Fulvue Drive-In.com
Current Reviews
In Stores Soon
 
In Stores Now
 
DVD Reviews, SACD Reviews Essays Interviews Contact Us Meet the Staff
An Explanation of Our Rating System Search  
Category:    Home > Reviews > Action > Cars > Crime > Stunts > The Fate Of The Furious (2017/aka Fast & The Furious 8/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)

The Fate Of The Furious (2017/aka Fast & The Furious 8/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)



Picture: A/B+ Sound: A Extras: B Film: C



The eighth entry in Universal's Fast and the Furious franchise downshifts a gear and ups the ante in terms of action, with a lesser focus on cars than earlier films with F. Gary Gray's The Fate Of The Furious (2017/aka Fast & The Furious 8). The first post-Paul Walker entry as well, this new Furious has a pretty lazy screenplay that steals elements from several other stronger films and crafts cardboard characters that are seemingly invincible against weapons, car accidents, and bodyslams. Because of this, it's hard for there to be much tension because you know ''they aren't gonna kill that guy off''. This may as well be an entry in The Expendables (or more suitably XXX) franchise as it's that level of action intelligence and believability.


The cast includes Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson (aka 'The Rock'), Jason Statham (The Transporter), Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil), Tyrese Gibson (Transformers) and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges (No Strings Attached), Scott Eastwood (Suicide Squad) and superstars Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight) and a few other surprise cameos.


The old team gets back together again for a seemingly quick globetrotting mission, but things go awry when Dom (Diesel) is bribed by a criminal mastermind (Theron) who forces him to betray his team by blackmailing him. While his old friends know he is being forced against his will, they are seemingly helpless about the vast array of resources Theron possesses not to mention the cunning skills that Dom provides. Will the Furious unite together and get the bad guys setting up a potential four films? You'll have to give this disc a spin (no pun intended) to find out.


The 4K UHD presentation with HDR (high dynamic range 10-bit color) is up to the new format's new high standards with a 2160p high definition transfer and a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The film takes place in several exotic locations which come across in eye popping clarity in 4K, taking advantage of the HDR for even finer details. Also included is a 1080p Blu-ray disc with the same widescreen and audio specs as the 4K UHD disc and looks fine for the format.


As for those audio specs, the sound mixes on both discs are presented in lossless DTS:X Immersive Audio 11.1 sound at its very best, plus 2.0 Stereo DTS Headphone:X, DVS 2.0 Stereo lossy Dolby Digital, Spanish and French (Canadian) and DTS Digital Surround 5.1. For a film of this type, this could be a good demo disc to show off in terms of sound and picture to impress your friends, relatives, etc.


One odd choice for this release is an extended cut of the film that is only available to watch on the Digital UV copy. You think they would have made this cut available on the more expensive and luxurious 4K Ultra HD, but alas, they want you to watch the film in lesser quality on digital?



Special Features...


The Cuban Spirit - As the first major studio motion picture to shoot in Cuba in decades, the country's effusive spirit permeates the making of the film. (Blu-ray exclusive)


In The Family - How the family of the series characters are tested in the film. (Blu-ray exclusive)


Car Culture - A compendium of the supercharged vehicles showcased in the film. (Blu-ray exclusive)


All About The Stunts - Behind the scenes to see how the largest stunts in the franchise's history were pulled off.


Extended Fight Scenes


and Feature Commentary with Director F. Gary Gray



Another entry in a franchise that is becoming formulaic more than it would like to admit. However, with the explosions, stars, and high budget nature of it all, it's sure to attract big home video revenue. Expect all seven prior film to be reissued in the 4K Ultra HD format as well, a process that has already begun.



- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/


Marketplace


 
 Copyright © MMIII through MMX fulvuedrive-in.com