Charlie Zone Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Charlie Zone Blu-ray Movie Review

The Highway to the Charlie Zone is paved with mediocre A/V quality.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 9, 2013

These are very dangerous people.

Avery Paul (Glen Gould) is a disgraced ex-athelete who has lost his way in life. Rather than living the life of wealth and fame, he's been reduced to working the docks by day and participating in an underground fighting circuit by night. The matches are broadcast on the Internet, which is enough exposure to catch the attention of a family desperate to retrieve its wayward adopted daughter. Jan (Amanda Crew) lives in a house of horrors, where drug abuse and prostitution are commonplace. Avery agrees to snatch Jan away from those holding her in exchange for the family's life savings. Trouble, violence, doubt, fear, and plenty of surprises await.

Day by day.

Charlie Zone is a master of cinema subtlety and nuance. It's a challenge to watch but it's very even and approachable at the same time. It's firmly grounded in an uncanny and discomforting sense of authenticity, bringing audiences closer than they would ever want to be to one of the most externally unassuming but at the same time one of the most internally dark corners of the world. The picture builds towards several grotesque and gritty sequences, dominated by that straightforward approach as well as a fantastically understated but very effective performance from Glen Gould. He forms a rather strong chemistry with Amanda Crew as the characters and situations develop towards the film's climax.

Charlie Zone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Charlie Zone features a fairly dull but generally effective high definition presentation. It's consistently flat and doesn't reveal a significant amount of detail. Clarity and definition are fine, but don't expect razor-sharp and purely lifelike visuals. Colors are adequate given the film's fairly unassuming palette. Flesh tones often capture a bit of warmth. Black levels occasionally push towards a purple streak while dealing with what is sometimes an excess of unsightly noise.

Charlie Zone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Charlie Zone enters Blu-ray territory with a midlevel Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This presentation never finds much in the way of pure aggression or lifelike zip. It's fairly reserved to start as the film begins and gains a slight bit of intensity afterward, but it never musters a significant amount of charge. Both heavy action-oriented effects and ambient elements both fail to deliver beyond the basics; whether pop cap-like gunshots or simple environmental atmospherics, nothing is really fully realized to its potential. Dialogue, however, does enjoy quality delivery and front-center placement.

Charlie Zone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Charlie Zone contains no bonus content.

Charlie Zone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Charlie Zone is a surprising little movie. It's straightforward, often bleak, and it effortlessly pulls its audience into the mayhem. It enjoys solid and no-frills yet, at the same time, textured and nuanced direction from Michael Melski (Growing Op). Also helping the movie achieve success is an excellent performance from Glen Gould and a strong budding chemistry with co-star Amanda Crew. Anchor Bay's featureless Blu-ray contains decent video and mediocre audio. Rent it.