6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
After a blood-soaked jujitsu match in Dubai, fighting legend Mickey Kelley falls to superstar Blaine. But years later, an online video proves that Blaine cheated, and the world demands a rematch. Can the aging underdog get back into shape in time to vanquish his foe, get revenge, and claim his prize?
Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery, Katrina Bowden, Dennis Quaid, Costas Mandylor, Currie GrahamSport | 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
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
If you’re aware of Sean Patrick Flanery at all, chances are it’s largely for a handful of performances in films like The Boondock Saints and/or television outings like The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. You may be forgiven, therefore, for not knowing that Flanery is a martial artist of some genuine accomplishment, with a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, a fighting technique that he’s (obviously) skilled enough in to also teach. Born a Champion, a film which, well, champions jiu jitsu, has evidently been a pet project of Flanery’s for years, at least as evidenced by the commentary by his co-writer and director Alex Ranarivelo, who gets into the film's rather long and protracted gestational period. That personal connection gives Born a Champion an undeniably earnest ambience, and that feeling may be enough to help the film elide its more cliché ridden aspects, at least for some viewers. That said, this is another “underdog comes from behind to overcome considerable obstacles and maybe even personal tragedy to ultimately triumph” outing, and it can never quite escape from that tried (trite?) and true template.
Born a Champion is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and Grindstone Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Sony Cinealta as the camera utilized, and I'm assuming the DI was finished at 2K. Despite what was probably a less than fulsome budget (at least as evidenced by the commentary, which gets into how quickly some things needed to be shot), this is a rather handsome looking presentation a lot of the time. While there really aren't any eye popping visuals to speak of, detail levels are consistently high for the most part (there are a few passing deficits in dark scenes), and the palette is typically very nicely suffused. Fine detail can actually be a little stomach churning at times, as in a close-up of Mickey after his smackdown, where he's rather badly injured. Ranarivelo and cinematographer Reuben Steinberg evidently really like backlighting, and several scenes are suffused with a soft glow around the characters, something that can slightly mask fine detail at times.
Born a Champion features a decent if somewhat subdued (given the martial arts aspect, anyway) DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The fight scenes definitely have good surround activity, but as alluded to above, they're relatively brief. A lot of this film is given over more toward personal dramatics, and as such surround activity can be limited at times to either scoring or ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available, though I discovered a kind of curious anomaly when I used the subtitle button on my remote (rather than accessing the subtitles through the Pop Up Menu). When I pressed "subtitle" for the first time it went to a "phantom" third choice labeled English, which did nothing. Pressing it again got me back around to choice 1, which was the "real" English subtitles.
As mentioned above, there's a lot to like about Born a Champion, including Flanery's very real and sweet connection to his own sons, who are featured in the film. On the minus side, I've personally seen one too many films with a scene of two guys standing at urinals shooting the breeze as they pee. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2011
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