7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A former boxer-turned-drug runner lands in a prison battleground after a deal gets deadly.
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Marc Blucas, Fred MelamedThriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is everything its day-and-date release partner Mayhem is not, and more. Director S. Craig Zahler's (Bone Tomahawk) work is a slow-build construct that paints a picture of a man who takes his family's fate and future in his own hands. He brings to them financial and future security through bad dealings and violent doings, ignoring his own well-being in the process with the assuredness and coldness of an android, all the while showing his wife and soon-to-be-born daughter the love and affection of a goodhearted man without a mean streak or violent bone in his body. Throughout the film, he is a man at peace with his choices, even if he is outwardly committing acts of unspeakably brutal violence. While Mayhem created a world of graphic violence with tangential purpose, Brawl challenges its character to destroy anyone who stands in the way of saving his wife and daughter from afar. The film transitions into one of the most brutally violent finales in film history. That finale is not rewarding to watch; the film revels in viscera a little too much, but it's at least violence for purpose rather than violence for violence's sake. The film has rightly received much praise, but it's not a perfect film, either, even as it finds clarity in simplicity and a towering performance from an unflappable Vince Vaughn.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 comes sourced from a 6K digital shoot, which was downscaled to 4K for the digital intermediate from which this Blu-ray has been further downscaled to 1080p. The picture is generally very strong, if not a bit flat and digital-glossy. Texturally, it is of a high quality, with skin details often at an agreeably complex level, street clothes and prison attire appearing well defined (particularly towards film's end when Bradley's orange jump suit accumulates blood, sweat, and grime), and the image brings the various prison locales to life, from the relatively hospitable cells in the medium security prison to which he is initially sentenced to the inhumane filth in which he is housed at the maximum security facility. It's in this final prison where the transfer finds its greatest strengths, not so much because it boasts the most raw clarity -- it does not, largely because of the lower light conditions -- but because it's the most texturally rewarding and revolting at the same time. Gore close-ups, albeit seen briefly, are revealed in all of the stomach-churning brutality. Colors often push one way or another, blue in some scenes, dank and grim in others. A few moments of more neutrally colored locations largely impress, such as when Bradley is transferred to either of the prisons or inside his medium security cell with its bright blue walls. Black levels are generally deep and strong beyond an odd red push seen at the 15 minute mark. Infrequent and light banding and macroblocking also make appearances.
The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack impresses from the beginning with whirring machinery off to the sides when Bradley receives his layoff notice. These are the first of many enveloping and environment-detailing sounds in a track that is surprisingly not big on the kind of silly over the top sonic mayhem as heard in a movie like Mayhem. Here, the sounds match the movie's tone and pace, which are more deliberate and contemplative, and a more robust soundtrack built on excess would have done it an injustice. But basic support and ambient effects are clear and well positioned throughout the stage. Gunfire pops in chapter three with fine positioning around the stage, particularly when heard at distance. Close-up shots lack that desirable depth and intense volume. Quality reverb may be heard at the first prisoner count in chapter four in a tightly confined prison hallway, and again towards the film's end. Punches and slams and sounds of squashing heads and ripping flesh and breaking bones are more than adequately clear and prioritized. Dialogue follow suit with excellent front-center positioning. Musical delivery takes full advantage of the speakers given to it. Fidelity, depth, and stage balance are all positives.
RLJE's Blu-ray release of Brawl in Cell Block 99 contains two featurettes. A DVD copy of the film is included. A digital copy is not. This release
ships with an
embossed slipcover.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a very good movie, somehow capable of extending its story beyond a more reasonable runtime with a rewarding, slow-burn story advancement and very capable scripted and acted characterization. The film's unflinching brutality is as much a calling card as the carefully constructed characterization. What's more impressive is that the film works so well despite a near total lack of basic plot originality. It's a credit to just how good a film it can be, and often is, considering the violence and how divisive the film feels like it should be amongst critics and the movie-watching community. In short, it's a film that defies almost all the odds. RLJE's Blu-ray delivers good video and audio. Supplements are limited to a pair of featurettes. Recommended.
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