Neil Burger gained experience in the “Young Adult” domain when he directed 2014’s Divergent. Burger returns to that well via 2021’s Voyagers, a film that also uses Burger’s own script.

Due to climate change, humans need to find a new home, and in 2063, scientists locate one. However, this planet will take 86 years to reach, so the mission out there comes populated with excellent specimens who will reproduce on-board and then allow their grandkids to colonize the planet.

To facilitate this, those behind the plan breed and raise kids in isolation so they’ll be prepared for the rigors of their lonely trek. When the ship finally departs, Richard (Colin Farrell) goes along to supervise and help the crew navigate various obstacles.

To keep order on the craft, Richard makes sure the kids take libido-suppressing drugs. When the crewmembers hit their late teens and discover this, they stage a rebellion, one that impacts the mission as a whole.

Stories in which humans attempt to colonize other worlds have been around for decades. If a film like Voyagers intends to succeed, it needs to find a new spin on that tale.

Voyagers doesn’t.

Indeed, the movie wears its influences broadly. Mainly we find a mix of Lord of the Flies and 2001: A Space Odyssey, with a little Alien thrown in for good measure.

At no point does Voyagers ever threaten to develop its own identity, and it gets more and more tedious as it proceeds. While the movie sets up its premise in a reasonable manner, it gradually becomes less compelling and more trite.

Some of this stems from the way Burger seems determined to cram “Young Adult” clichés into the film. Rather than explore the topics in a more dynamic manner, eventually we feel like we wind up in just another teen movie.

Voyagers wants to explore deeper issues such as nature vs. nurture and elements of the human identity, but it never finds the depth to go anywhere with these. Instead, it treats the topics in a simplistic manner that fails to find any insights.

It doesn’t help that Voyagers eventually channels Trump for its depiction of its antagonist. I get that the horrors of the Trump era will echo for years, but Burger shoehorns in these parallels in an awkward, obvious manner.

All of this makes Voyagers a slow, predictable journey to nowhere. While the film comes with potential positives, it fails to develop in an appealing, intelligent manner.

Voyagers appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a positive presentation.

Sharpness worked fine. The occasional slightly soft wider shot emerged, but I felt the majority of the movie offered nice clarity.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects materialized, and edge haloes were absent. Source flaws failed to become a factor here.

In terms of palette, Voyagers went with a stylized look. In an unsurprising move, the film emphasized teal to a substantial degree, with some reds and ambers tossed in as well. Those tones seemed acceptable given their limitations.

Blacks were reasonably dark and tight, while shadows showed decent to good delineation. Overall, the image looked fine, as it accurately reproduced the source.

When I examined the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Voyagers, I thought it was moderately active and involving, as the mix used music and atmosphere to nice advantage. These elements created a good sense of place and movement that brought us an engaging soundscape, with the best material found in the smattering of action sequences.

Audio quality was fine. Speech was reasonably crisp and natural, and effects showed good punch.

Music was also clear and full. The soundtrack didn’t excel but it connected with the story in an appropriate manner.

Five featurettes appear here, and Born For This runs 11 minutes, 12 seconds. It brings notes from writer/director Neil Burger, producer Basil Iwanyk, and actors Tye Sheridan, Colin Farrell, Lily-Rose Depp, Madison Hu, Quinetssa Swindell, Fionn Whitehead, Archie Madekwe, Chante Adams, Viveik Kaira, Issac Hempstead Wright and Wren Lee.

“Born” looks at story/characters as well as cast and performances. Some fluff materializes, but we get a decent look at the topics.

Against Type lasts seven minutes, 21 seconds and includes Depp, Burger, Sheridan, Swindell, Wright, Hu, crew coach Billy Budd, and actor Archie Renaux,

“Type” covers the depiction of the characters’ mundane lives and then more animal sides. It feels like an offspring of “Born” and becomes a reasonably good piece.

Next comes Survival of the Fittest, a four-minute, 38-second program with Burger, Hu, Depp, Lee, Farrell, Renaux, Whitehead, Swindell, and stunt coordinator Jordi Casares.

Here we learn about stunts and the movie’s more physical moments. With its emphasis on the cast, this continues to seem like an extension of the first two shows, but it still adds useful material.

On the Surface spans nine minutes, 42 seconds and delivers material from Burger, Sheridan, Iwanyk, Farrell, Depp, Whitehead, Madekwe, Swindell, Hu, Renaux, supervising art director Kevin Houlihan, director of photography Enriqie Chediak, and costume designers Pierre Bohanna and Bojana Nikitovic.

“Surface” covers set and visual design as well as photography and costumes. It digs into informative domains.

Finally, Hidden Chambers goes for seven minutes, 20 seconds and features Houlihan as he takes us on a tour of the movie’s spacecraft sets. This becomes a fun exploration.

As a sci-fi exploration of the nature of humanity, Voyagers boasts the bones of a compelling tale. Unfortunately, it squanders that potential to become just another trite “Young Adult” melodrama. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio along with a smattering of features. You can find worse movies of this sort, but this nonetheless doesn’t make Voyagers an engaging experience.