6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
After corporations took over the world's governments, their thirst for power and profits led to a fierce global battle that laid waste to society as we know it. Born from the ash, the Council of Nine rose as a new law and order for this dark age. To avenge the corporations' reckless destruction, the Council issues death warrants for white collar criminals. Their hunters -- the BOUNTY KILLERS -- compete for body count, fame and cash.
Starring: Matthew Marsden, Christian Pitre, Kristanna Loken, Eve, Beverly D'AngeloAction | 100% |
Thriller | 71% |
Romance | 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 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
If not for the pervasive digital sheen and graphic novel transitions, Bounty Hunter could easily be mistaken for a lost treasure from the golden era of OZsploitation chronicled in the 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood, where films were driven by gratuitous nudity, senseless violence, car crashes, martial arts and copious gore. As it happens, the film's all-American creative minds, cousins Henry Saine (director and co-writer) and Jason Dodson (co-writer), are devoted fans of The Road Warrior, one of OZsploitation's greatest achievements, and they've included a memorable homage to that film's concluding chase sequence. But Saine and Dodson also love Death Race 2000 and their homegrown Roger Corman school of cheap thrills. The Corman aesthetic is everywhere visible in Bounty Hunter. Saine worked for many years as a graphic artist on such mainstream projects as Will & Grace, That '70s Show, Entourage and The Office. During much of that time, he and Dodson were mapping out the idea of Bounty Hunter, which began from the simple, rebellious notion that corporate criminals seemed to get off more than they were punished, and wouldn't it be interesting if a vigilante went after them? Developed first as a graphic novel, then as a short film, and finally as a feature, Bounty Hunter acquired an elaborate plot composed of familiar genre elements, of which the sole purpose was to provide numerous opportunities for the aforementioned nudity, violence, crashes, martial arts and gore. The trick with such concoctions is to maintain the illusion of coherence while moving so fast that the viewer never has time to think too hard about whether it fits together, because ultimately these stories never bear close scrutiny. They're not meant to. Despite its hodgepodge of accents and a setting that could pass for the outback, Bounty Hunter was filmed in Southern California, but its effects work was outsourced all over the world, no doubt to contain costs. A brief theatrical release in September 2013 netted mixed reviews from a handful of critics and the viewing public. I suspect that one's reaction to the film depends very much on the attitude with which one approaches it. Bounty Hunter is an exercise in pop style, much like Robert Rodriguez's Desperado, and it hasn't a serious bone in any of the bodies it piles up as casually as a video game. Unlike Quentin Tarantino's genre indulgences, however, Bounty Hunter has no subversive undertow or verbal pyotechnics to suggest something deeper, as in Kill Bill or Django Unchained (to name just two examples). It's a popcorn exploitation film, but as many failed examples can attest, those aren't easy to do well—and for once, someone's done a decent job.
Bounty Killer was the first full-length feature shot by David Conley, whose principal experience to date has been as an editor, which probably came in handy for the elaborate choreography of the film's action sequences. The film was digitally acquired on the Red system, which routinely produces excellent results on Blu-ray after appropriate manipulation in post-production. ARC Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is no exception, despite the film's limited budget and often obvious digital effects (notably in the so-called "Badlands" sequence). The image is sharp, detailed and bright, often exceptionally so to reflect the intense sunlight of a world without an ozone layer (as noted by one character). Even the interior scenes are rarely without some amount of light, and the Red system's ability to capture fine detail allows those interiors to be seen even with low illumination. The color palette runs the gamut from the yellow, bleached-out wreckage of the old world to the brightly saturated hues preferred by show-offs like Mary Death for her wardrobe and signature vehicles. The gore is brightly red, and the gypsy face paint is also vivid. Director Saine may be depicting a world ravaged by war, but he also knows that his primary obligation is to entertain the viewer with the equivalent of a live-action video game—and post-apocalyptic drabness would be a bore. The Blu-ray has presumably been sourced from digital files, and Red footage compresses well. The average bitrate of 23.01 Mbps is adequate for avoiding artifacts.
Given the pandemonium on screen, one would expect a louder and more thunderous impact from Bounty Killer's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. There are plenty of gunshots and explosions, but none of it challenges a system's dynamic range or reaches deafening heights. It's almost as if the mix was pulled back slightly, and trimmed at the top and bottom ends, to preserve a sense of the cheesy B-flick aesthetic that first inspired director Saine and co-writer Dodson. Surround activity isn't lacking as bullets fly, glass shatters and vehicles roar, but it's not the kind that makes the listener's head twist from side to side following individual effects. It's a subtly mixed track, where the surround effects are almost subliminal. The dialogue is clear enough, although some of the hammier accents (e.g., that of Abraham Benrubi) are occasionally a challenge. The score by Greg Edmondson, who did both Firefly and King of the Hill, supplies the right combination of adventure story and cartoon excess. Clarence Murray's "Let's Get On With It" adds an a extra jokey tone to some of the shootouts, and Sara Bareilles recorded two original songs, "Kill" and "Gonna Getcha", which capture Mary Death's attitude perfectly.
The true spirit of grindhouse cinema may be impossible to recreate today except as nostalgia, but a film like Bounty Killer creates a contemporary equivalent by marrying video game aesthetics to a kind of witty pop culture awareness that never takes itself too seriously. Approach it in the goofball spirit with which it was made, and I suspect you'll have fun. Look for something more serious, and you'll be disappointed. Recommended, with appropriate caveats.
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