Unrivaled
(2010/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: C- Feature: C
As part
of a deal with the Tap Out franchise, Lionsgate is producing narrative features
and William P. Sodona’s Unrivaled (2010)
is one of the first. Hector Echavarria (Death Warrior) is a fighter who can
barely survive on the fights he has and early on, gets beat badly when his
rival cheats fair and square, but he keeps punching away, though there are
people who seem to also want to use him and kill him.
Then he gets
the chance to fight the champion of a professional league in what would usually
be a suicide match, but he takes it because he feels he has nowhere else to
go. Sounds like Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man (reviewed elsewhere on
this site), but it is light years away and the attempt after all the brutal
violence to go Rocky rings false as
well. This is just a bad formula script
that had the potential to be something better, but the writer should have
tapped out and let someone else take over the screenplay.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image has some motion blur, but has more
stability and more clear shots than most lower-budget productions of its type,
which helps the fight scenes. The DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is not as impressive showing the limits of
the budget, a lack of soundfield and sound effects that are just overdone. Extras include trailers, Tap Out promos, four
featurettes and interviews segment and commentary by Sonoda and Producer Sean
Buckley.
- Nicholas Sheffo
