Never Back Down: Extended
Beat Down Edition (Blu-ray + DVD-Video/Summit Entertainment)
Picture:
B+/B Sound: B+/B Extras: B
Film: C
Apparently
there was recently a robbery in Hollywood as the exact screenplay for 1984’s The Karate Kid was taken and re-dressed up for 2008’s Never Back Down, which exchanges Karate
for the newly popular MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).
The leads are re-worked as well with some newer, younger talent, but all
that aside… it’s Karate Kid all over
again, only not nearly as good and certainly not original.
The film
will of course find it’s audience as the world of MMA is on the rise and is
more popular than ever with stations like Spike TV playing UFC fights and
people like Dana White (president of the UFC) turning the sport into a
multi-million dollar show. I’ve followed
the sport from several years ago before it was as popular as it is today and
have always enjoyed the rawness of the sport.
I appreciate the athleticism and the competition of it, as well as some
of the interested fighters and their personality. Movies like this only trivialize the sport
and defeat the entire purpose of the sport, which is not to learn how to fight
someone just to win the respect of a girl you have a crush over. The integrity of the sport is in constant
flux and recent fighters are putting a blemish on the reputation that fighters
like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and some of the other fighters
help to create.
Again the
film here is far too formulaic for its own good and even Djimon Hounsou can’t
save the film. Hack director Jeff Wadlow
attempts to choreograph the fights in interesting ways that are really tired
and lame and bring little validity to the action scenes.
The film
is presented with a 2.40 X 1 anamorphic transfer with the Blu-ray looking
marginally sharper, smoother, and has superior color reproduction, but still
has moments of softness and lack of detail, especially for being a true 1080p
high definition transfer, but I attribute the lackluster look at times to the
production of the film, not necessarily the performance of the Blu-ray. The DVD suffers from looking far too
orange-ish with skin tones and blacks are not nearly deep enough as well. The Dolby Digital mix on the DVD is ‘beaten
down’ by the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio on the Blu-ray, which restores fidelity
and definition to the film, especially in the low-end presence.
Fans of
the sport will perhaps enjoying the in-depth extras that include some deleted
scenes, and a feature on bringing the sport to the big-screen, plus audio
commentary and a feature on the fights as well as alternate angles on the
fights. All of which are directed at
those who are more interested in the logistics of the sport, not just the entertainment
of the fights.
- Nate Goss
