Destroyer
(2018*)/Golden Job
(2018/Well Go Blu-ray)/Keoma
(1976**)/Mission Of
Honor (2018/Cinedigm
Blu-ray)/The Prodigy
(2019/Orion/*both Fox Blu-ray w/DVD sets)/Scared
Stiff (1987/**both
MVD/Arrow
Blu-rays)
Picture:
B & C/A/B+/B-/B- & C/B Sound: B & C+/A-/B+/B/B &
C+/B Extras: B-/A/B/C/C-/B Films: B-/A-/B/C/C-/C+
Here's
a new group of genre releases you may not have heard about, but
should know just in case...
We
start with the big surprise on the list, Karyn Kusama's Destroyer
(2018) as Nicole Kidman takes on her darkest, dirtiest, filthiest and
most grotesque role as an alcoholic police officer with more than a
few dark secrets, a daughter who she is a bad mother with and so much
worse. Anyone used to Kidman's best work will even be shocked to see
how far she goes here going for subzero as a lost woman. Even the
makeup makes her look bad, making it some serious make-up.
The
film tells its story in mixed flashbacks that keep bringing us back
to the present where an ugly heist gone very wrong with money never
found is about to come back as some people have run out of money and
become desperate. She is already struggling with a long list of
troubles when she gets a special note that the ring leader is back.
Loaded with regrets, anger and often, alcohol, she starts to set up
meetings with 'old friends' and we start to slowly see develop just
how bad things are all around.
Cheers
to everybody for being able to keep each era and time period as
authentic and consistent as possible, something we've seen most
feature films not be able to handle in recent times. I like the way
this was shot and should be seen with Widows
as a solid set of back to back heist films, most of which these days
are so bad that they are boring. This one is not.
Toby
Kebbell, Scoot McNairy, Sebastian Stan, Bradley Whitford and Tatiana
Maslany help make up the impressive supporting cast, but Kidman is
just shocking throughout and when people catch up with this one,
they'll be truly shocked.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @ 36 MBPS digital High Definition image transfer
looks pretty good for one of the better HD shoots we've seen of late
down to its editing, but the
anamorphically enhanced DVD version is softer than it should be for
the old format.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray is well
mixed and presented down to the smart editing and some other clever
touches, something that is still on the DVD's lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
mix, but faintly by comparison.
Extras
include Digital HD Copy for PC, PC portable and other cyber-capable
devices, while the disc versions add Breakdown
Of An Anti-Hero: The Making Of Destroyer,
a feature length audio commentary track with Director Kusama and
second track with writers Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi and a Stills
Gallery.
Five
highly skilled mercenaries get together for one last job, to steal a
truck of medicine for a refugee camp from a foreign intelligence
agency, only to discover they have stolen a truck full of gold and
they have been framed and betrayed by one of their own. Framed for a
crime and years later they reunite to find out why they were
double-crossed and restore their honor. But to do so they will have
fight an army of killer mercenaries and fight their former
brother-in-arms who betrayed them in Kar
Lok Chin's The
Golden Job
(2018).
These
five mercenaries/brother-in-arms who grew up together doing any job
to survive, their only code was to protect each other and never
betray one another, but when they are tricked into doing a job and
things go south, they must find a way to survive. Working together
they become an unstoppable team with teamwork, tactics and trust, but
how do they defeat someone who knows all their tactics and tricks?
Even after getting free, their former brother has laid traps, knowing
that they would eventually come for him. Now, they must do the
unthinkable ...to hunt down one of their own, the one who betrayed
them for all the gold. Their former brother has had time and money
to surround himself by an army of mercenaries and impermeable island
fortress, they will have to fight through hell to get their revenge.
This
was like an Asian version of the old TV series The
A-Team,
but filled with more action, martial arts, fast cars and gun battles.
Everything was beautifully choreographed and was filmed in beautiful
places all over the world. The whole story is about the brotherhood,
how everything comes back the team, that no amount of gold can buy or
replace it.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is as
impressive as it can be for the now old Blu-ray format, but this is
the first time we post a Well Go title knowing they are going to
start issuing 4K discs, so we hope this one is issued early on. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Cantonese 5.1 lossless mix is well mixed and
presented, but maybe there are more tracks to the soundmaster?
Extras
include a behind the scenes featurette, action and location
featurette, the Brotherhood featurette, animated poster, music video
and trailers.
Franco
Nero (of Django
fame) stars in Keoma
(1976), which is highly regarded too many as one of the best Italian
spaghetti westerns ever made. Beautifully remastered here with a
wealth of extras, this is an exquisite release from Arrow Video that
fans of westerns will not want to miss!
Keoma
also stars William Berger, Olga Karlatos, Orso Maria Guerrini,
Gabriella Giacobbe, and Antonio Marsina.
The
story centers around a 'half-breed' named Keoma (Nero), who returns
home after being in the Civil War, and finds it under the control of
Caldwell, an ex-Confederate raider, and his vicious gang of
bloodthirsty thugs. He finds out that his family isn't the same
either as his three half-brothers have joined the gang as well. It's
up to Keoma to bring sense to his family and facing Caldwell face on,
in an epic battle that isn't too be missed.
