Navy Seals vs. Zombies Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Navy Seals vs. Zombies Blu-ray Movie Review

It is what it says it is. But it's nowhere near as good as it sounds.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 14, 2015

...And the award for catchiest title of the year goes to...Navy Seals vs. Zombies! Director Stanton Barrett's low-budget flick takes its name to heart, pitting America's elite special forces against against a bunch of flesh-hungry zombies. Yes, it delivers as promised in a very crude sense, but if the title were really being up-front about what the movie had on tap, it would throw the words "low budget" and "fast forward through the first half" in there somewhere. This is Asylum-level drivel that's limited in scope, low in production values, and even resurrects a long-ago favorite genre actor to play a bit part. It's a slog of a movie that's nearly impossible to watch in a single sitting, even at a should-be-brisk 90-some minute runtime. Action is stale and the writing is bad, but the actors give the movie a serious edge that at least elevates it from all-time classic on the wrong end of the scale to merely forgettable venture with a cool title.

SEALin'

Fresh-faced Navy SEAL AJ Prescott (Damon Lipari) is replacing "a damn good SEAL that everybody liked" who was killed in action while working an operation on the Pakistani border. AJ has a pregnant wife at home. His unit is called into action when a crisis involving the Vice President unfolds. The team heads to Baton Rogue to rescue him. Mission accomplished, but the survivors tell them strange stories of "human" attackers who are seemingly immune to gunfire and relentless in their attacks. So it would seem that, while the VP is safe, there's more to do. The SEALs quickly learn that they're up against flesh-hungry zombies who will stop at nothing -- not even a well-armed SEAL -- to get what they want, and that's flesh and blood at all cost.

Navy Seals vs. Zombies isn't exactly "disappointing." Most any movie-savvy viewer knows this is going to be bad. The only question is to what degree of "bad" it is and whether it's "bad" as in "nauseatingly boring" or "campy entertaining." Sadly, the film falls in the former category. Rather than replicate the wink-and-nod mash-up success of movies like the über-popular Sharknado films, Navy Seals vs. Zombies takes itself way too seriously. It wastes its time on pointless characterization -- really, another movie with the rookie team member who has a pregnant wife at home and is filling in for a fallen hero who was loved by his teammates? -- and takes far too long to get to the good stuff, i.e. the movie's title. When the action does come, it's like it plays out in slow motion. The action feels cramped and confined. The locations are boring, there's little variety, and the special effects are awful. The cast at least has some fun with it, making use of what little leeway the film provides to play the gung-ho tough guys with a soft spot for their fallen friends.

And for everyone who thought the "original" Navy SEALs was bad -- that would be a whole lot of people, excluding this guy -- just honestly compare it to Navy Seals vs. Zombies and, if nothing else, appreciate just how much honest production values and good acting can make even a straightforward genre flick into, at least, a watchable time waster (this reviewer likes it just fine as a fun guilty pleasure). Navy Seals vs. Zombies isn't far removed from college project level of filmmaking. The budget is a little higher, and seems to have been spent largely on fairly detailed military uniforms and weapons, a high tech command center, and one Mr. Michael Michael Dudikoff (can someone please release Platoon Leader and American Ninja to Blu-ray?). There's plenty of potential here for a good, big movie in the same scope and style of something like Battle: Los Angeles, but the film settles for cut-rate moviemaking that even the staunchest lovers and defenders of cinema's bottom-scrapers will have a hard time defending.

Navy Seals vs. Zombies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Navy Seals vs. Zombies arrives on Blu-ray sourced from a presentable, but fairly generic, digital shoot. Anchor Bay's 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer reveals the source's glossy, fairly lifeless façade but also captures the finer details on the complex military uniforms and support gear, facial hair, and other bits. Backgrounds are frequently lifeless and lacking in detail, though that's more on the cheap productions design than the encode. Colors are fairly drab. Flesh tones and the tan military uniforms are healthy enough, but there's not a lot of vibrant, eye-catching color in the movie. Black levels are serviceable. Light macroblocking and banding are not present enough to cause more than cursory concern. It's not a bad image, just fairly bland in a world of cookie-cutter lower-end digital shoots.

Navy Seals vs. Zombies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Navy Seals vs. Zombies features a decent Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack that's more a victim of the film's meager sound design than any issues with Anchor Bay's encode. There's no shortage of surround usage, whether for music, atmosphere, or action. Musical definition is fine, save for a few notes that sound like they're filtered through a telephone, but that seems more on the music in question than anything else. There's a good, if not fairly routine, low end accompaniment in support. Action is a bit disappointing, with gunshots offering little more than cursory cracks. Gunfire is oftentimes lost to the music, which plays seemingly for the duration. Dialogue is fine, enjoying center placement, strong clarity, and few prioritization issues.

Navy Seals vs. Zombies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Navy Seals vs. Zombies contains no supplemental content.

Navy Seals vs. Zombies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Navy Seals vs. Zombies has it all. In its title. There's a promise of simple greatness, of The Walking Dead meets Lone Survivor. What the movie offers instead is an Asylum-level clunker on most every level. The actors are OK for what they have to work with, but this is otherwise, sadly, bottom-of-the-barrel filler at its worst. Anchor Bay's featureless Blu-ray delivers passable video and audio. Skip it.