6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
3 friends go rafting in the wilderness. Bags are dropped from a plane followed by a man in parachute. The 3 find the bags with USD8,000,000. The couple wants it and Victor splits, wanting to stay alive, out of prison.
Starring: John Cusack, Ellar Coltrane, Willa Fitzgerald, Jacob Artist, Ned BellamyThriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
There’s a kind of funny video making the rounds on some social media platform which lampoons the horror film trope of a beautiful young woman running in terror from a marauding (and in this case, hockey masked) madman brandishing a katana, with the joke being that the girl trips — repeatedly. She runs for a moment, falls, though nothing is there as an obstacle, gets up, and then pretty much just falls again. In this at least marginally comical clip, the murderer starts verbally haranguing her for her stupidity and ultimately just kind of gives up, with the girl still lying prone on the grass, attempting to get into an upright position. Whatever clichés Blood Money traffics in, and believe me, it traffics in plenty, a helpless female isn’t one of them, and in fact the character of Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald) in this film is about as helpless as a snarling Rottweiler. Blood Money is yet another film with a criminal foraging out in the woods, only to be interrupted by unsuspecting campers, in a plot setup that is at least somewhat similar to any number of other outings like First Kill. In this case, the bad guy is one Miller (John Cusack), some kind of former business guru who has absconded with several million dollars in cold, hard cash. Evidently Miller has subscribed to the D.B. Cooper instruction manual of how to get away with his booty, since he jumps out of a plane, but kind of carelessly doesn’t keep himself tethered to his loot. In just one of several patently predictable plot arcs that Blood Money offers, three longtime friends with some dysfunctional interrelationships discover the bags of bucks, and the rest of the film plays out as both a cat and mouse game between the trio and Miller, as well as a war of wills between the trio itself, since all three have vastly different reactions to this sudden windfall.
Blood Money is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The IMDb doesn't have any real technical data on the shoot, but the sole supplement included on this Blu-ray shows the Arri Alexa being used, and for the most part, this has a strong, sleek and well detailed looking transfer. The Georgia locations look nicely precise, with no problems accruing around potential problem areas like dense foliage or even more barren looking branches. Close-ups, which are repeatedly utilized, offer some excellent glimpses of fine detail, including a couple fairly gruesome wounds as things turn more precarious. The biggest downside to this presentation is the last act or so, most of which takes place in a darkened abandoned mill, where it's actually fairly hard to see what's going on quite a bit of the time, perhaps by design.
Blood Money's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers consistent immersion with ambient environmental sounds since so much of the film takes place outdoors, where breezes waft through the trees or the wash of the river the trio takes snakes through the surround channels. A couple of instances of gunfire provide little jolts of sonic energy as well. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.
There are a number of at least relatively interesting elements in Blood Money, but the entire enterprise may be undone by the familiarity of the underlying plot dynamics. Cusack is fun if a little mannered as Miller, but the film belongs largely to Fitzgerald, who essays a character you'll love to hate. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.
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