5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.3 |
A former Russian gangster is tempted to re-enter a life of crime when he finds out his daughter is marrying his enemy’s son.
Starring: Steven Seagal, Mike Dopud, Igor Zhizhikin, Robert Wisden, Inna KorobkinaAction | 100% |
Thriller | 78% |
Crime | 51% |
Martial arts | 28% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Those who did this to you will cry tears of blood, this I promise you.
The bad guys may not be the only ones crying at the end of this one. Driven to Kill marks
yet another direct-to-video Action dud from former star Steven Seagal. This time, his daughter has
been kidnapped, and Seagal wants her back. No wait, she's been assaulted, and Seagal wants
revenge. Since the front and the back of the box offer conflicting information as to what exactly is
going on in Driven to Kill (and who can blame even the studio for not completely figuring
out the plot to this mess), and the front even manages to fail in its depiction of the setting (it's New
York/New Jersey, not . . . Moscow? St. Petersburg?), only a daring foray into the seedy underbelly
of
bad Russian
accents, accordion polka music, and lots of gunfire will set the record straight.
He's driven, he's killin'.
Driven to Kill pulls up on Blu-ray with a none-too-impressive 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The image sports a terribly heavy layer of grain that is rendered quite well throughout, adding to the experience a gritty, grimy feel and a perfectly fine film-like texture. Unfortunately, the rest of the image disappoints considerably. There's plenty of soft imagery here, and not only in unimportant background objects. Full-frame close-ups of character often reveal soft lines and undefined, fuzzy details that often give the Blu-ray transfer the look of a mediocre DVD. The film also revels in a dark color palette, where blacks and browns dominate a good portion of the screen at most any given time. The transfer also features murky blacks and wavering flesh tones. The film seems to be aiming to capture the look and feel of a gritty 1970s crime drama, but can't pull it off. As it is, Driven to Kill generally takes on the appearance of a flat-out ugly straight-to-video transfer.
Driven to Kill features a pedestrian DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that, try as it may, can't outclass even the meager video presentation. Dialogue is never presented all that clearly; much of it sounds muffled and incoherent, and not only because of the thick, phony accents. Gunshots ring out with a whimper rather than a bang, for example a scene in chapter seven featuring Ruslan test-firing a .38 revolver in a basement. It sounds like more like a cap gun than a deadly weapon. Later in the film, a random bad guy fires a heavy machine gun in a hospital, and while loud, it sounds more like a some outer space-themed toy blaster than it does an automatic weapon. A few scenes deliver a decent sense of realism; a club scene in chapter twelve throws some information to the subwoofer with decent, but not at all memorable, low-end beats. The rear channels remain mostly silent, and there is practically no atmosphere to be found. Driven to Kill delivers a cold, sometimes unintelligible, and always unremarkable sonic presentation.
Driven to Kill shows no drive here; no supplements are included.
For the perfect example of an action movie gone terribly awry, look no further than Driven to Kill. Thankfully, it's not so bad that it's completely unwatchable. Quite the opposite, in fact. Purely for the comic value that results from minimal production values, terrible acting, bland sets, headache-inducing direction, and a goofy score, Driven to Kill passes as ten-cent entertainment that's good for a few laughs, some repetitive gunplay, and a gruesome finale that almost makes it worth a watch. 20th Century Fox's direct-to-Blu-ray feature doesn't impress from a technical perspective, either. Featuring a terribly uninteresting 1080p image, a lackluster lossless soundtrack, and nothing but crickets where the supplements should be, Driven to Kill might be worth a rental for Seagal fans or anyone looking for a mindless action movie.
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