The
film has been remastered in 2K from the original 35mm camera
negative, and presented here in 1080p high definition with a
widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1. For audio, there's an
uncompressed 1.0 LPCM Mono audio mix in both English and Italian
(with optional subs). The film is incredibly shot and there's plenty
of detail on the characters and production.
Special
Features include...
New
audio commentary by spaghetti western experts C. Courtney Joyner and
Henry C. Parke
The
Ballad of Keoma,
a new interview with the legendary star Franco Nero
Ashes
to Ashes, Dust to Dust,
a new interview with director Enzo G. Castellari
Writing
Keoma,
a new interview with actor and writer Luigi Montefiori aka George
Eastman
Parallel
Actions,
a new interview with editor Gianfranco Amicucci
The
Flying Thug,
a new interview with actor Massimo Vanni
Play
as an Actor,
a new interview with actor Volfango Soldati
Keoma
and the Twilight of the Spaghetti Western,
a newly filmed video appreciation by the academic Austin Fisher
An
Introduction to Keoma by Alex Cox, an archival featurette with the
acclaimed director
Original
Italian and international theatrical trailers
Gallery
of original promotional images from the Mike Siegel Archive
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean
Phillips
and
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the
film by Simon Abrams and Howard Hughes
Keoma
is a lot of fun if you're a fan of gunslinging Western action! And
who isn't? For more thoughts on the film, try our very early DVD
coverage at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/763/Keoma
David
Blair's Mission
Of Honor
(2018) had a great story idea to tell of how a Polish fighter
squadron joined the British flyers to fight off the Nazis during
WWII, how they never got credit for it and worse in another
important, untold story of the war. Too bad the production is
stilted, does not allow the actors to really let loose, has bad
digital work, bad process work for the flying battles and is not very
memorable from the images to the music and dialogue.
At
least the sets and costumes work for the most part, but you can get
that from stuffy British TV. Milo Gibson, Mel Gibson's son (yes, he
has a son) also turns up, but does not make much of an impact or
impression. Save diehard history buffs, this is a disappointment.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer has
a few good shots, but is often too soft for its own good, so
thankfully, we will not see a 4K version, while the DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is good if not great and the soundfield is a
little off at times.
Extras
include a Q&A with Director Blair and on set, on camera
interviews with some of the main cast.
Nicholas
McCarthy's The
Prodigy
(2019) is yet another entry into the 'evil child' cycle of horror
films, but this one is trying to be more serious, then lands up
backfiring on itself. We are supposed to believe a serial killer
dies at the moment a young baby is born and his evil soul takes over
the child for life. Taylor Schilling gets to be the mom who
eventually concludes 'you are not my child' while you'll say 'that is
not originally your line of dialogue' et al.
To
the film's credit, it treats the audience as smart, even when it is
miles away from being original, effective and this one has no
suspense whatsoever, so who knows what the makers were thinking, but
the most intriguing thing about this release is its cover photo. Too
bad they did not make a good film to go with it. Colm Feore also
shows up, but even he cannot save this dud.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @ 36 MBPS digital High Definition image transfer
has softness issues throughout that does not help it at all with
crush in the shadows that is annoying at times and much worse on the
2.35 X 1 anamorphically enhanced DVD version. They needed a better
HD camera or should have shot on film. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray is well
mixed and presented, but is too quiet at times and too flat at
others, which is more obvious on the DVD's lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
mix. Too bad.
Extras
include Digital HD Copy for PC, PC portable and other cyber-capable
devices, while the disc versions add a feature length audio
commentary track by Director McCarthy, Stills Gallery and Promotional
Featurettes.
Finally
we have Director
Richard (Doom
Asylum)
Friedman's Scared
Stiff
(1987) gets the deluxe Blu-ray treatment from Arrow. In the same
vein (but not as strong) as Poltergeist,
The
Changeling,
or The
House
films, Scared
Stiff
is another 'haunted house' movie that delivers plenty of B-grade
horror movie cheese, and some cool special effects.
The
film stars Andrew Stevens, Mary Page Keller, and Joshua Segal.
A
singer (Keller) moves into a mansion with her new Doctor Husband and
son. Everything is peachy at first, until they uncover some old
bones in the locked attic. The mansion soon becomes haunted and bad
luck spreads to the family members... all relating back to a curse
laid upon the land from many decades before...
Scared
Stiff
is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio
of 1.85:1 and a new uncompressed Stereo audio mix. This is a 2K
restoration from the original film elements and looks quite nice
considering its age and the fact that it was a low budget feature.
The score is synth based and very '80s, which adds to the over
experience. This is for sure the best that this film has ever looked
on disc, and the transfer is pretty solid overall.
Special
Features include...
Brand
new audio commentary with director Richard Friedman, producer Dan
Bacaner and film historian Robert Ehlinger
Mansion
of the Doomed: The Making of Scared Stiff
- brand new documentary featuring interviews with Richard Friedman,
Dan Bacaner, Robert Ehlinger, actors Andrew Stevens and Joshua Segal,
special effects supervisor Tyler Smith and special effects assistants
Jerry Macaluso and Barry Anderson
Brand
new interview with composer Billy Barber
Image
Gallery
Original
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible
sleeve featuring two original artwork options
and
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully illustrated collector's booklet with new
writing on the film by James Oliver.
-
Nicholas Sheffo, Ricky Chiang (Golden)
and James
Lockhart (Arrow)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/