Skin Traffik Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Skin Traffik Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 26, 2015

Bradley (Gary Daniels) is the best hit man in the business. His boss (Eric Roberts) tasks him with retrieving a critical data disc from Vogel (Mickey Rourke). Bradley kills Vogel's men and threatens his daughter, which gets him the disc and gets Vogel dead. It was to be Bradley's last assignment, but some time later he takes it upon himself to save a girl named Anna (Dominique Swain) from ruthless pimps. Now, they're on the run together. Bradley promises to help Anna find her sister (Sarah Coyle) while they're on the run from goons out to kill them.

Skin Traffik is hardly a bastion of originality. It's a simpleminded movie held back by a startling lack of dramatic or stylistic creativity. Direction is heavy handed and uneven, as is the choppy, unreliable, sometimes even unbearable editing. Action scenes are dull. Gunplay is of the point-and-shoot variety and car chases are on par with any cheap DTV effort. Support cast -- big names like Mickey Rourke, Daryl Hannah, and Michael Madsen -- appears particularly bored and delivers lines seemingly without a clue of what they are saying or why. The only saving grace is Gary Daniels, the leading man who takes the generic villain-to-hero part -- which would be right at home under the care of Jason Statham -- and injects a decent sense of vitality to it, not doing much more than going throughout the motions (which is all the weak script really allows) but at least taking it seriously and giving the action scenes his all.

Skin Traffik Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Skin Traffik boats a superficially passable 1080p transfer. The digitally photographed movie occasionally musters up quality colors and details in up-tight shots but generally takes on a processed, flat appearance. The pasty details and a palette that lacks subtlety often dominate, leaving complex details and rich colors the exception rather than the rule. The transfer additionally suffers from regular occurrences of black crush, banding, noise, macroblocking, and aliasing, none of it in completely debilitating amounts but more than enough to be a bother.

Skin Traffik Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Skin Traffik's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is a victim of the film's poorly prioritized and overly processed mix. Music is harsh and unrefined. It plays over much of the movie and devours dialogue and nuanced details. It does power through the back channels for added spacing and immersion. Gunfire, car crashes, and other action-specific bits are generically integrated and adequately potent but absent more than cursory detail. Dialogue, when it's not lost under music, plays with a decent level of clarity.

Skin Traffik Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All that's included are trailers for Skin Traffik (1080p, 1:40), Blunt Force Trauma, Nocturna, and Survivor.

Skin Traffik Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Skin Traffik should satisfy audiences looking for a completely mindless DTV Action film. Forget the high profile cast -- they're only in it for the payday -- and try to enjoy the movie for what it is, which is lazy popcorn muncher. Alchemy's Blu-ray release features adequate video and poorly engineered sound. Supplements are limited to a few trailers. Rent it.