Borderlands Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Borderlands Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 26, 2024

Variety just published an article detailing a perhaps surprisingly unbroken run of unmitigated box office disasters released by Lionsgate over the past several months, and though that old adage states "there's no such thing as bad publicity", it probably stung the creative folks behind Borderlands just a bit that their film was singled out in the article with both a still from the movie as well as that all important "star billing" (i.e., the film is mentioned first in the article's list of Lionsgate's flops). Borderlands is a big, colorful, flashy and often extremely noisy film, and for those who are content to coast on a series of baroque visuals, cartoonish characters and an almost overwhelming sound design, it may well suffice perfectly well for an hour and half's entertainment. Those wanting an actual story, not to mention the arrival of a perceived "tentpole" for an assumed franchise (something that's kind of hilariously hinted at in some of the supplements, probably produced before the film's abysmal theatrical exhibition performance), might want to keep looking.

For those who, like myself, are unacquainted with the video game version of this film, the good news is you don't have to have any knowledge of the game, its setting(s), or its characters to follow the narrative here. Whether or not that ends up mattering much is probably a question up for debate, but the basic through line here involves bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett), who has been tasked with finding a strange girl named Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt). Tina's Elon Musk-esque father, Deukalian Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), suggests Tina has been kidnapped by a rogue soldier in Atlas' mercenary group the Crimson Lance. That AWOL operative is a guy named Roland Greaves (Kevin Hart), but as things progress, the truth may be somewhat more ambiguous (if, frankly, never very surprising).

A background of supposed contextual history is briefly offered in some opening narration, which includes a mysterious stronghold called The Vault, located on the planet Pandora (not that one, unless there has been some pretty serious deforestation courtesy of Unobtanium mining, and, yes, that's a joke). That of course ends up playing into things as Lilith is forced to team up not just with Tina and Roland, but her estranged foster mother Patricia Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), Tina's mutant (and largely mute) "psycho" (an actual class of character in the story) protector Krieg (Florian Munteanu) and a cheeky droid named Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black) in order to figure out why Tina is so sought after and what exactly all of that has to do with The Vault.

The actual on screen story may not be as involving as some of the evident backstage drama during the shoot and then in whatever happened in post. Depending on which source is cited, Eli Roth was either too busy or wasn't actually asked to do retakes, but in terms of EPKs produced before any "creative differences" may or may not have arisen, one of Roth's now ironic statements in a supplement on this disc is that he wanted to "make [Borderlands] appeal to fans and to newcomers", and probably ended up not pleasing either group in the process. There's also some lip service in some of the supplements about wanting to provide backstory for Lilith in particular, but the film is kind of hilariously already stuffed with "Daddy issues" vis a vis Tiny Tina, so when it turns out Lilith has Mommy issues, the lunatic world of this story starts to become positively Freudian.

While the film obviously didn't connect with the ticket buying populace, it may find new life in home theater environments, if only because the production design, while undeniably derivative, is often quite a bit of fun. That includes what kind of comically may be things which supposedly suffice for meaningful character information like Lilith's orange hair, but which at least give the look of Borderlands some undeniable allure.

Borderlands Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Borderlands is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with Arri Alexas and finished with a 4K DI, this is a stellar looking presentation, no matter what one may think of the actual film. While I will cut to the chase and suggest those with appropriate setups opt for Lionsgate's 4K UHD version of the film, those with "only" 1080 equipment are still going to get an eyeful with this very appealing looking transfer. Generally speaking, detail levels are excellent throughout and the palette is really beautifully suffused and one of the film's strongest assets. The film is of course stuffed to the veritable gills with CGI, but most of that material is actually surprisingly sharp looking. Practical items like costumes and sets typically offer superb fine detail levels. Close-ups offer admirable detail levels on faces and other features. As mentioned above, the palette is one of the film's undeniable assets, with standout bits like Lilith's bright orange hair providing quite a bit of pop. Certain scenes which are either graded or lit toward certain hues also offer considerable vibrancy (probably enhanced in the 4K UHD outing), including the very early scene bathed in red where Tiny Tina is "rescued" (?) by Roland, or, later, when the team is in a quasi-sewer and things are bathed in a kind of sickly yellow green color. Despite these stylistic quirks, detail levels remain perhaps unexpectedly consistently strong throughout. A very light dusting of digital grain is probably more discernable in the 4K version than in this 1080 version.

Borderlands Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Borderlands features a pretty bombastic Dolby Atmos track, one that takes full advantage not just of "traditional" surround channel engagement, but clear emanations from the Atmos speakers, as in the scene where Tiny Tina rains explosions down on Lilith. The track is consistently alive with side and rear channel placement of all sorts of ambient environmental effects, and the interstitial action scenes offer some powerful bursts of LFE. Things are "turned up to 11" quite often throughout the story, meaning perceptions of dynamic range may ultimately seem somewhat limited, though there are some at least relatively quieter dialogue scenes. All spoken material, whether dialogue or narration, is presented cleanly and clearly. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Borderlands Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Borderlands: From Game to Screen (HD; 5:20) offers several talking heads including Eli Roth discussing the adaptation.


• Meet the Team (HD; 4:29) introduces several of the principal characters, with an emphasis on Lilith.


• All Aboard the Death Choochoo (HD; 5:10) documents some stunt material.


• Bringing Borderlands to the Screen (HD; 5:29) perhaps ironically lionizes Eli Roth.


• Badonkadonk Time (HD; 5:11) focuses on weaponry.


• Fashion and Action on Pandora (HD; 7:37) highlights translating the game design into the film.


• High Tech Hellscapes (HD; 9:17) looks at VFX and production design.

Lionsgate sent their 4K UHD release for purposes of this review, but it looks like this standalone 1080 release includes DVD and digital copies, and has packaging featuring a slipcover.

Borderlands Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe due to the fact that advance word was so negative about this film, or perhaps also because I have never played the video game version and so had absolutely no frame of reference, my "expectations bar" was properly suitably lowered so that I actually was reasonably entertained by Borderlands. Is it some underappreciated masterpiece unduly rejected by critics and audiences? Hardly. But neither is it a complete, unmitigated disaster in my opinion. The story is, yes, derivative and pretty predictable, but there are some fun characters and the production design and cinematography give the film an engaging look. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements rather enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.