6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The adventures of oil well fire specialist Chance Buckman (based on real-life Red Adair), who extinguishes massive fires in oil fields around the world.
Starring: John Wayne, Katharine Ross, Jim Hutton (I), Vera Miles, Jay C. FlippenRomance | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS Mono
French: DTS Mono
German: DTS Mono
Japanese: DTS Mono
Portuguese: DTS Mono
Russian: DTS Mono
Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese.
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Some of the most dangerous, and best paying, jobs in the world can be found in the oil fields, but even more perilous is the delicate, difficult, and dangerous work of extinguishing oilfield fires. Director Andrew V. McLaglen's (McLintock!, Shenandoah) Hellfighters shines a light on the work while exploring some quasi-serious family drama along the way. The film favors the latter for its structural framework, using the fires as both exciting reprieve from the drama as well as critical narrative propellants to add flaming intensity to the core story.
Universal's catalogue releases have always been a bit spotty, particularly those released several years ago. Hellfighters falls somewhere in the
middle of the visual quality pack, delivering a perfectly serviceable image that has not been de-noised to unwatchable excess but that still shows some
signs of unnecessary tinkering. Grain remnants remain but the field is a bit splotchy and clumpy and some details appear
artificially sharpened. Overall clarity is fairly strong, and the image certainly benefits from the boosted resolution Blu-ray affords to it, but the picture
lacks the fundamental filmic finesse that a more carefully cared for print, one more intrinsically related to the original, could have delivered. Also
harmful are the occasional splotch and speckle which appear here and there, too. There are also some occasional examples of edge enhancement. Look
at Greg's jacket at the 44:10 mark. But even through the flaws the picture is certainly watchable in the aggregate. It could be better. It could
have been much worse.
Much the same can be said of the coloring which lacks absolute punch. The red firefighter suits appear a little depressed though adequately saturated.
Likewise, natural greenery on a golf course similarly struggles in chapter 10. Civilians clothes are often colorfully diverse and find adequate contrast and
punch though never anything so expertly bold as such might have been. Intense flames display bright oranges, reds, and whites, intermixed with thick
black
smoke, with fairly impressive depth and punch, representing the best color output in the movie, and probably rightly so. Black levels are deep and inky
but teeter in crush, particularly as seen during several dense nighttime exteriors. Flesh tones are well managed for color but fall under the limitations of
the color
spectrum and the artificial processing which rob them of the finer detail and contrast. Overall, this is hardly the stuff of high definition elegance, but it
gets the job done. The final score is probably closer to 3.25 rather than 3.50.
Hellfighters' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack does not ignite speakers with any serious intensity, but its overall output is quite acceptable in support. The sound design's dated structure is apparent from the beginning when the rumbly oil leak to begin the film proves bass-happy, a bit unkempt but generally effective in its resonance and output; just don't expect the subwoofer to be too heavily tested for either depth or clarity. The opening title score, a rather exciting refrain which repeats at several points throughout the film, is pleasantly clear, lacking the absolute lifelike transparency one might find in a modern track but there's no shortage of fine instrumental clarity, excellent front end stretch and positioning, and modest but vital surround wrap to be enjoyed. Atmospheric effects gain favor in presentation during the firefighting scenes but also in other locales such as a fancy restaurant partway through the film. Much like everything else there's no real sense of absolute soundscape transparency but there's enough clarity and engagement to make the experience a rather pleasant one in total. Dialogue is generally clear, center positioned, and well prioritized. Once or twice listeners will encounter some mushy, shallow dialogue. Listen to Tish in chapter four, speaking about her past while on an airplane. It's probably the single worst sound element the track has to offer.
Hellfighters contains no supplemental content. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.
Hellfighters strives to balance intense firefighting action with hot and heavy family drama and dynamics. It works well enough, and even as the fires are terrifyingly large and translate exceptional well to the screen, they play second to the characters and story away from the blazes. The rest of it just isn't all that interesting. The movie is resultantly a little slow and overstuffed. It is certainly not one of Wayne's best but it does spin a capable yarn with enough action and romance to leave audiences of both persuasions satisfied. Universal's Blu-ray is featureless. Video and audio could have been a lot better but could have been a lot worse. Recommend on a good sale.
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