7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
Set in modern-day Britain, 'Harry Brown' follows one man’s journey through a chaotic world where drugs are the currency of the day and guns run the streets. A modest law-abiding citizen, Harry Brown is a retired Marine and a widower who lives alone on a depressed housing estate. His only company is his best friend Leonard. When Leonard is murdered by a gang of thugs, Harry feels compelled to act and is forced to dispense his own brand of justice. As he bids to clean up the run-down estate where he lives, his actions bring him into conflict with the police, led by investigating officer DCI Frampton and Charlie Creed-Miles.
Starring: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Iain Glen, Liam Cunningham, Charlie Creed-MilesCrime | 100% |
Thriller | 44% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
movieIQ
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
I want a gun.
Director Daniel Barber's Harry Brown is a modern reference-standard for the Vigilante picture. The film
understands the genre better than most and, just as importantly, it captures the action, drama, emotion, inner
turmoil, and outer violence of its complex character and visually gloomy world exceptionally well, all the while building
an environment in which one can safely cheer for the dangerous, distressed, and personally and psychologically
devastating need for vigilantism in a world gone terribly astray from societal norms. Harry Brown finds,
maintains, and builds through that thin line that separates modern man's inkling towards letting a justice system and
police force work on its own accord versus that consistent companion in the back of the mind and in the deepest
recesses of the heart and soul that begs for someone outside the law to take matters into his or her own hands and rid
the world -- or at least one's own little corner of it -- of those negative influence, bad vibes, and hurtful people who
effortlessly and quickly tear down what the populace has painstakingly and over time built up. Harry Brown is
a picture that allows its audience to cheer on violence as a means of combating violence, but the picture works because
it also assumes and focuses on the consequences of violence on a city, a criminal element, the law, and one man's very
essence.
Anyone seen some green leaves around here?
Harry Brown makes its U.S. Blu-ray debut (the disc was previously released as a region B U.K. title, distributed by Lionsgate) with a striking 1080p transfer from Sony. Harry Brown is a cold and dark picture that favors a gray and black color scheme, the image ultimately yielding, then, something of a muted palette and lighter flesh tones. Black levels are critical to Harry Brown, and Sony's transfer impresses a great deal with fantastic shadow detail and rich, absorbing blacks that never fluctuate to a pale, gray shade. Fine detail excels even through the film's darker texture. Whether concrete walls, debris-covered streets, or the finest lines on human faces, Harry Brown delivers plenty of fantastic textures. The transfer is free of any distracting damage or excessive digital manipulation, and the image enjoys a slight layer of film grain that adds a pleasing filmic texture to the proceedings. Harry Brown represents yet another marvelous 1080p transfer from Sony.
Harry Brown rocks Blu-ray with a fantastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that, much like the film, comes to life with such authority and realism that it's easy to overlook just how natural and effortless Sony's track really is. The track handles everything thrown its way, from the lightest of atmospherics to the most intense elements of a potent low end, with equal clarity and ease. Surrounds are used to great effect throughout, whether creating the seamless environmental ambience brought about by distant music and bass in a faraway locale, chipring birds, drips of water from a faucet, or buzzing fluorescent lights. Heavier effects excel, too, whether the distinct sound of someone beating on a door that's heard in the back left corner of the soundstage in one scene, or the general din of a violent riot in another. Gunshots pound out with startling authority, while bass delivers a devastating punch throughout the low end that rattles the ribcage and, in a few cases, seems intent on tearing apart the soundstage at its very seams. Topping things off is perfect dialogue reproduction that's focused up the middle and that captures even the slightest of whispers and the harshest of screams with equal precision. No doubt about it, Sony's DTS track for Harry Brown is of reference quality through and through.
The primary supplement found on this Blu-ray release of Harry Brown is an audio commentary track with Director Daniel Barber, Producer Kris Thykier, and Actor Michael Caine. They deliver an affable but ultimately standard commentary that covers all of the expected ground, including the work of the cast, the elements of the story, humorous moments from the set, creating some of the film's effects, and plenty more. Also included is a collection of seven deleted scenes (1080p, 17:08); BD-Live functionality; MovieIQ connectivity; and 1080p trailers for The Experiment, The Square, The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, Game of Death, A Single Man, and The Road.
Harry Brown may never surpass Death Wish as the de facto Vigilante picture in the minds of the moviegoing public, that doesn't mean it's not deserving of that title. Daniel Barber's picture is one that enjoys not only slicker and better production values, but also far greater emotional depth, characterization, acting, and feel. Harry Brown's contrast between an ultra-violent criminal element and a sweet old man with nothing more to lose and caught in the middle of a world gone awry plays as the perfect set-up for a picture like this, and Michael Caine delivers a tour-de-force performance in the title role. It's certainly near the top of Caine's best efforts for the emotional complexity he brings to the character, not to mention his ability to pull off the film's difficult dialogue and action scenes extraordinarily well. Genre fans should put Harry Brown at the top of their must-see list; Vigilante pictures just don't get any better than this. Sony's Blu-ray release of Harry Brown is unfortunately absent a more thorough collection of extras, but the studio nevertheless delivers a high-quality 1080p transfer and a reference-grade lossless soundtrack. Even considering the shortage of extras, Harry Brown comes highly recommended.
2K Restoration
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