Lost Boys: The Tribe Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Lost Boys: The Tribe Blu-ray Movie Review

Eh.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 19, 2010

Once you join the tribe there's no turning back.

A rehash of the original The Lost Boys is the best they could do for a sequel, even considering a lead time of 20 years to think it through and come up with an idea for a good movie? Twenty years or 20 months, Lost Boys: The Tribe is actually better than the average direct-to-video sequel, meaning it's still only a barely-passable movie with a dead-end plot, nobody actors, boring direction, and just enough in the way of production values and know-how to rise above the lowest of the low-end films. With vampires all the rage these days -- though, just maybe, losing some ground to the armies of undead zombies -- it seemed like the perfect time to capitalize on their success. With The Lost Boys being one of the hallmark Vampire pictures of the past few decades -- not to mention a beacon of big haired, bright lights 1980s Joel Schumacher goodness -- one can easily see that it was ripe for a follow-up, even if said follow-up's stars were barely out of diapers when the original hit theaters back in 1987. With The Tribe, genre fans can enjoy a good helping of well-realized gore, a fun retro performance from Corey Feldman, and, well, that's pretty much it. There's nothing to see here other than an inferior re-imaging of the first film that doesn't do the franchise any favors, but it doesn't do anything to lessen one's perspective on the original, either.

Back in the saddle again!

The brother-sister duo of Chris (Tad Hilgenbrink) and Nicole (Autumn Reeser) Emmerson are coping with the death of their parents. They've moved into a run-down shack in Luna Bay owned by their aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose). When it turns out they need to pay her rent, Chris -- a former world-class surfer -- looks for work in a local surf shop, but he's turned down and instead pointed to the outfit run by the mysterious Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman). Leaving his address after he finds nobody to be home, Chris returns to his new digs and later that evening meets a fellow surfing pro, Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland), who invites Chris and his sister to a party. Nicole instantly falls for Shane; it turns out he's more than a surfer, and by offering Nicole a drink of blood in a flask, he converts her into a fellow Vampire. Chris isn't happy with his sister's involvement with Shane and angrily takes her home -- where she begins to show signs of vampirism. As Nicole struggles with her newfound identity and the Tribe attempts to bring Chris into the fold, it's up to a crafty old Vampire slayer to once again save the day.

Plot similarities to the original aside, Lost Boys: The Tribe is no match for its predecessor, as if there were any reason to believe it would be to begin with. No, this is merely a lesser re-imagining of the first, with less-likable characters, poorer performances, a lessened atmosphere, and a DOA story. Indeed, The Tribe never equals Schumacher's neon-happy, big-haired original; the atmosphere in The Tribe is lacking, and never does the audience feel immersed into the world created by Director P.J. Pesce and his band of set designers, costumers, and production designers. Luna Bay is a shell of Santa Carla, and that's one of the reasons this film comes up lacking: in the original, the setting was a character in and of itself; the bustling boardwalks, grandpa's creepy house, and the sunken hotel were all exceptionally realized and always drew the audience in closer to the characters and the action. In The Tribe, the movie stumbles around with some really dull locations that do nothing for the movie other than serve as frame in which to place the action. It's one of the most disappointing negatives in The Tribe, and longtime fans of the original will quickly come to see just how well Joel Schumacher's unique vision enhanced the original picture.

Still, there are a few things to like about The Tribe, but none of them are enough to make the picture a worthwhile endeavor. The gore is amped up to a level normally reserved for schlockier movies and the Saw's and Hostel's of the world, though it's not like that extra gore really helps the movie beyond breaking up the monotony. Meanwhile, The Tribe clings to its roots by not only returning a main character from Schumacher's film, but by recycling some of the more classic lines from it, not to mention managing to wrench in that film's "sleep all day, party all night" tagline to generally groan-inducing results. There's a fine lin between quality homage and dismally-realized effort to cram in a line for the sake of cramming it in; when Edgar Frog recites one of his famous lines from the first, it works thanks to a little thing called context; when The Tribe forces the original's tagline into the movie for a cheap laugh -- and one that only the most ardent fans of The Lost Boys will even get -- it falls flat on its face. Points for effort, but this script could have used some help. In the film's defense, it's worlds better than the average DTV clunker; it stumbles where it counts, but The Tribe manages to look and sound better than most of its kind. Of course, its only true saving grace is the casting of Corey Feldman in a surprisingly inspired return to retro glory as the fan-favorite character Edgar Frog; Feldman looks exactly the same as he did 20 years prior, and save for a raspier voice, his effort is nearly seamless when comparing it to his go-round in The Lost Boys.

