Bangkok
Adrenaline (2009/Image Blu-ray) + Hunt To Kill (2010/Anchor Bay Blu-ray)
+ Locked Down (2010/TapouT/Lionsgate
Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/C+/C+ Sound: B Extras: C-/D/D Films: C-/D/D
A few would-be
action films have arrived on Blu-ray and they are all too much like releases we
have seen before and too often. You
would think a better format like Blu-ray would inspire better productions, but
these might as well be cheap releases made for Betamax save the TapouT release
that simply does not work.
Bangkok Adrenaline (2009) is another lame, flat,
unnecessary exercise in the tired current round of martial arts features, this
one from Thailand and one again, cartoon gangsters are somehow involved in a
tale so inept that you hope everyone gets rid of each other so the mess will
end. To show how mixed this actioner
with too much comedy is, the co-writer is Conan Stevens, who actually played Man-Thing in the 2005 Lionsgate/Marvel
Comics disaster. His script with
director Raimund Huber is a dud and the few fight scenes seem too rehearsed and
are dull. Some of the martial artists
try to make this work, but it is a losing battle. A behind the scenes featurette is the only
extra.
Hunt To Kill (2010) is another vehicle trying
to make another former wrestler into a movie star, which is like turning lead
into gold; it never works. It will never
work for The Rock and it does not work for Steve Austin in yet another 90th-generation
equivalent of a bad revenge western, killing people for going after his daughter. Too bad they did not skip her and kidnap the
script. This is deadly dull, so bad and
everyone seems as bored as you will by watching this mess. A behind the scenes featurette and feature
length audio commentary track by Director Naomi Waxman and Actor Michael Eklund
are the only extras.
Locked Down (2010) rounds out the choices,
the latest formula TapouT production that is a disappointment, even for a
franchise that has some edge does not show it.
When it comes to fighting in a formula flick that has less energy and
interesting items than their previous releases, I expected progress of some
kind, but this just seems overly processed.
Vinnie Jones, Kimbo Slice, Rashad Evans and Bai Ling are interesting to
cast and likable, but the good cop on the run from being framed story is not
believable for a minute and the talent is wasted, though some more money may
have gone into this than previous productions.
Extras include TapouT promos, Interviews, Behind The Scenes featurette, Fight Choreography piece, trailers
and feature length audio commentary by Writer/Director Daniel Zirilli and Actor
Tony Schinea.
The 1080p
1.78 X1 digital High Definition image in all three cases are poor, with all
featuring motion blur, softness, unnecessary desaturation and manipulation of
the image, bad editing and problematic camera work and editing throughout them
all. Only Bangkok
has some good shots, but they all look as cheaply made as they play. All also have 5.1 mixes that all turn out to
be shockingly strong with good soundfields, saving them all from being
completely useless. All have DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes save the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 on Locked, but sound alone does not a good
movie make and for most involved, these may be the nadirs of their respective
careers.
- Nicholas Sheffo
