Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.0

Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Movie Review

This is what happens when you ban abortion.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 9, 2022

The original Eraser, a chaotic Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle released 26 years ago this month, was a solid box-office success but poorly reviewed and mostly forgotten nowadays; simply put, an unlikely candidate for revival in just about any medium. Yet he we are, faced with the reality of a flaccid direct-to-video reboot with no real ties to the 90s original -- story, atmosphere, creative team -- that was shot during a pandemic and feels like disposable entertainment no one asked for. So, it's pretty much Space Jam: A New Legacy with more bullets and less basketball.

The plot, for what it's worth, goes something like this: U.S. Marshal Mason Pollard (Dominic Sherwood), who rescues key witness Sugar Jax (Eddie Ramos) from vicious gang members, successfully "erases" him on-site by faking Sugar's death and re-routing him to South Africa to start over. It's what he does for a living: give potential targets new life... and the next one up is Rina Kimura (Jacky Lai), an informant who turns a state witness against her gangster husband before his untimely demise at a party. Her escape also includes the theft of a "Cold Wallet" whose 24 key words will give her access to enough money for a new life of luxury. With a group known as "The Syndicate" hot on their heels, she and Mason make for South Africa and fend off killers that include one of his former friends.

It's an achievement to craft a story that's somehow dull and confusing, as any sparks in the narrative flow of Eraser: Reborn -- aside from a few admittedly decent hand-to-hand fights and chase scenes, of course -- are snuffed out by its mostly flat characters and dependence on action movie clichés. Leading the pack is Dominic Sherwood himself, who unfortunately plays the role with almost zero humor, charisma, or cool intelligence, giving the script's poor dialogue -- and his character's frequently dumb decisions -- center stage because it's all performed with no sense of winking style or self-awareness. (Supporting characters aren't immune to stupidity either, including three sequential events that only happen because of incompetent guards.) Twists and turns barely register, because it's almost impossible to care about the characters. But most baffling of all is Eraser: Reborn's strange fixation on badly-rendered CGI animals, including this meme-worthy hippo and a deadly home-stretch encounter with a wild rhino that ranks alongside the worst special effects seen in a film distributed by a major studio. Both were likely made as a tribute to the original film's infamous alligator fight, which wasn't even great by 1996 standards and still runs circles around what we get here.

In short, Eraser: Reborn comes a distant third behind last decade's other failed Arnie reboots, Conan and Total Recall, sitting at the bottom of a sad little pile that hopefully won't get any bigger. Mostly awful CGI, bland performances and characters, not much of a story: this bad boy's got "streaming original" or "failed TV pilot" written all over it and really had no business getting past the pitch meeting. The film's worst offense is the sheer mediocrity of it all and, despite a few fleeting moments of promise, it's a store-brand effort that'll fly under the radar of all but the most curious fans of the original. Twenty years from now, though, it'll just be the answer to a tough movie trivia question.

Available either on Blu-ray or DVD, Warner Bros.' home video package for Eraser: Reborn is mercifully minimal, with a decent A/V presentation that isn't weighed down by pesky extras. You can probably stop here, though.

Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It's obvious that more of Eraser: Reborn's low budget went towards visuals and effects than star power, as portions of this action-adventure occasionally trick us into thinking it's a true big-screen production. Most chase scenes and hand-to-hand fights are shot and framed capably enough, and wide shots like the one above show off many of the admittedly memorable South African sights during its second half. Other portions of Eraser: Reborn are far less artful, though, with mostly dull over-the-shoulder shots and sloppy compositions that sometimes even change mid-conversation for no real reason. Select shots reveal that Eraser: Reborn was clearly not filmed on state-of-the-art equipment, with occasional scenes sporting that processed and blown-out appearance of lower-grade digital video complete with mild texture loss and artificially boosted color that often feels out of place given some of the subject matter. Stylistically it's all over the place (including those god-awful CGI animal renderings, which really do stick out like a sore thumb), but Warner Bros.' 1080p transfer still reigns in most of the rougher edges. Other potential problem areas, such as black crush and even visible aliasing on a couple of overhead shots, can likewise be traced back to the original source material. High art this ain't, but it's at least a best-case scenario for Eraser: Reborn's modest visual heights.

Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sonically, it's more good news as well: Eraser: Reborn is a decently mixed and designed production whose source material is faithfully rendered via the Blu-ray's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. Dialogue and background effects are mostly well balanced, and there's more than enough room left over for the original score by Mark Kilian that, while a little on-the-nose at times, still gets the job done. Fundamentally, the film's soundstage clearly follows in the footsteps of modern action films, staying front-heavy but with no shortage of channel pans and discrete effects that collectively create a punchy and enveloping surround experience that's probably the best thing about this Blu-ray. It's nothing to write home about, but what's here should at least satisfy anyone just in it for the action.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the film and one lone bonus feature. A few dubs are included as well, some of which hilariously narrate the film's title when it appears on-screen.

Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with white-dominant cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. On-disc bonus features are thankfully minimal.

• The Warrior and the Witness - Making Eraser: Reborn (9:12) - A fairly standard EPK-style featurette, this short piece features interviews with key cast and crew members including director John Pogue, actors Dominic Sherwood and Jacky Lai, and a few producers, as well as some candid on-set footage. Nothing special, but mostly because it presents the film as if everything about it went exactly according to plan.

Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Pogue's Eraser: Reborn pretty much stinks. It's a fatally ill-timed reboot that absolutely no one asked for, offering no tangible connection to the mostly forgotten 1996 film, a clichéd story, and very few (intentional) bright spots. While I can understand why a major studio might gamble on a relatively low-risk production like this, I doubt the end product was what anyone wanted. A mostly flaccid and pointless affair, the direct-to-video misfire Eraser: Reborn might trick a few casual fans of the original into an impulse buy, but this one's not even worth watching ironically.