Lost Boys: The Tribe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lost Boys: The Tribe's 1080p transfer is decent all around, but it's not going to open any eyes or impress any longtime Blu-ray fans or hardcore videophiles. The film features a rather busy, rough, and metallic grain-like structure that gives the picture a gritty and over-sharpened appearance, at least when it's there; several scenes are practically free of the stuff. Detail is better than average but not to the level of the better Blu-ray releases; the image goes soft on occasion which wipes out some of the finest detail, but on the whole, faces, clothes, and other random objects look fine. Colors are bit over-pumped here and there but are generally pleasant and steady. Blacks waver between excessively dark to slightly pale, with the former sometimes wiping out foreground details. There's a slight bit of background blocking that gives a few shots a chunky appearance, but otherwise, this one's rather stable and free of any excess compression problems or blatant post-tinkering. Lost Boys: The Tribe isn't Blu-ray's finest title, but this is a decent image quality that's about what one would expect to accompany a high-def release of a DTV flick.

Lost Boys: The Tribe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lost Boys: The Tribe features a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack; the absence of a lossless track is lamentable, but the lossy track proves its worth and delivers a proficient presentation of a subpar movie. The track does make use of every speaker, so the 5.1 monicker is more than just a title; music enjoys a crispness and spaciousness as it plays through all five channels, and the rock tune that plays over the opening credits enjoys plenty of energy and a good bit of audible detailing. The Tribe features several instances of a rather potent low end that's sloppier and less defined than what might be found in a superior track, but it certainly gets the job done and leaves the listener satisfied in every case. The surround channels handle a wide range of atmospherics that do a good job of replicating the film's environments, whether natural seaside elements or a loud indoor/outdoor party. Dialogue is smooth and crisp as it remains centered up the middle throughout the entire movie. It's not the stuff of audio legend, but Warner Brothers' lossy soundtrack is of a decent enough quality.

Lost Boys: The Tribe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lost Boys: The Tribe bleeds out a few extras. 'Lost Boys: The Tribe:' Action Junkies (480p, 4:23) takes a short look at the film's extreme sports-like action scenes and stunts. Edgar Frog's Guide to Coming Back Alive (480p, 5:06) features Corey Feldman in-character as Edgar Frog discussing the various weapons he uses to kill Vampires. Also included are two alternate endings (1080p, 1:44 & 1:53); the music video of Cry Little Sister by G Tom Mac (480p, 4:47); and three music videos (480p) by Yeah Whatever: Downfall (4:29), Hell is Full (5:55), and It's Over Now (3:09). Disc two contains a Windows-only digital copy of the film.

Lost Boys: The Tribe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lost Boys: The Tribe is one of those movies that's just sort of there, fading into oblivion as an unremarkably bland entity, but not one that's so bad as to draw any real negative attention to itself. Hedging its bets on fans of the original lining up to buy a copy and hoping that all of the Twilight mania would help push a few more sales of anything Vampire related, the filmmakers seemed to have a market before the film even went into production; one can only imagine the ease with which this movie was pitched. Securing the return of Corey Feldman and his character Edgar Frog was but icing on the cake, and while the end result is nothing to write home about, it's at least a passable movie with fair production values and competent people working on it. It's an unnecessary follow up to a classic and a good 17 or 18 years too long in the making, but fans who want to see the latest adventures of Edgar Frog and enjoy some ooey-gooey bloodletting along the way could do worse than this. Warner Brothers' Blu-ray of Lost Boys: The Tribe yields a decent but underwhelming technical presentation and a few extras. The curiously-inclined shouldn't feel too bad parting with a few dollars on a rental.