Streets Of Blood (2008/Anchor Bay Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture: B-/C+ Sound:
B-/C+ Extras: C/C- Film: C+
Crime dramas are in a glutted period where most of them
play like bad TV movies or old straight-to-VHS cheapies, but that does not stop
them from being made and Charles Winkler’s Streets
Of Blood (2008) is one of the more interesting entries of late simply by
virtue of an interesting cast. This tale
of police corruption, murder and drug dealing in New Orleans has an authentic feel to it, but
can be uneven despite the presence of solid actors like Val Kilmer, Michael
Biehn, a convincing Sharon Stone, some other good character actors and rapper
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson trying to make a name for himself outside of his
vocation.
Some of this is what we have seen in a thousand film and
TV shows before, but this is done well enough despite its many problems to be
watchable and a professional presentation, the latter of which is lacking in
too many such releases. Kilmer, one of our
most underrated actors, steals every scene he is in and it is nice to see him
in more than a cameo as he has done more than enough of them. If you like this kind of film, you’ll want to
see it, but otherwise, only expect so much.
The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is made
to look gritty, but that is overdone as the Blu-ray shows to the point that it
backfires on the film somewhat. This is
even more of an issue on the anamorphically enhanced DVD that is weak and
sometimes hard to watch. The PCM 5.1 mix
on the Blu-ray is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 offering in both formats by
being richer and a more solid performer overall, but this dialogue-based
recording has its flaws, compression and limits, with limited surrounds.
Extras include the original theatrical trailer on both,
but the Blu-ray adds Winker’s feature length audio commentary track ands a
Behind-The-Scenes featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
