6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
An ex-CIA agent and his estranged daughter are forced on the run when his employers erase all records of his existence, and mark them both for termination as part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy.
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Liana Liberato, Olga Kurylenko, Garrick Hagon, Eric GodonThriller | 100% |
Action | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It's just business.
Americans in a foreign land? Check. A man who must reconnect with his "action hero" past so he may fight and run and rethink everything he once
thought he knew to survive while unraveling a deep, dark
mystery? Check. A potential female kidnapping victim? Check. Snarly bad guys with corporate, government, and shady alphabet soup organization
backing? Check. Mystery, intrigue, danger, and daring? Check, check, check, and check, or at least "check" times four if those rather stale elements
still count.
Erased, also known as The Expatriate, tackles
its genre like it invented it, or at least like its filmmakers have watched the Jason Bourne movies more than a few times. Erased is a reliable, but
ultimately unimaginative, genre procedural in which the hero runs around, engages in firefights, and discovers the truth behind why he's suddenly on
the run and engaging in those firefights. It's an entertaining vehicle for basic cinema Action satisfaction, and it builds the typically complex but not too
distant or indecipherable story
to go along with it. The film works best in its early goings but falls too much into routine after awhile, but it will please audiences in search of
escapism that's not fully mindless but still familiar.
The expatriate.
Erased's high definition transfer doesn't come up significantly lacking in any area. This is a very nicely defined image, photographed in HD video but capturing a look closer to organic film and less like flat digital. It's very sharp and robust, producing well defined textures in every frame. Facial details are very nicely revealed, right down to the finest facial pore or, later in the film, the biggest blotch of blood. European cityscapes and intimate street-level details also benefit from the transfer's robust detailing. Colors are well balanced and bright. Black levels are deep with only minimal evidence of crush. Flesh tones do show a slight push towards a reddish shade. There's sporadic and light noise, too, but no major instances of blockiness or banding. This is a good, well-built transfer from Anchor Bay.
Erased delivers the typically robust Action DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Film's start reveals the potency and balance of gunfire. It erupts with positive authority and stage presence, not to mention appreciable realism and clarity. Gunfire continues to dazzle throughout, notably in a well crafted parking garage shootout scene in chapter eleven in which the music cuts out and the shots power through the stage, accentuated many times over by the reverberations created by the shot combined with the confined space. The scene transports the listener to the location with almost frightening authenticity. Crashes, crunches, and explosions also deliver high energy and tight, determined bass. Musical delivery is clear and nicely spaced. Light ambience -- from clanking silverware to distant wailing police sirens -- nicely fill in the gaps and help shape a big, natural environment within the film. Center-focused and crisply delivered dialogue rounds a high quality presentation into form.
Erased contains only one supplement. 'Erased:' Behind the Scenes (SD, 4:56) features cast and crew talking up the story, the emotions that build throughout the film, characters, Aaron Eckhart's preparations for the role, the qualities of the actors, and the film's visual style and structure.
Erased won't be remembered as the most original picture of the past few years. It recalls far too many plot elements, styles, and character dynamics from other, better films. Nevertheless, it's a solid time-killer, a picture that's very well crafted and impresses enough within its bubble to make it worth a watch on a lazy day. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Erased features strong video and audio. Unfortunately, supplements are limited to a single featurette. Worth a buy at a rock-bottom price and recommended as a high value weekend rental.
2011
Unrated
2015
2-Disc Extended Cut
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