5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
Though serving a prison sentence for using his computer to embezzle from an international corporation, Dodge (Stephen Baldwin) still thinks of himself as an ordinary criminal. His fellow convict, Piper (Lawrence Fishburne), whose basic decency leads him to protect Dodge from an assault by another prisoner, thinks the same. Neither Piper nor Dodge particularly like each other; matters are not improved when they are chained together. When a prison riot transforms into a break-out opportunity, they get to know one another better on the run, and neither is any too thrilled about it. The action soon grows fast and furious when they realize that they are not only on the run from the usual police authorities, but from several different kinds of police and a gang of mobsters, whom Dodge has unknowingly endangered.
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Baldwin, Will Patton, Robert John Burke, Robert HooksCrime | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
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
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Talk about your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, fully watchable yet completely forgettable 90s Action movie. Director Kevin Hooks' (Passenger 57) Fled finds an eerie middle ground of banality. It's fairly well made -- nothing insulting here on either side of the camera -- but at the same time it offers an almost impossibly average experience. It's a film that manages to ascend just high enough to evade the clutches of the harshest critics and it's just bland enough to stay off the radar screens of more demanding cinephiles. It's the perfect in-the-middle movie, suitable for a lazy, rainy, nothing-better-to-do afternoon but hardly fit for duty as must-see cinema, of the good kind and the not-so-good kind alike.
Cuffed.
Fled's 1080p transfer isn't a looker, but it gets the job done. It's heavily speckled and spotted, showing a fair bit of wear and debris, but rarely ever to a truly debilitating extent. A few scenes look a little flat and processed, but generally the image enjoys decent enough clarity and definition to go along with a sometimes uneven but present grain structure. Basics like clothing and skin textures are fairly presented, but wooded terrain and various urban details lack that true, razor-sharp texturing. Colors are likewise passably uninteresting, producing various bright and earthy shades alike with workmanlike attention to detail rather than purely organic, eye popping precision. Black levels and flesh tones satisfy. There are few edge halos and minor noise but no distracting aliasing, macroblocking, or other eyesores.
Fled features a fairly robust, but nowhere near perfect, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music is healthy in terms of spacing, filling the stage with decently defined score and good background placement in clubs. Definition is a little spotty, but there's a well balanced and moderately authoritative low end supporting. The low end is also present in a number of elements throughout, including hefty explosions, moderately aggressive gunfire, weighty crashes, and other action-oriented effects. Various background support pieces, like barking bloodhounds or natural environmental support pieces, are nicely placed and help build a greater atmosphere around the action. Dialogue is well prioritized and clear.
This Blu-ray release of Fled contains no bonus content. The main menu only offers selections for "Play" and "Chapters."
Fortunately, Fled -- at least the nuts-and-bolts, "convicts as main characters on the run from the authorities" core -- was later done right by Joel and Ethan Coen in the brilliant O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a movie with pitch-perfect characterization, faultless craftsmanship, and even a memorable soundtrack that fit right into the middle of the film's narrative. Fled is a rather dismal effort in comparison, even as it's a decent enough entertainer in its own right. Even the leads don't share much obvious chemistry, but the movie should satisfy audiences in search of something to kill a couple of hours, and Olive Films' Blu-ray fits the bill. Offering fair video and decent 5.1 lossless audio, the presentation, imperfect as it may be, satisfies base requirements (much like the movie). Unsurprisingly, no extras are included. Rent it.
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