8 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A high-octane, globe-spanning thriller with storylines ripped from today’s headlines, Strike Back is a one-hour drama series that focuses on two members of a top-secret anti-terrorist organization known as Section 20: Michael Stonebridge, a British sergeant in the ultra secret Section 20 anti-terrorist team, and Damien Scott, a Delta Forces operative who was disgraced and discharged on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Starring: Philip Winchester, Sullivan Stapleton, Michelle Lukes, Robson Green, Rhashan StoneAction | 100% |
War | 46% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 2.0
German: DTS 5.1
The DTS tracks are 768 kbps, 24-bit
English SDH, French, Spanish, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Six-disc set (4 BDs, 2 DVDs)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Strike Back is the kind of blazin' guns-n-guys series the '80s would have given us if its action heavys -- Stallone, Willis and Ah-nuld -- had small-screen ambitions, British accents and a penchant for sinewy special ops missions. Never mind the show's history. Its first season was originally broadcast in the UK and this, its second season, is a joint relaunch of sorts courtesy of Sky and Cinemax (think Torchwood: Miracle Day but with better actors from this side of the pond). Never mind the fact that you probably haven't seen the first season either. The only returning cast member is Richard Armitage, and he only appears in the opening minutes of the first episode. Apparently a little known movie called The Hobbit came and stole him away. (Andrew Lincoln doesn't appear at all. Blame The Walking Dead.) All you need know is that MI6 has a top-secret division of highly trained specialists dubbed Section 20 and... um... they shoot lots of stuff, save lots of people, take out lots of terrorists, save lots of hostages, pull off a whole lot just in the knick of time, and generally fill all your post-24, post-Unit needs.
"I think we have trouble..."
Strike Back: Cinemax Season One comes to Blu-ray guns blazing. HBO's hot, heavy, hard-edged 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is a stunner, even if its contrast is cranked up, its black levels bottom out, and its noise is a touch unruly. It's all part of the fun. Colors are bold and blistering, with virile reds, sun-baked oranges and browns, stark blues, and deep, inky shadows. Skintones are oversaturated but only insofar as the image is oversaturated. The palette is par for the course when it comes to modern actioners, and Strike Back is nothing less than a bullet-riddled, testosterone-juicing modern actioner. Detail is excellent as well. Crisp, clean edges are bested only by terrificly resolved fine textures, and every bit of stubble, shard of shrapnel, flying bullet casing and spattered speck of blood is present and accounted for. Close-ups are both revealing and rewarding, delineation is on point (all things considered), and there aren't many scenes -- whether they take place in a dark operations room, a seedy Malaysian whore house, a balmy New Delhi hotel, a dingy terrorist target, a sweltering desert, a chilly European rendezvous, an ornate palace, or in the midst of a Khartoum shootout -- that could look much better than they do here. Low lighting is greeted by an increase in source noise, sure, and some minor banding sneaks past the encode's front lines of defense. But the rest of the presentation doesn't deviate from the course. Artifacting, aliasing, ringing and other such issues are nowhere to be found, and significant crush and outright distractions are either a part of the source or MIA. Strike Back fans will be ecstatic.
HBO's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track hits hard, hits fast, and doesn't let up. Dialogue is somehow crystal clear, believably grounded and perfectly prioritized at all times, even when Stonebridge and Scott dispense with the pleasantries and do what they do best: take the fight to the terrorists. The LFE channel throws the full force of its fury behind every shotgun blast, deafening explosion, crashing vehicle, dust-up and beatdown the series has to offer, and often does so with pure sonic shock and awe. The rear speakers, not to be outdone, barrel into battle with aggressive activity, neck-snapping pans, laser-guided directional effects and a wholly enveloping soundfield, all of which combine to create an exciting, sternum-thumping action-oriented experience, no matter each episode's field or fog of war. Bullets whiz past, chunks of debris scatter, blood gushes and spatters, walls buckle, ceilings collapse, shouts and cries echo in the distance, smoke billows, crowds pour down busy streets, Section 20 command posts bristle with the tapping of keyboard keys and the hum of state of the art computers... it all sounds fantastic and, more importantly, convincing. Yes, the series' score gets buried in the mix every now and then, even when no one is speaking, but, for the most part, the music is as integral a part of the show as any other element, relying on the same exacting dynamics and excellent separation as the rest of the soundscape. Ultimately, Strike Back's lossless track is every bit as impressive as its video presentation.
On the supplemental front, Strike Back: Cinemax Season One includes five audio commentaries -- "Episode Two" with executive producer Daniel Perciva and series stars Philip Winchester (Stonebridge) and Sullivan Stapleton (Scott); "Episode Four" with Winchester and actor Liam Cunningham (Daniel Connelly); "Episode Six" with Winchester and actress Amanda Mealing (Colonel Eleanor Grant); "Episode Eight" with Stapleton and Perciva; and "Episode Ten," the season finale, with Perciva, Winchester, Stapleton and Mealing. Each commentary is (for the most part) informative and entertaining, even when it devolves into production anecdotes, training regiment stories and bumps-n-bruises comparisons. Fans will enjoy the lot of them, though, and that's really all that matters. A documentary or a few featurettes would have been nice, but this'll do. Just don't expect anything in the way of behind-the-scenes footage and you'll be fine.
Strike Back laughs in the face of broadcast network actioners and, serious as it still takes itself, wears its ultraviolence, F-bombs and rampant sex on its chest like badges of honor. It only helps that Stonebridge, Scott and their compatriots make it all immensely watchable and, yes, immensely entertaining. HBO's Blu-ray release is the real showstopper, though, with a slick video presentation and a hard-hitting DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The supplemental package amounts to five audio commentaries, but who's counting? Strike Back: Cinemax Season One is perfect for that action junkie in your life. If you're that action junkie, get ready to add a new series to your list of shows to watch this August when Strike Back returns to Cinemax, this time with Boston Legal's Rhona Mitra and Game of Thrones' Charles Dance in tow. It's pure action fantasy and it knows it, tossing caution to the wind and charging into the thick of it; the very things that has inspired so many to declare the series one of their must-see shows of the year.
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