6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Follows a rookie Detroit African-American female cop who stumbles upon corrupt officers who are murdering a drug dealer, an incident captured by her body cam. They pursue her through the night in an attempt to destroy the footage, but to make matters worse, they've tipped off a criminal gang that she's responsible for the dealer's death.
Starring: Frank Grillo, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Mike Colter, Tyrese GibsonCrime | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish VO
English, English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
With a tagline that reads “Nowhere to run. No one to trust,” one could reasonably expect to add the extension “no originality to be found” by the time the credits roll. But Director Deon Taylor’s (Meet the Blacks, The Intruder) Black and Blue proves itself to be a tense, timely Thriller with some familiar overtones but enough filmmaking energy, forward momentum, and characterization to elevate above and beyond its generic outward appearance. Frankly, at least that part of the marketing for the movie stinks, because even though there’s some cookie cutter bits and pieces, Black and Blue skillfully paints an engrossing yet bleak picture of law enforcement meets the violence and corruption it's charged with combatting. The high yield action and nonstop cat-and-mouse chase harmoniously work with one cop's pursuit of justice to her own personal detriment, physical and emotional alike.
Black and Blue's 1080p transfer borders on pristine. The digitally photographed motion picture shines at the 1080p resolution. Low light noise is a fairly regular, though not usually bothersome, visual accompaniment. Mild banding pops up here and there but it's exceedingly rare overall. Image clarity is wonderful and textural fidelity is superb. Viewers will appreciate the ease and efficiency with which complex skin, clothing, and environmental details showcase dense, realistic intricacies. Blood, sweat, grime, and other characteristics excel in close-up. World details are firm and fine and help draw the viewer into the movie's many urban environments. The picture holds intense sharpness for the duration. Colors are terrifically saturated and true. Tones are committed to intensity but believability at the same time. The image does not run hot, but it's not timid about pushing contrast a bit for effect. Tones are dense and enjoy fruitful, complimentary balance in light and dark scenes alike. Skin tones appear accurate and black levels hold firm. This is another A-grade new release from Sony.
Black and Blue's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a full-bodied sonic experience. The track opens to reveal pinpoint din at the police station in the first several minutes, immersing the listener into the environment as slamming lockers, chatter, radio signals, and other details breathe life into a sonically complex landscape. Likewise, gathered crowd din in chapter three pulls the listener into a tense situation. The track always demonstrates expert command of its space and proves more than capable of matching on-screen action with precisely engineered and delivered sound effects. Action scenes are the highlight, though. A gunshot terrifyingly pierces the stage at the 19-minute mark, followed by another; these are the two that set the story into motion. Terrific reverb and spacial fill define the pair as heard from West's perspective. Later in chapters 10 and 13 fully automatic gunfire tears through the stage with zipping movement and weighty depth, both examples of the track's ability to blend intensity and clarity, depth and surround engagement, with ease. Musical fidelity and spacing are perfect, as is dialogue reproduction.
Sony's Blu-ray release of Black and Blue includes two featurettes and several deleted scenes. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included
with
purchase. A DVD copy is not. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.
Black and Blue comes nowhere near to the best of the "corrupt cop" genre -- that title still belongs to Antoine Fuqua's mesmerizing Training Day -- but Deon Taylor certainly exceeds expectations with what is a taut, tense, and very well balanced journey into corruption and violence. A well-rounded story, excellent technical merits, and high quality performances lift Black and Blue well beyond its generic outward appearance. Sony's Blu-ray is a little shorter on extras than ideal -- a Taylor commentary would have been most welcome -- but the A/V presentation is very good. Highly recommended.
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