6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
A seasoned team of bank robbers successfully complete their latest heist and lead a life of luxury while planning their next job. When a former member of their team, is released from prison he convinces the group to strike an armored car carrying $20 million. As the "takers" carefully plot out their strategy and draw nearer to exacting the grand heist, a reckless police officer inches closer to apprehending the criminals.
Starring: Paul Walker, Gabriel Casseus, Chris Brown (I), Hayden Christensen, Michael EalyAction | 100% |
Thriller | 92% |
Crime | 81% |
Heist | 29% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
movieIQ
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
They ain't gonna know what hit 'em.
It's a popular game amongst children: cops and robbers. It's very basic, pitting one child or group of children against the other; it's good versus evil --
even if it's not always that black-and-white in the real world -- and with some requisite violence tossed in for good measure. Takers, a 2010
Heist film directed by the out-of-nowhere John Luessenhop, is essentially a very old idea -- yup, cops and robbers -- polished up and given a dazzling
new veneer that's fast enough for modern audiences. Indeed, Takers is a flashy film that hopes to blind viewers with spectacle and mask the
fact that it's construction-paper-thin at its core. For once, the razzle-dazzle almost pulls off the impossible; Takers is best enjoyed
with a closed mind and modest expectations. The film demands only the attention span of one quick-to-cut shot after another, but the story does
weave in some personal character development to give a bit of added weight to the otherwise blink-and-miss-it editing, hence the construction paper,
which is a bit more durable than standard stock sheets. Takers is no great shakes, but it's a surprisingly decent movie that will insult the
intelligence of only the most demanding of audiences.
Taken.
In terms of its visual presentation, Takers is everything a Blu-ray should be. Sony's latest is another of their masterwork transfers, this one a crisp, steady, and nearly faultless effort that brings Director John Luessenhop's digitally-captured movie to Blu-ray in a nearly impeccable package. In fact, this digital movie looks so good on Blu-ray that it's often easy to mistake it for film; the image sports a definite sense of depth and stability that's usually only found in 35mm prints, and that's not to mention the very film-like approach to detail and color that's evident throughout. Colors are bold but natural, the palette steady and accurate in its reproduction of bright hues and more basic tones alike, no matter the lighting or shading. Detail, too, excels, the transfer capturing all of the nuances of a richly-appointed bank interior and various run-down locales with equal precision. Likewise, skin and clothes textures impress a great deal, the transfer bringing to life the finest nuances in both and, indeed, in most every object seen in the movie. This transfer is wonderfully sharp with absolutely no softness even at a distance. Clarity is stunning throughout, and the transfer is free of blemish save for some readily noticeable instances of banding that probably won't bother most viewers; some of the heaviest occurrences may be seen during a police interrogation in chapter nine or following an explosion and around the periphery of a large hole in the ground in chapter 12. Otherwise, there's absolutely no room for complaint here; black levels and skin tones are both superb, rounding out a consistently eye-catching and reference-grade transfer from Sony.
Takers is a movie big on flash and style and dynamic action scenes, so it would seem a necessary ingredient would be a killer soundtrack. Sony's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless presentation is just that. It's hefty and exciting, the perfect companion to this sort of film. Still, it's in many ways fairly standard stuff for a Blu-ray Action movie new release. There's nothing groundbreaking or even all that memorable about the track, but it's nevertheless a big, room-filling presentation that will satisfy even listeners who have heard this same type of track dozens of times over. The film opens with a ridiculously loud but incredibly clear and robust music track that suddenly dies down into a tinny nothing of a background noise over a car radio when dialogue and atmospherics take over; this music track sounds great both ways for what it's meant to be, setting a good tone for the remainder of the movie. Action sound effects -- gunfire mostly -- are intense and suitably deadly-in-delivery, with shots zipping around the listening area and the subsequent impacts into various surfaces and the sound of shattered glass doing a good job of bringing the action home. The back channels carry sound effects, music, and atmospherics for the duration of the film. Dialogue is wonderfully clear and satisfying, sounding big but crisp and effective from the front middle speaker. The whole track has a wonderful cinematic flavor to it, playing as big, grand, and infinitely clear. It's nothing new for this sort of movie and it's old ground for a contemporary Blu-ray release, but that doesn't make Takers' lossless soundtrack any less effective.
Takers features a standard assortment of extras, highlighted by a four-participant audio commentary track.
Ultimately, Takers is a, forgive the pun, take-it-or-leave-it sort of picture, but chances are genre fans will want to give it a go. John Luessenhop shows some serious skill and manages to make a very routine script into something that's a bit better than it should be. Considering his demonstrated proficiency in turning action scenes into works of art and his good sense of style and pace, Takers isn't a movie to be, again, sorry for the pun, taken too lightly. It won't make any lasting waves, but it's still a fine all-around effort that should please Action fans. Not bad for an out-of-nowhere director making only his second film and first in a decade. Here's hoping Luessenhop has another project lined up. Takers makes its way to Blu-ray in typical Sony fashion. The disc sports top-of-the-line technical specs and a fair assortment of extras. Takers is definitely worth a rental, but fans can buy with confidence and the disc is worth a blind buy once the price drops down to the $15 range.
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