Out For Justice (HD-DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C+
It is
hard to say when Steven Segal’s career peaked, but the early 1990s sounds about
accurate and one of his few major A-productions (or is that B-plus) is the
competent-at-best John Flynn thriller Out
For Justice (1991) when it seemed his films would keep showing up and
becoming fly by night hits for years to come.
That gravy train ended sooner than he or the studios would have liked,
but Warner Bros. has decided to issue the film on HD-DVD believing his fan
following will be interested.
In his
one, he is a cop who finds himself fighting an old friend on the opposite side
of the law (William Forsythe) in their old stomping grounds of Brooklyn. All hell will break loose in a street war and
only Seagal can stop it, or at least take a bunch of casualties in the
process. It is more watchable than most
of the duds he made, but that is not saying much. David Lee Henry’s screenplay is serviceable
and Jerry Orbach also stars.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image was films in 35mm by Ric Waite, A.S.C.,
looking decent as far as the cinematography is concerned, but not in the
transfer here. It is poor, has all kind
of issues in depth, color & detail, making it as bad as Lethal Weapon 1 as the poorest of
Warner’s HD releases in either format.
At least the print used was not as awful. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix sounds at
least second generation with all the sound pulled towards the center of the
soundfield, but to make things worse, this was a Dolby A-type analog theatrical
release to begin with, so the many issues with the sound are long. The audio sounds second-generation all
around, response is flat, David Michael Frank’s score is so-so and not so good
here and both picture and sound need major upgrades. The only extra is an old analog trailer for
the film. This is one disc to avoid,
even if you are one of those Seagal fans.
- Nicholas Sheffo
