It just seems people make bad choices and not act logical in regards to what you should be doing when aliens have disintegrated most of the world's population because they're after our energy and resources.   Somehow they come across a crazy old electrician who has found a way to build a electro-magnetic gun that can disrupt the alien's energy fields allowing people to kill them.

THE DARKEST HOUR (for those who care about the plot) start with two young men (the important one played by Emile Hirsch) who go to Moscow, Russia with dreams of making it big with their latest computer app that finds cool hot spots for people to go to.    However, they have their idea stolen by their annoying Russian business partner.  They decide to go to a Russian nightclub to wallow in their sorrows and hit on two cute young American girls (the hot brunette one played by Olivia Thirlby).    Soon The aliens come down in beautiful orbs of light to kill us all.  The four Americans and the annoying Russian survive, and they hole up in the basement of a night club for several days.  Once out, they make for the American Embassy and learn a Russian sub is docked in the Moscow river.  They begin their journey to get to the sub as the plot inanely plays on until the end.

THE DARKEST HOUR is an example of a movie that looks more exciting from the trailer and basically it is a movie to enjoy on a rainy day if you have nothing else to watch.  I wish the story made us care more for the characters and there was more to the story (and the journey the characters make).   The film has a good set-up only to have the rest of the film waste the promise the trailer showed.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio commentary by director Chris Gorak as he describes the difficulties and production tricks used while making the movie.

THE DARKEST HOUR: SURVIVORS is a eight minute short film showing the events from survivors around the world.  It doesn't feel long enough- it is only eight minutes long.  The ideas in the short film would make good to exploit for a direct-to-video sequel.

THE DARKEST HOUR: VISUALIZING AN INVASION goes over the visual look of the aliens and the visual effects which also notes that the Alien POV shots were the director's idea.   Also included are previz of a couple of the Alien sequences.

Rounding out the extras are three deleted scenes and one extended scene with optional commentary by director Chris Gorak.  One scene is sadly cut from the film (which would explain why one character ended up dying a few minutes later in the film), but the others were cut for pacing reasons.

The only extra not included is the theatrical trailer.

FINAL ANALYSIS:   THE DARKEST HOUR is B movie with an A budget.  The extras are good (even though the trailer is absent) with the featurette and audio commentary providing good insight into the making of the film.

this DVD review is (c)4-11-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com