7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
A white knuckle ride to smash the senses! REDLINE is the biggest racing tournament with the most deadly racers in the universe. Only held once every five years, everyone wants to stake their claim to fame, while organised crime and militaristic governments want to leverage the race to their own ends.
Starring: Takuya Kimura, Yu Aoi, Tadanobu Asano, Takeshi Aono, Tatsuya GashûinForeign | 100% |
Anime | 91% |
Sci-Fi | 22% |
Action | 17% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
We get to see a bunch of idiots get themselves killed!
Fast racing, several rainbows worth of colors, a catchy Techno refrain, intergalactic strife, big-chested competitors, the mafia, gambling, explosions, and
a drooling press corps all together sum up the various bits and pieces of Redline, a 2009 Anime picture from Director Takeshi Koike. As the
previous sentence might suggest, Redline isn't a simple racing movie; sure its plot and various elements are all wrapped tightly around the title
race, but this feature ebbs and flows and meanders around everything from mafia hits to burgeoning love on the way to the checkered flag.
It's certainly a movie with a lot on its plate, but it doesn't always work. The film is at its generic best during the opening "Yellowline" race and in its
smorgasbord final "Redline" race act that's little more than a nonstop barrage of fast-moving action as all of the primary conflicts come to a head. But
it's pretty,
colorful, and loud, so will audiences care if it's not the most substantive movie ever made?
Now that's fast.
Redline's 1080p transfer nicely handles the colorful material presented to it. Anchor Bay's 1.85:1-framed image yields all of the film's uncountable shades with brilliant accuracy, from the brightest red hearts and flashiest green hairs, all the way down to the more bland earthen tones that contrast the veritable rainbow of colors seen on hair, clothes, and vehicles. The eye-popping array of colors are nicely offset by balanced black levels that nicely define the film's darker corners. Meanwhile, fine detail proves quite good. The 1080p imagery captures many of the more subtle nuances around the frame, like the texture of the walls in JP's hospital room as seen early in the movie. The transfer cleanly and crisply delivers the fast-moving action and the more static scenes with equal precision. Lines remain smooth and clean, but background banding -- both subtle and egregious -- does interfere with many shots. The banding notwithstanding, this is a quality, good-looking transfer that suits the material well.
Redline's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is intoxicating. The uptempo, rapid-fire Techno refrain is energetic and deep. This, and other musical cues, spread nicely around the entire soundstage -- the back section included -- and create a satisfying, enveloping musical environment. Clarity is quite good in both music and sound effects. The racing scenes are loud but don't usually come across as all that jumbled. On the contrary, the various action elements -- speeding vehicles, gunfire, explosions -- are nicely presented, clear, accurate, and wholly immersive. Ambience is quite effective, too. The film opens with a realistically-spaced and reverberating PA system announcements, intermixed with chatter and other pre-race elements. This scene does become somewhat jumbled and uneven, but thereafter ambient effects are crisp and distinct, placed all over the stage while naturally immersive, whether the subtle sound of running water at a classy restaurant or other natural ambience. Dialogue is smooth and, save for that opening segment, never lost under accompanying music or effects. This is a satisfying, exciting track that will please both fans of the movie and audiophiles alike.
Redline contains only a trio of extras, but one of them is a comprehensive making-of.
There's definitely an appeal to Redline, a movie that's visually catchy and that attacks the senses like few other films, at least during its high octane action/racing sequences. Unfortunately, it's also devoid of substance, though certainly not for a lack of throwing as many ancillary elements at the audience as humanly (otherworldly?) possible. This is fun in a mindless sort of way, though audiences looking for something with a little more thematic oomph are encouraged to search elsewhere. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Redline features strong video, superb audio, and a a trio of extras. Fans can buy with confidence, though others are encouraged to rent.
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