5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A backpacker from the U.S. gets involved with a ring of drug smugglers as their driver, though he winds up on the run from his employers across Munich's high-speed freeways.
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Marwan KenzariAction | 100% |
Thriller | 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
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Drugs and car chases and gunfights and standoffs and large sums of money and a sick girl in peril aren't exactly new to the movie landscape. They're all quite stale, in fact, and whether taken together or individually usually make for a recycled sort of movie that, at its rarest best, serves as an entertaining time killer. Collide sees all of those elements right there near the top of "rarest best." The movie, from Director Eran Creevy (Welcome to the Punch), takes the best of all the elements and doesn't necessarily do anything new or special with them, just lines them up and spits them out in near perfect order, somehow squeezing plenty of excitement, tension, and solid characterization from all of those stale components. Though hardly fresh, the film is certainly invigorating, lean, very enjoyable, a surprise in how well it's done with its collection of off-the-shelf genre staples all colliding and making for a pretty solid movie.
Couple in trouble.
The digitally photographed Collide looks spectacular on Blu-ray. Universal's 1080p presentation brings with it an attractive, film-like texturing, refusing to go digital flat or glossy and maintaining an authoritative complexity and textural accuracy throughout. Detailing is always exemplary. The obvious facial features are impressive, showcasing every fine pore, line, bit of stubble, and other detail with efficient ease and tangible depth. Cars are shiny and slick (except when they're mangled, of course) and various environments, whether a diner or a bar or any of the diverse locations seen throughout the film, offer first-class clarity. Colors are impressively accurate and very naturally even-keeled. Whether brightly lit exteriors, well illuminated interiors, or various darker scenes, the platte always maintains a basic excellence of eye-catching depth and neutrality, never pushing too aggressive or too dull. Bright blue eyes, red blood, and of course various colors of cars shine. A baby blue jacket Anthony Hopkins' character wears midway through the film is one of the most pronounced and authentic colors in the movie. Black levels are magnificently deep and accurate without showing crush. Flesh tones appear true. The image shows a sprinkling of light noise on occasion and there's a hint of aliasing in a few shots; a car grill seen outside a gas station around the 64-minute mark is probably the most obvious example. Overall, however, this is a very strong image from Universal.
Collide's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack packs a good, hearty punch. The highlight comes during car chases. Not only is there plenty of maneuvering and a stage filled with tire squeals, zipping moves through traffic, and the general din of high-speed mayhem, there are also several good examples of ridiculously potent, but very even and natural, low end thunder when the car really kicks into gear and the engine is put to serious work. Gunfire plays with strong authoritative punch, with a good example coming during a shootout in convenience store partway through the movie. It features both pistol rounds and shotgun blasts in a fairly tight space. Music is well defined and spacious, and an early bar sequence offers a tremendously potent pulsating low end and a nice filtering of music through the listening area. Small bits of atmospherics enhance various environments throughout the film, a good example coming in a restaurant in chapter four. Dialogue is impressively clear, center positioned, and always well prioritized above any element, even pitch gun battles or autobahn chaos.
Beyond some assorted previews for other Universal titles, this Blu-ray release of Collide contains no supplemental content. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.
Collide is deceptively good. Everything about it screams "stay away" and "generic." And to an extent it is generic. None of its pieces yield any sort of base creativity, but all put together in just the right mixture the movie far and away exceeds expectations with a perfectly balanced assault of characterization, car chases, gun play, and intensity. It's never hyper real, and it's never gritty real. It's just a good, adrenaline-fuled movie that won't go down in the history books but that really nails that sweet spot for charged, contemporary action. Universal's Blu-ray is disappointingly featureless, but video and audio are top-notch. Recommended.
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