Contraband / Fear Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Contraband / Fear Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 17, 2021

Mill Creek has released a Mark Wahlberg double feature to Blu-ray which includes a pair of films -- 2012's 'Contraband' and 1996's 'Fear' -- that Universal released to Blu-ray in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The Blu-ray video and audio presentations compare favorably to the original Universal releases but Mill Creek has dropped all of the extras from both discs, which really only impacts 'Contraband;' 'Fear' was all but supplement-free. This package offers both films at a more affordable price than buying separately from Universal but are only recommended to those who are not concerned about the missing 'Contraband' extras.

For full film reviews, please click through the following links; note that these point to the original Universal Blu-ray releases and were penned by Kenneth Brown (Contraband) and Brian Orndorf (Fear).

• Contraband
• Fear

Contraband / Fear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For Blu-ray video reviews, please click through the following links:

• Contraband
• Fear

Contraband / Fear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For Blu-ray audio reviews, please click through the following links:

• Contraband
• Fear

Contraband / Fear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included. Universal's Contraband disc included a fairly in-depth array of bonuses, including a picture in picture making-of, an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, and a couple of featurettes. It's a shame none of that made its way over here, but that's par for the course for Mill Creek's double features. Fear's 2013 release included a trailer only, so no real loss for that one.

No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover. The main menu screen only offers options to play each film and toggle the English SDH subtitles on and off.

Contraband / Fear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Neither Fear nor Contraband elevate filmdom to new heights and neither are they gems in the Mark Wahlberg canon, but both offer serviceable, if not crude and generic, entertainment value. The A/V qualities range from "good" (Contraband) to substandard (Fear). No extras are included. For those who already own the Universal discs there's absolutely no reason to downgrade. Fans who are only concerned about watching the movies may as well pick up this set for a few dollars savings over the Universal offerings.