Demolition
Man 4K
(1993/Warner/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray*)/Killer's
Game 4K
(2024/Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Men
Of War
(1994/Blu-ray/*both MVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: X/B-/B- Sound: B/B/B-
Extras: C+/C/C+ Films: C+/C/C
Next
up are three films with four big action stars, with mixed results, if
that...
Marco
Brambilla's Demolition
Man 4K
(1993) was one of the few hits in Sylvester Stallone's alleged
'comeback' period benefitting from the rise of Wesley Snipes whose
box office overseas was unusually larger than the U.S. market he was
from, a rarity back then. They play cyrogenically frozen prisoners
in an over-technologized future where people have been subtly
dehumanized and when Snipes' super-criminal is accidentally unfrozen,
Stallone's is the only one who can catch him, so off they (and we)
go.
A
big budget film with a weird mix of action, humor and bad politics,
the screenplay just goes bonkers and throws out anything it thinks
will stick with the audience (the dehumanization is an anti-political
correctness set of bits that is underhanded throughout) with Rob
Schneider further underlying things as a corny comedy cop or a very
bad version of the Keystone Cops who makes them look like real ones.
Sandra
Bullock becomes Sly's romantic interest and we also get jokes that
compare old (or recent when the film came out) technology to the
futuristic versions in the film, but some of them have not worked
out, blunting some of the intended humor. Snipes is having fun
camping it up, but the fight scenes are only so good, the plotting is
weak and it was never that good, but has not aged particularly well.
Part of this is because the makers could care less about any serious
future-casting and the film is as broad as possible, not helped by
the one-joke bits about corporations and everything named after them.
This
was a popular home video title at the time in many formats and is not
the demo it used to be, but it is a curio when you add co-stars like
Benjamin Bratt, Nigel Hawthorne, Denis Leary and smaller turns by
Jesse Ventura and Jack Black. However, they also add the the uneven
feel of the whole thing, but the film has its fans, which more than
justifies Warner letting Arrow go all out for this 4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray edition. Still, its not as good ads you might remember it,
so don't have high expectations when watching and maybe you'll
(still) enjoy it.
Extras
include
both the domestic ''Taco Bell'' and international ''Pizza Hut''
versions of the film presented via seamless branching
J.J.
Perry's
Killer's
Game 4K
(2024) has a rarity in it like Wesley Snipes as Dave Bautista is an
actor who can actually act, yet is also excellent as an action lead
and has several hits under his belt to date. Sadly, this oddly
convoluted romp has him hiring a hit man to kill him when he finds
out he is terminally ill. Since he has a ex-girlfriend he seems to
still like, you think he might just do something to make it look like
an accidental death and leave her everything in his will. Well,
nothing is that simple or logical here.
I
hoped this would be a surprise, but we get a screenplay all over the
place, a mostly unknown cast that never gels together, off turns by
Terry Crews and Scott Adkins, plus Ben Kingsley of all people turning
up in a few scenes with Bautista to help develop stability, sense and
credibility for the whole thing. None of it works and the hitmen
start targeting Bautista's ex in the film for some reason, so it was
going to be a wreck no matter what.
The
fight scenes sometimes work, but the choreography is not consistent
and Bautista needs and deserves better. There is also odd humor, so
it is game over for this dud, but Bautista is far from over in his
career and I hope he does better next time.
Extras
include
Digital Copy, while the discs add:
• Meet
Joe Flood
• The Conductor
• World of Assassins
•
Killed It!
•
and an Original Theatrical Trailer.
Perry
Lang's Men
Of War
(1994) is a Dolph Lundgren film that was almost stopped by a bankrupt
distributor, but this tale of a man (Lundgren) hired to lead a tea to
get some priceless jade from an exotic island by some dirty money
men, but when they discover the natives who live there are going to
be tortured, displaced and even killed, things get complicated.
John
Sayles originally was behind the first draft(s) of the screenplay,
but it passed on to others and became a somewhat reactionary
action/military tale that cannot quite shake off a certain sense of
Vietnam Syndrome and some may criticize its politics as racial or
racist, but the film has all kinds of other limits and issues just on
a level of predictability that hurt in when first released and it has
not aged well as a result. It did help Lundgren eventually move from
big Hollywood productions he was not getting the break he should have
had or have some of the projects (The
Punisher
in particular) work out, moving on to independent releases that he is
still producing and taking the lead in three decades later.
I
will admit that this was ambitious for its time and some aspects of
that have aged better than the film itself. Charlotte Lewis, B.D.
Wong, Thomas Gibson and Kevin Tighe are among the decent supporting
cast. Its just the script lacked support and development, or some of
Sayles better points were sanded down or eliminated. Too bad.
Extras
include a
NEW! Introduction by Director Perry Lang
Archival Featurette: "An
Unsafe Place: Making Men of War" (HD, 12:48)
Raw Footage /
Dailies of Select Scenes from “"Men of War" (SD,
9:45)
Photo Gallery
Original Theatrical Trailer (SD,
1:47)
2-Sided Artwork
and a Collectible Mini-Poster.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Demolition
Man 4K
was shot in anamorphic Panavision and much money was spent on it, but
in the process, it became a unique mix of sets, early digital
effects, pricey production design and 'futuristic' technology where
some of it has dated badly while other examples aged better than
expected. The result is a film that follows some good shots with
some bad ones, soft ones, more good ones and it never stays
consistent. Viewers did not know better then. Still, color is very
consistent and this manages to age better than most all-digital
productions these days like it. Newer films of the time sonically
include Alien
3,
Batman
Returns,
Basic
Instinct,
In The
Line Of Fire,
Terminator
2,
Stallone's own Cliffhanger
and Baraka.
The
lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) mix
tries to upgrade the 5.1 digital soundmaster (Dolby Digital in
theaters, though the sound is listed on posters, in trailers and in
the credits as if it were only old Dolby A-type analog sound aka
'Dolby System' in the advertising; Dolby denied DTS the codes to have
the film available in DTS 5.1 at the time in a bitter competition
they had at the time) opens up that mix somewhat, but not always to
better effect. You can compare to the also-included DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix which is a little richer in spots, so
the film had good sound design in its time, but not the absolute
best.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.00 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Game
4K is
an HD shoot that is not great, but has some good shots, while others
are nto great. Was this shot in 4K? The 1080p 2.00 X 1 digital High
Definition image on the regular Blu-ray is softer and harder to
watch, so go for the 4K if you can and you want to see this one. The
Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) is solid,
professional and competent, but never great.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Men
Of War
can show the age of the HD master used, but the combination of
shooting a good combination of Kodak and Fuji 35mm color negative
films in underrated and underused anamorphic Arriscope lenses with
Clairmont equipment does give it a more distinct look than the usual
indie film. A 4K scan down the line should bring out more of the
quality of the film stocks and the shoot.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix and PCM 2.0 Stereo
represents its limited, analog theatrical Ultra Stereo mix, a poorer
version of now-dated Dolby A-type analog sound and it is sounding as
good as the film ever will, but with more than a few sonic limits and
an aged sound. The 5.1 upgrade does its best to make it work better,
but only so much can be done, especially with its low budget.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
