5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Foster brothers, John and Charlie share a life-long dream of robbing the Money Train that collects millions of dollars each night from NYC subway stations. Only two things stand in their way: they're cops; and Donald Patterson, the hard-assed MTA chief, is their boss. They're his trains, it's his money, and he's never been robbed. But on New Year's Eve, the rates are going up...
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lopez, Robert Blake, Chris CooperCrime | 100% |
Thriller | 33% |
Heist | 24% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
With precious few exceptions, all buddy films have the same backbone—you have two guys, total yin-yang opposites, who bond while resolving some dramatic conflict and end up best friends, despite their differences. It’s the male-male heterosexual equivalent of a romantic comedy, and lately it’s been given a new name: the bromance. Since the great comedy duos of the 1930s, this has been one of Hollywood’s most enduring genres, and for good reason. American males generally don’t like to express their feelings towards one another, so the buddy movie lets dudes vicariously experience that acknowledgement of friendship and all its associated emotions. In the 1980s and ‘90s, the rise of black/white buddy teams also reflected society’s newly relaxed racial attitudes. This was what you might call the heyday of buddy movies, giving us action comedy classics like 48 HRS. and the Lethal Weapon series. 1995’s Money Train isn’t quite up to par with the best the era had to offer—it’s a cliché-riddled mess that doesn’t get going until its final act—but it has one thing going for it: the comic pairing of Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes.
Get on the Money Train, and ride it...
Image Entertainment rolls Money Train onto Blu-ray with a strong 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer, framed in the film's intended 2.35:1 aspect ratio. As I mentioned in my review of Image's recent release of Jagged Edge, you never know what you're going to get when it comes to catalog titles from the '80s and '90s; so much depends on the way the film was shot and the condition of the prints. To the distributor's credit, Image has done a fine job of finding source materials that are in near-perfect condition and transferring them faithfully in high definition. Aside from some scattered white flecks, Money Train looks pristine, and there's no evidence of excess noise reduction, edge enhancement, or any other noticeable— and thereby distracting—tweaks to the original image. It looks like the film was run through the telecine machine, given some minor color corrections, and that's about it. This is, I think, the best approach for these kinds of movies. Clarity is not exceptionally sharp—it probably never was—but the increase in resolution is immediately apparent in areas where you normally look for it, like facial textures and clothing details. Color is natural, and if never particularly vivid, at least dense and consistent, with a foundation of adequately deep blacks and good contrast. Lastly, besides some minor noise, there are no compression-related issues worth noting. Money Train probably looks as good here as it ever will.
The image is accompanied by a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that's clear, dynamically strong, and likely true to source, even if the mix is otherwise unremarkable. Like the film itself, this track is at its best during the few action sequences, where you'll hear trains barreling through the rear speakers, metal rending sounds, gunshots popping through the airspace around your head, and plenty of swooshes and screeches. None of it is particularly immersive or convincing—the pans are a bit stocky—but it's about what you'd expect from a mid-1990s film of this sort. The rest of the film is much quieter and dialogue-driven, with occasional ambience, like bar chatter and New York street sounds. The music by Mark Mancina shows its age, but it sounds fine, with a decent low-end presence and clarity throughout the range. Dialogue is also clean and easily discernable throughout. The disc comes with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
The sole supplement on the disc is a theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:48).
Money Train is one of the lesser 1990s action comedies—it's more boring than you probably remember—but, like most mediocre buddy films, it gets by on the charisma and chemistry of its two stars. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson make a great odd couple, and if that's enough for you, it might be worth taking another ride on Money Train. Lack of special features aside, Image Entertainment's Blu-ray rerelease is strong, with a surprisingly impressive high definition transfer and a solid lossless audio track.
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