Two Words, One Answer.
Russell Crowe
 No Way Back $14.94 I actually missed this film altogether from cable to VHS to DVD, but once I saw a Blu release I thought it might be worth a shot. This film must have had a place in the 90s action genre library, but it had no place being saved here (in HD) other than to record Crowe's earlier works. The film content is laughable, and the amount of flubs and mistakes were the highest I have seen in virtually any 90s film of this genre. So I skipped finding everything wrong and instead went for a quality review on the Blu end. Admittedly, this movie has loads of opportunity in creating a nice reference for Blu display testing; The deserts, skylines, color contrasts (especially that red flight attendant outfit against the sandy backdrop) and big action are ripe for being a sleeper. Instead Sony went the low budget way and did little to clean it up. The picture looked the same as the upscaled DVD, and the TrueHD was uneventful. The CGI failings somehow became even more prevalent, so maybe there was some edge enhancement done or an equivalent that ended up not producing a competent reference. I would have to say the opening sequence with Kelly Hu was actually the best test (red lipstick, pale skin makeup contrast). Was strange seeing the 747 fly below the Twin Towers, and then even worse seeing it fly through the mountains like it was a Cessna....anyway. No special features and not a recommendation unless maybe you never got the DVD.  Body of Lies (Widescreen Edition) $19.96 This was a really great movie. It never caught my attention before. It has a lots of action and shooting if you are into that stuff. I don't want to spoil it for you but I thought the movie was great and not a waste of time.  State of Play $29.98 The Bottom Line: When you walk away and think about the plot of State of Play there are a dozen plot holes and the denouement falls rather flat, but it works as a solid thriller while you're watching it, providing two hours of fast-moving entertainment without seeming to insult your intelligence; if you want a disposable 120 minutes of movie fun, by all means check this film out. 3/4 |
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