6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
This is a film about a 16 year old girl who is hunted down by the government for being a mutant and ends up with a band of mutants who are fighting humans.
Starring: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Asami, Naoto Takenaka, Yumi Sugimoto, Suzuka MoritaHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 73% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Have you ever wondered what might happen if Quentin Tarantino decided to make something along the lines of an X-Men movie, only with women and transformed through the blood soaked lens of a Japanese splatter film? Well, wonder no more. Mutant Girls Squad is here in all its gory glory, reveling in the sort of ridiculously hyperbolic action that has made this genre a solid favorite amongst those who can’t help but laugh at the sight of severed limbs, bifurcated skulls and lots and lots (and lots) of blood spewing forth from hacked arteries, almost always squirting over the camera’s point of view and eventually drenching the proceedings in red gooey slime. This is the sort of “film” (probably a way too high-falutin’ term for a project like this) where the three lead actresses are introduced in the credits sequence as they decimate various bad guys, with a variety of dicing and slicing that leaves heads cut in two, hands removed from their attendant arms, and, again, lots and lots (and lots) of blood spewing forth, enveloping the camera lens but at least providing a nice solid color backdrop for the names of the actresses. This kind of fare is not for the faint of heart nor for those with squeamish stomachs or sensitive sensibilities, but for those with a certain kind of sense of humor (and you know who you are), Mutant Girls Squad is a ridiculously silly piece of blood soaked entertainment that features some of the most bizarre sights imaginable, including such never to be forgotten moments as one girl “farting” a chainsaw out of her derriere and another displaying swords that erupt from her bosom’s nipples. If you’re not laughing at those descriptions, chances are Mutant Girls Squad is definitely not going to be your cup of tea. If, on the other hand, you’re at least moderately intrigued, you may in fact end up having a surprisingly good time watching the insane shenanigans of this movie.
Mutant Girls Squad is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Though the credits don't provide any technical information and online data is pretty sketchy on this release, this certainly has the look of having been shot digitally on HD video (if any of our extremely knowledgeable readers knows, please pass the info on to me and I can update the review). As a result, this has the shiny smooth surface look of digital video, without much texture or depth, but with often amazing clarity. A lot of the film has been tweaked in post with weird filtering, so several sequences are drenched in yellow or blue, and as a result fine object detail all but disappears. In segments with more normal lighting and/or filtering (normal being a decidedly relative term in an outing like Mutant Girls Squad), fine detail actually pops quite vividly. Contrast has also been pushed in several sequences, giving objects an effulgent glow and again robbing the image of at least a little fine detail. Black levels are generally consistent, though in a couple of sequences they're on the milky side, perhaps because of tweaking in post. Generally, this is a sharp (if very smooth) looking presentation that offers some extremely vivid colors (especially with regard to the omnipresent reds) and excellent sharpness and clarity.
Mutant Girls Squad's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (in the original Japanese) is about as over the top as the film itself. Immersion is consistent and overwhelming at times, with huge bursts of LFE and blasts of crazy sound effects erupting from the surround channels. The overall mix here is very busy at times and is further bolstered by a thumping J-pop score that is very impressive on the low end. Dialogue is cleanly and clearly presented, and is occasionally nicely directional, but it's the crazy quilt of sound effects that really makes this soundtrack so much fun to listen to. For the record, there is also a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 mix included, and it's really rather surprisingly boisterous itself, with some really good low end.
I'm not a particularly rabid fan of this genre, but I have to admit I laughed myself silly throughout Mutant Girls Squad. How can you not love the sight of a bad guy's head being split in half, revealing the two hemispheres of his brain pulsating slightly in the twilight, as huge amounts of blood spurt everywhere? Well, okay, some of you probably will be quite capable of not loving sights like that, but for those with perhaps slightly skewed senses of humor, this film (yep, I'll even use that term) is a lot of fun, albeit crazy, uninhibited fun full of absolute carnage. Despite the fact that the film was divided into three chapters shot by each of its co-directors, there's a certain manic consistency to the proceedings here. This Blu-ray offers nice (if bloody) looking video, great audio and some decent supplements. Recommended.
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