6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
Hunted down by an almost endless wave of assassins, the Federal agents, Donna and Nicole, must stay alive to prevent an imminent crash of the American Stock Market.
Starring: Pat Morita, Erik Estrada, Dona Speir, Roberta Vasquez, Cynthia BrimhallErotic | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
1665 kbps
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Throughout a very productive career in TV and on the sliver screen, Pat Morita became most recognized for his acclaimed portrayal of Mr. Miyagi, Daniel's Karate instructor, in The Karate Kid (1984) and two sequels (plus another one with Hilary Swank's Julie). Miyagi was tough and demanding to his pupils but he possessed a Zen mind and gentle soul as well. Watching Andy Sidaris's Do or Die, it was difficult to get the visage of Miyagi out of my mind as Morita is playing Masakana "Kane" Kaneshiro, an international crime boss. Kane orders Lew (James Lew) and Chen (Eric Chen), his top henchmen, to have a muscular guy escort Donna Hamilton (Dona Speir) and Roberta Vasquez (Nicole Justin), two undercover DEA agents, away from a dance performance at a Molokai beach. Kane informs the female agents that he has plans to play a deadly game with them by unleashing as many as six pairs of contract killers on them. Donna and Roberta telephone their main contact, Lucas (William Bumiller), who enlists the help of such hulky guys as Richard 'Rico' Estevez (Erik Estrada), Bruce Christian (Bruce Penhall), and Shane Abilene (Michael Jay Shane). Kane hires sexy Ava (Ava Cadell) to chase Donna and Roberta around the desert with an Uzi submachine gun. He also hires two minions disguised as cooks to poison their food as well as that of their friends. Kane has also entrusted a sniper to shoot them while their tanning and two jet skiers to gun them down on the water.
Mill Creek Entertainment brings Do or Die to Blu-ray for the first time on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Like Guns on its DVD, the R1 BCI Eclipse disc of Do or Die was presented in 1.33:1. The likely theatrical exhibition ratio for it was 1.85:1 and Mill has opened the framing up to 1.78:1. This is also advertised as getting a new 4K scan and the transfer displays less damage marks and artifacts as the restored print of Guns. For the sunset scene in Screenshot #1, you'll notice Pat Morita's face appears rather toasty and brown. This contrasts with the daytime scenes which are extremely bright (#s 7, 14, & 18) and sunny (#3). The image boasts coarse grain that's thick and pronounced in lower lit shots (see #s 8 & 12). There is some dot crawl and low-level noise behind Morita's right shoulder in capture #21. Mill has encoded the feature at an average video bitrate of 34995 kbps.
The 97-minute film receives twelve chapter markers from Mill.
Mill Creek has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono (1665 kbps, 24-bit) as the sole sound track. Do or Die was mixed and recorded in Ultra Stereo so I feel an opportunity was lost to open up the stereo channels. Dialogue is mostly intelligible and I could catch the spoken English from all the actors. The sounds of helicopters, trucks, boats, gunshots, and explosions aren't as dynamic as they could have been with a lossless stereo or 5.1 remix. Composer Richard Lyons's all-electronic score does a competent job of "Micky Mousing" the action.
Optional English SDH are available to turn on through the main menu or on the fly.
Andy Sidaris called Do or Die "my best film yet" in news clippings but it's certainly a step down from Guns. Pat Morita is largely wasted in an underwritten role as an international crime lord who doesn't exhibit much malevolence at all. Sidaris's script makes the plight of the DEA agents too safe on the ground and in the water. There are enough bullets and topless Playmates for the average Sidaris fan but the narrative can never maintain or carry over momentum from one scene to the next. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is sourced from a very good 4K restoration but the uncompressed mono track is only mediocre to fair. RENT IT first.
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