Hard Hit Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Hard Hit Blu-ray Movie Review

A bomb? In my car? It's more likely than you think.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 15, 2022

A remake of the 2015 Spanish thriller Retribution (which will itself be regurgitated again for American audiences in an upcoming film starring Liam Neeson), Kim Chang-ju's Hard Hit is a film that, like those other incarnations, owes its very existence to earlier fare like Speed, Phone Booth, and Unstoppable. It's so shockingly derivative that I wouldn't blame anyone for dismissing it outright but, when taken on its own terms, Hard Hit is still an effortlessly engaging thriller with solid performances, great music, and plenty of mounting suspense during its sleek, 94-minute lifespan.

Jo Woo-jin (Steel Rain) stars as Lee Seong-gyu, a wealthy bank manager whose personal and professional life are turned upside-down one morning on the way to work. With his daughter Lee Hye-in (Lee Jae-in) and young son in the backseat, Seong-gyu's commute is interrupted by a disturbing phone call from an unidentified man who claims his SUV is armed with a bomb that'll detonate if any family members dare to leave the vehicle or call the police. Skeptical of the threat, Seong-gyu is inevitably convinced when his friend and co-worker, Jung-ho (Jeon Seok-ho), gets a similar call. After a sudden accident, his son is badly injured and in need of medical assistance... but of course, our mystery caller doesn't care: he's looking for a multi-million dollar payout, which Seong-gyu must piece together with the help of bank employees and even his wife, Yeon-Su (Kim Ji-ho). As the danger builds and other circumstances soon prompt police intervention, our three innocent riders are stuck inside a nightmare scenario with almost no lifeline.

That's the long and short of Hard Hit, whose premise lies somewhere between ridiculous and eerily familiar. Ignoring the fact that it's already a remake (twice over, if you count this little-known 2018 Russian film), Hard Hit is so painfully similar to its predecessors and their knock-offs (Cellular, etc.) that it couldn't possibly come close to a four-star rating even if all the wheels were turning perfectly. But luckily they are, for the most part: Hard Hit's lead and supporting performances are good enough to make you care about its characters, while the cinematography, editing, and music all work together to build suspense with decent visual storytelling and solid sound design. A few other clichés may cause random eye rolls -- I mean, one all- seeing security officer even enhances footage -- but, for the most part, Hard Hit is a well-done little thriller that successfully kills 94 minutes with very few unavoidable roadblocks.

MPI Media Group's welcome Blu-ray package does right by the film, thankfully offering a genuine Korean audio track alongside the obligatory bad English dub; this originally had me worried, as their press release only linked to an English theatrical trailer. Add in a very solid A/V presentation and a few surface-level bonus features and you've got a decent little release that, while not groundbreaking, will probably be good enough under the right circumstances.

Hard Hit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In addition to the story, Hard Hit also mimics the overall look of its predecessor Retribution with cold, steely blue-grays dominating the mostly urban backdrop while also flirting with a more natural palette full of vivid colors and picturesque wide shots of the beautiful port city. Fine details are crisply rendered with excellent black levels, good color saturation, and an overall clean appearance that, while obviously all- digital in nature, still maintains pleasing textures rather than looking like a waxy mess. Despite its relatively short running time and minimal extras, Hard Hit has been authored to a dual-layered Blu-ray and runs at a high bit rate with almost zero compression-related issues such as banding, artifacts, or posterization. Overall, a great-looking presentation that elevates its source material to modest heights.

Hard Hit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Be sure to visit the setup menu, people: assuming you choose the English menu option, a predictably bad dub serves as the default audio track and it should be avoided like the plague. Thankfully, Hard Hit's original Korean DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is only two clicks away, which turns this from an unintentional comedy to a rather tight little thriller. (A German dub is also included, which is the default if that menu option is chosen.) But no matter your language of choice, all three tracks offer a solid level of immersion thanks to good sound design and an effective original score by Kim Tae-seong, which adds a bit of propulsive energy and general suspense to the proceedings during key moments. Rear channels can be fairly active at times and, though our mysterious caller mostly stays right up front (no floating surround trickery here, for better or for worse), it helps to anchor this mostly dialogue-driven production well enough. Overall, it's what you'd expect from a claustrophobic film of this type and, at times, just a little bit more.

Both the English and German dubs get two subtitle options apiece: "dubtitles", as well as literal translations of the Korean language track. This is certainly appreciated, but the English translation subtitles are questionable at best and contain several broken sentences and mild grammatical errors. (It's still better than the alternative, though.) Please note that I'm not even close to being fluent in German, but I can't imagine that translation is great, either.

Hard Hit Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with fairly generic cover artwork; it's got an inner print, but no inserts or slipcover are included. The bonus features are very lightweight but still appreciated.

• Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (4:23) - This short promotional piece features comments by director Kim Chang-ju, cinematographer Kim Tae-soo, actors Jo Woo-jin and Lee Jae-in, and several others.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:58) - Remember that awful English-language trailer I mentioned earlier? That's what we get, and you can also see it here. If you'd rather watch it in Korean instead, you're welcome.

Hard Hit Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kim Chang-ju's Hard Hit is a remake of a remake of an already somewhat derivative thriller that we'll see on American screens in the near future in an as-yet-unreleased production starring Liam Neeson. In lesser hands it could have been entirely forgettable for those reasons, but Hard Hit still remains a surprisingly effective little thriller whose only major drawback is its familiarity. MPI's Blu-ray makes the most of the situation with a very strong A/V presentation, multiple audio options, and a few lightweight bonus features to boot. It's a decent little blind buy at the right price.