Best Laid Plans (2011/Well Go USA
Blu-ray w/DVD)/Hiding (2012/Anchor
Bay Blu-ray)/Red Scorpion (1988/Synapse
Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B- & C+/B-/B- & C+ Sound: C+/B-/B- Extras: C-/C-/C+ Films: C/C-/C
Now for
some new action product, including a silly 1980s minor classic or dumb muscle
indie filmmaking.
First we
have a semi-drama in David Blair’s Best
Laid Plans (2011), which is set in Nottingham, England and pairs a con
artist (Stephen Graham) in trouble with local gangsters and his dumb-but-tough
and strong friend (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) in what is simply a combination of
a Rocky-type story, formula gangster
tale and even Steinbeck’s Of Mice &
Men, but despite the combination of that, interesting locations, good
acting and good directing, it is just too much of what we have seen before.
I really
wanted to like it, but it started up as being good and promising, but then as
it started to run on in about the middle, I figured it was going to stick to
the obvious and rather predictable, so I just wanted it end and not go much of
anywhere else. Still, it is worth a look
if it sounds like the type of film you’d be interested in seeing.
Extras
include the DVD version, trailer.
Even more
problematic is the very formulaic Thomas J. Wright project Hiding (2012) in which yet another young person (this time a
teenaged gal played by Ana Villafane) witnesses a murder and has to disappear
and pretend to be a teen in another town with a different name. In this case, it is her family who she saw
shot, but gangsters (here they are again!) are out to get her if they can find
her. I was hoping for an edgy,
interesting variation on the scenario considering this was issued by Anchor
Bay/Starz, but it might as well have been Lifetime/The Hallmark Channel because
it is too safe, silly, unintentionally funny and very, very predictable.
At least
the actors were trying, though the end song is preposterous, especially
considering who sings it.
Extras
include a Music Video and five featurettes.
Finally
we have one of the last films of the “kill anyone in my way” Rambo-styled Cold
War leave-your-brain-at-the-door actionfest.
Joseph Zito’s Red Scorpion
(1988) arrived the same year as Rambo
III, which bombed spectacularly at the box office, only received a limited
release and only did so much business, though it is iconic of the era for being
one of the few big lead films for a then-young Dolph Lundgren (he had only
first appeared in any film in a cameo as a KGB agent in the Bond film A View To A Kill (1985, reviewed
elsewhere on this site) followed by his star-making turn in Rocky IV) and it also became a bigger
hit on home video. Having make-up and
gore effects by the legendary Tom Savini made it a must see for even more
reasons.
Lundgren
is the title character, a KGB commando (Spetsnaz) who the USSR thinks they have
under control and so, they send him to Africa to stop an anti-Soviet uprising,
but he soon realizes that Mother Russia is more rotten than he could have ever
imagined and as soon as he figures this out (and maybe hears the “freedom
music” on the soundtrack only we should hear), betrays them, loves his new
freedom, has a commando’s spring and helps the underdogs get rid of that evil
empire.
Since
this is not him teaming up with the Afghan rebels to battle the USSR, rebels
who eventually caused the 9/11 attacks, it has not aged as badly as Rambo III or the 1987 Bond film The Living Daylights (also reviewed
elsewhere on this site), yet the same “rise up against the big bully country”
is implied in the same spirit and makes for some interesting comparisons. The film steals from the Rambo franchise
liberally, but that is the only thing liberal about this, especially when we
get some still-brutal killing and body desecration. It does not look as phony as you think it
would for its age either.
M. Emmet
Walsh is here for comic relief and is joined by his Blade Runner co-star Brion James, plus the great British actor T.P.
McKenna shows up, so they have a better cast than they might get credit for
too. Interesting at times, but silly and
obviously predictable, all I could think of otherwise was “Weird Al” Yankovic
spoofing all these films in his amusing film UHF.
This is
the definitive version of the film on Blu-ray and extras include a reversible
cover for the case, colorful nicely illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text and an essay on the film by Jérémie Damoiseau, TV Spots,
Theatrical Trailer, Animated Still Gallery, feature length audio commentary
track by Director Zito & Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson, Hath
No Fury featurette, two video interviews (one with Producer Jack
Abramoff, fresh out of jail for his participation in a financial scandal, but
he has things to say of interest plus Tom Savini on design the make-up and how
he got involved) and rare video Savini shot on the set.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Plans and Hiding should
be the best transfers here, but they both have motion blur, detail issues and
styling choices that hold them back. On
the other hand, the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Scorpion is the best this film could
ever look, here in a new 2K transfer from the best film sources available. This was a medium budget film and they only
had so much money, even with the cheaper location shoot, but the film stock is
rough for its time, the age of the print can show a bit and some amazing work
has been done to fix it. Synapse could
not have done a better job as I have seen good, accurate footage of this film before
and this is how it should look. The
anamorphically enhanced DVD is fine for what it is and still better than many
tape copies, but get the Blu-ray if you can and like the film. The anamorphically enhanced DVD for Plans is
as good, with similar softness.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on Plans and Scorpion are
as good as they are going to get too, but Plans is the weakest of the three
films here with a limited soundfield for it is the one really dialogue-based
film and sadly equals the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on its DVD version pretty
much, though that lacks the warmth of the DTS-MA. That leaves Hiding with a somewhat active, if not consistent, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 that
is good, but somehow does not pass up Scorpion.
Scorpion was originally an older analog
Dolby A-type theatrical sound release and some of the sound stems sound like it
in sound effects and how weak the Little Richard hits sound, hits Synapse could
have redubbed from the remastered Mobile Fidelity Gold CD of Richard’s early
albums if someone had told them about that disc. Otherwise, the film has never sounded so good
and will never sound much better. The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on its DVD version is weaker, but not as full when the
DTS-MA mix on the Blu-ray is at its best.
- Nicholas Sheffo