Green Street Hooligans 2 (2008/Vivendi DVD)
Picture: C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: C
Without
being co-dependent on the first film and standing on its own, Jesse Johnson’s Green Street Hooligans 2 (2008) is a
somewhat ambitious, somewhat watchable tale of prison gang life that starts out
very badly, seems like it will be a cliché fest, then turns around and suddenly
becomes watchable out of nowhere. The
first film was an indie hit of note, but this (first?) sequel has not had that
luck, arriving on DVD after no fanfare.
The cats
of mostly unknown character actors do work well together and when this finally
starts to develop, there are some good scenes, but all that happens far too
late to save what could have been an interesting second installment in a
B-movie franchise. This is the “unrated
director’s cut” and can be graphic, but when all is said and done, a series
like Oz had nothing to worry about.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is softer than expected for a new HD
shoot, though some of the shots and locations are interesting. Color can be weak, depth a problem and a few
halos and aliasing errors are here. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix is not great as this is a low-budget film and the makers only
had so much to offer sonically, but we also get some compression and the mix
that is here is only so impressive. Extras
include a trailer and behind the scenes featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
