Bullet Boy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Bullet Boy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 24, 2011

Winner of British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, Saul Dibb's "Bullet Boy" (2004) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Verve Pictures. The supplemental features on the disc include original theatrical trailers; a series of workshops filmed and edited by director Saul Dibb; and behind the scenes featurette. In English, without optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

My baby

I wanted to like British director Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy. I really did. The film has the right look and certainly a terrific soundtrack to compliment it. British giants Massive Attack, Neil Davidge and Robert del Naja’s tunes are dark and moody, really quite beautiful.

Bullet Boy is about young black men from East London making terrible mistakes - over and over again. At least early on they realize that some of their decisions may cost them dearly, but they don’t care. Later on, they seem to care but it does not matter. They begin hurting each other and then their families. They also talk a lot about loyalty and friendship, but once things start to get out of control it quickly becomes perfectly clear that none of then care about each other.

The film opens up with Ricky (Ashley Walters, Life and Lyrics) getting out of a young offenders institution. He is picked up by his best friend, Wisdom (Leon Black), and his 12-year old brother, Curtis (Luke Fraser). On the way back to the city, Wisdom confronts a young thug who vows to teach him a lesson. Ricky knows that he has to stay out of trouble, but defends his friend.

Curtis is told to go home, where Ricky’s mother, her boyfriend and friends are waiting for him. Then Ricky and Wisdom head to their favorite club. This is where the real party is. The one at Ricky’s home can wait. Inside the club Wisdom tells Ricky that he will be seeing the thug again and flashes his gun. A couple of hours later, he kills the thug’s favorite dog.

Eventually, Ricky and Wisdom end up at the thug’s house (before that Wisdom’s car is destroyed by the thug and one of his buddies). He attempts to kill him but misses. Before the police arrive at the scene, the two disappear. Somewhere in the city, they decide to part ways realizing that it is the smartest thing to do. Ricky also agrees to take care of Wisdom’s gun.

The gun ends up in Ricky and Curtis’ room. Having never seen one before, Curtis steals it and shows it to his best friend. Later on, while playing hide-and-seek, he accidentally shoots him in the head.

I cannot say that I disliked the main characters in Bullet Boy. I simply never cared for them. Right from the get-go I was able to tell what would happen to them - and why. The film is like a giant domino set; once the first piece fell I knew that another will follow, and another, and another.

The film’s biggest weakness, however, has to do with the fact that the relationships between the main characters are underdeveloped. Ricky risks his freedom for Wisdom, but I am not entirely sure why. Friendship has something to do with it, but there must be more. Good friends help each other, during good and bad times. Yet I never once felt that Wisdom cared that Ricky could go back to jail.

The message is clear - poverty breeds crime. And crime is destroying Britain's big cities. I get it. What I don’t get is why everyone is documenting the obvious. Show me some anger. Break the rules. Tell a story that no one can ignore.

Note: In 2004, Bullet Boy won British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer (Ashley Walters).

Bullet Boy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080/50i transfer, Saul Dibb's Bullet Boy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Verve Pictures.

I am not terribly impressed with this high-definition transfer. Shot on Super 16, most of the time Bullet Boy looks soft and murky. Clarity and contrast levels fluctuate quite a lot, particularly during the nighttime footage, and fine object detail is often problematic. Color reproduction is also uneven - the greens and browns, for instance, are rather unusually weak. Traces of mild to moderate edge-enhancement are easy to spot. The key issue here, though, is the presence of various artifacts that pop up throughout the entire film. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review, but blown through a digital projector Bullet Boy never looks as tight and healthy as I assume it could. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Bullet Boy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Verve Pictures have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The English LPCM 2.0 track is fairly unremarkable. The film has an outstanding score courtesy of British giants Massive Attack, Neil Davidge and Robert del Naja , but the sound lacks the dynamic richness I've come to expect from good loseless tracks. The dialog is clean and stable, but I have to admit that I had a rather difficult time with the very thick accents. Optional English subtitles should have been included on this release.

Bullet Boy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes - a standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and comments from director Saul Dibb and various cast and crew members. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, PAL).

• The Auditions - a series of workshops (improvisations not used in Bullet Boy) filmed and edited by director Saul Dibb. In English, not subtitled. (9 min, PAL).

• Arthouse Trailer - in English, not subtitled. (2 min, PAL).

• Multiplex Trailer - in English, not subtitled. (2 min, PAL).

Bullet Boy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've enjoyed every single film Verve Pictures have released thus far. Saul Dibb's Bullet Boy, however, did not resonate well with me. The film looks great and it has a terrific soundtrack, but something is missing. Somewhat surprisingly, the technical presentation isn't overly impressive either. RENT IT.