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Category:    Home > Reviews > Crime > Drama > British > Mystery > I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003/Paramount/ViaVision/Imprint Region Free Blu-ray)/Missing (2023/Sony Blu-ray)/Training Day 4K (2001/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003/Paramount/ViaVision/Imprint Region Free Blu-ray)/Missing (2023/Sony Blu-ray)/Training Day 4K (2001/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)



4K Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B/B-/B+ Sound: B-/B-/B+ Extras: B/C/B Films: B/C/C+



PLEASE NOTE: The I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at ViaVision Entertainment in Australia, can play on all 4K and Blu-ray players and can be ordered from the links below.



Up next are two older crime dramas revisited and a new, different drama...



Mike Hodges' I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003) was the second of two films the director had made with Clive Owen when he was a contended to become the next James Bond, especially when many pointed out to some similar looks to George Lazenby. They had just had success with Croupier (now on 4K disc in the U.K.) and here's what I had to say about the film when Paramount issued their U.S. DVD (both releases have the same cover):


http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1783/I'll+Sleep+When+I'm+Dead


More than just a reprise of Get Carter or Pulp, it was one of those rare times that an older film I rewatched that I had not seen in a good while was actually a little better than I recalled, very rare indeed. Hodges was always a bit underrated a director and this great cast is in much better form than I remembered. Definitely worth rediscovering, definitely check it out.


Unlike the basic DVD, we get plenty of extras here including a Feature-Length Audio Commentary by director Mike Hodges and writer Trevor Preston

  • Mike Hodges and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead documentary

  • 2 Deleted Scenes (one with optional audio commentary by Mike Hodges and Trevor Peston)

  • an Original Theatrical Trailer

  • and FOR A LIMITED TIME, a Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with unique artwork.



Will Merrick and Nick Johnson's Missing (2023) is one of those occasional releases that is not a regular film or feature film, but a non-stop (a long 100 minutes in this case) onslaught of video screens, from PCs to laptops to smartphones and much, much more. That might work for a montage sequence in a real film, but gets tired very quickly and that includes here. In past attempts at this, the screens were cheap and soft. This might be sharper by comparison, but a train wreck still looks like a train wreck.


A young lady (Storm Reid) has her life disrupted when her mother (Nia Long) sees her happiness destroyed when her new boyfriend disappears. The daughter goes on line and searches, and searches and searches and searches for him, no mater how long it will take. Unfortunately, despite a convincing cast and some locales that never get a chance to look good or be palpable, I was hoping I would go missing so I did not have to keep watching this. Too bad, because restraint and a simpler approach would have produced a better result.


Extras (per the press release) include:

  • Deleted Scenes

  • Hunting for the MISSING Easter Eggs

  • Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes:

    • Storm Reid and the Challenge of MISSING

    • Misdirects, Online Crimes and the Social Media Mystery

    • The Screens that Rule Our Lives

    • and a Filmmaker Commentary.



Lastly, we get Antoine Fuqua's Training Day (2001) gets the 4K UHD treatment in honor of Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary Collection. The hit crime thriller looks great on the format and features one of Denzel Washington's most iconic performances. The film questions what is wrong and what is right as it blurs the line between being a police office or being deep undercover no some of LA's most dangerous streets. Washington stars as tough-guy Alonzo Harris who on the LAPD's narcotics force and isn't afraid to shoot first and ask questions later as he trains a wide-eyed agent (Ethan Hawke) and pushes him into the deep end of crime. The film was a big hit for the studio and later spawned a television series of the same name.


The film stars Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Eva Mendes, Dr. Dre, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Cliff Curtis, and Harris Yulin.


Special Features:

Audio commentary by Antoine Fuqua

Additional scenes

Alternate ending

Theatrical trailer

Training Day: Crossing the Line featurette

Two music videos: Nelly's "#1" and Pharoahe Monch's "Got You".


Training Day looks and sounds better than any previous home video presentation in this release and worth the upgrade if you're a fan!



Now for playback performance. Training Day is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with HDR10, an HEVC / H.265 codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and an audio track in English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix. The film also includes a 1080p Blu-ray disc with similar widescreen/audio specs. The 4K presentation is very nice with sharp detail and refined color that’s not as deeply detailed on the Blu-ray, even if it is not in Dolby Vision.


The other two Blu-ray releases here happen to both be presented in 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers, though Dead is all shot on 35mm photochemical color film negative and Missing is digital all over the place. The former looks as good as it did on 35mm film and the latter can be on the soft side, but is as good as it ever will be.


Both also offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes and Dead adds a PCM 2.0 Stereo track that is on par with its 5.1 upgrade. I liked the PCM slightly more and both are better than the compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 on the older U.S. DVD, but both sound fine, while Missing is as good as it will ever sound.



To order the I'll Sleep When I'm Dead region-free import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other hard-to-find releases at:


https://viavision.com.au/shop/ill-sleep-when-im-dead-2003-imprint-collection-206/



- Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (4K)

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



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