6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
Fifteen years after the gingerbread-house incident, siblings Hansel and Gretel are bounty hunters looking for revenge.
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Peter Stormare, Famke Janssen, Zoë BellAction | 100% |
Fantasy | 65% |
Horror | 4% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
If you're going to kill a witch, set her ass on fire.
Oh, but there are many more ways to kill a witch, most of which are significantly more ridiculous in the abysmal Hansel & Gretel: Witch
Hunters. Gatling
guns, shotguns, repeating crossbows, grenades, tasers, and many more
varieties of more modern weaponry -- sprinkled with some kind of anti-black witch holy water -- that's made to look on the cutting edge of antique
do
the
deed
quite nicely, and to significantly gory result. And it's really about as lame as it sounds. If a movie ever had "disaster" written all over it, it's this.
Sure,
don't judge a book by its cover or a movie by its poster or premise, but this a pretty clear-cut classic case of the new Hollywood, a movie that's so
transparent in
exactly what it's going to be that one need not even watch -- or catch a glimpse of the trailer, for that matter -- to know there's going to be bad
dialogue, over-the-top action, and even a "bullet time" shot in which Hansel bends over backwards, out of the way just in the nick of time of an
incoming arrow. It's the poster child for the criticism that Hollywood has completely given up on making good movies, now fully embracing the
mocking "lame stream" monicker and going for broke in junk cinema-for-profit ventures. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters proves mindlessly
entertaining, generally, but expect to lose a significant number of braincells and come to dislike these sorts of recycled garbage in-garbage out
movies all the
more after watching.
Don't tase me, bro! It hasn't been invented yet!
Awful though the movie may be, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' 1080p presentation is most certainly anything but. Paramount's latest transfer is wonderful. The digital source material translates almost flawlessly to Blu-ray. There's a beautifully balanced and adequately vibrant array of colors making up the candied home exterior, and they stand out even considering the darkness behind and beyond. Inside, the palette is infused with the glow of the burning fire. As the action moves on an undisclosed number of years later, audiences are treated to a nice contrast, on one hand the vibrant green woodland foliage and on the other the cold, dreary, gray and blue-infused town exterior. Many subsequent interiors are almost impenetrably dark, but those daylight scenes really dazzle not so much in how vibrant they appear, but in how natural all the shades are. Details are just as impressive. The digital source nearly passes for film quality. It's never at all pasty, smooth, glossy, or any other negative attributable to lower end HD video. This is pristine all the way, revealing every slight costume (Hansel's leathery jacket), face (that amazing witch makeup), and background (foliage and stonework) nuance to 1080p perfection. Clarity is off the charts excellent and the image is razor-sharp throughout. Black levels are generally pristine, though perhaps a hair more absorbing than they should be in a couple of shots. Flesh tones are balanced. One shot appears to digitally crumble, albeit slightly; blocking lightly distorts a shot of Hansel in the "healing waters" at about the 55:25 mark. Otherwise, this one's fantastic.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters scares up a high quality Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It finds a perfect middle ground between subtle and excess, slightly favoring the latter but not so much as to shatter eardrums or blow out speakers. The opening music proves nice and wide, yielding seamless lossless clarity and just the right touch of surround support. A positive, hefty, but not overbearing low end support gives it body and texture, solidifying the music and showcasing the track's ability to nuance even the low end. The track also provides plenty of wonderful atmospheric effects that effortlessly fill the stage and immerse the listener in the film's world. Whether woodland accents or a throng of bystanders breaking up after a standoff involving the heroes and the sheriff, the listening audience will appreciate the detailed, pinpoint effects that play all over the stage. Action scenes are suitably robust. Explosions, gunfire, and plenty of swoops and multidirectional effects litter the stage to pleasing effect. Dialogue is a strength; it commands the stage with every syllable, whether Edward's booming voice or cackling witch screeches. All around, a fine, top-tier effort from Paramount and Dolby.
This extended cut of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters features only three extras. DVD and digital copies are also included.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters plays just as expected. It's pure fantasy, over-the-top goofy, don't-take-me-seriously in action and dialogue both. It's also hugely predictable, largely unimaginative in execution, and a perfect example of everything that's wrong with modern mainstream cinema. But it's still technically well made and offers serviceable, albeit mindlessly serviceable, entertainment. Suffice it to say, the highbrow crowd should stay far away, but chances are audiences who expect only basic, time killing entertainment will find enough value to give it a watch. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is surprisingly thin on extras. However, video and audio qualities are fantastic. Rent it.
Limited Edition
2013
w/ Collectible Book
2013
2013
Limited 3D Editions
2013
Includes Exclusive Content
2013
Unrated Cut
2013
Hansel et Gretel : Chasseurs de Sorcières
2013
Unrated Cut
2013
Unrated Cut | 3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray
2013
2013
+ Unrated cut on the Blu-ray
2013
Extended Edition
2012
2014
2012
2011
2015
2012
2009
2014
2018
2017
2016
2010
Unrated Director's Cut
2007
2006
2013
Unrated
2003
2017
2013
2016
2014