The Bad Pack Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Bad Pack Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 2, 2023

Brent Huff's "The Bad Pack" (1997) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Massacre Video. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Brent Huff; exclusive new audio commentary by Brent Huff, producer Terence M. O'Keefe, and co-writer Doug Walton; and production stills. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

If you are an action guy or gal who used to consume a massive amount of small action films because you had gone through all the big action films your local independent video store had to offer, it will take you approximately five seconds to figure out what Brent Huff was trying to do with The Bad Pack. You just need to look at the cover of this recent release, which is a reproduction of the original poster art for The Bad Pack.

Huff joins Robert Davi, Roddy Piper, Ralf Moeller, and Marshall Teague. To be honest, I am a bit surprised that Frank Stallone, Christopher Mitchum, and Billy Drago were not cast to join the fun. Or, Steve James. What do we have now? Seven guys who appeared in some of the most heavily promoted small action films -- and all kinds of other B-films -- of the 1980s. But hold on, Huff made The Badback Pack in 1997, didn’t he? Yep, but the guys that are listed above became big B-stars during the 1980s. I know some of you would argue that a few of them were bigger than B-stars. Well, you know who the big action stars were during the same time. Sly Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, etc. These A-listers pulled a lot of other actors in their orbit, but they were not in their league.

Where am I going with all this? Huff was trying to do a big B-film with some of the biggest small action stars of his generation. And you know what? Had he added Stallone, Mitchum, and James, it would have been impossible not to speculate that The Bad Pack was a distant relative of The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. Or, perhaps the plot of The Bad Pack sounds similar to that of The Magnificent Seven?

Somewhere in rural Texas, illegal Mexican immigrants who have been living there for years gather and decide to hire American mercenaries to wipe out a local militia group that has been terrorizing them. Shortly after, two Mexicans travel to L.A. and meet McQue (David), a retired military guy-turned-mechanic, who becomes interested in the job after he is told that the militia group has a couple of million dollars in its vaults. A few days later, McQue assembles a team of pros like him, all good friends who have become freelancers, and they begin preparing for the job. After ironing their strategy, McQue and his team land in rural Texas to hit the militia’s compound.

As you can tell, the similarities in the plot are there, plus after McQue and his team leave L.A. The Bad Pack becomes a contemporary western. While a nice title, The Bad Pack is a variation of The Wild Bunch, too.

Now, I wish to clarify one more thing, which should set your expectations of The Bad Pack exactly where they need to be. Regardless of what classic films might have inspired Huff, or what Huff’s true intentions might have been in 1997, The Bad Pack cannot be legitimately associated with The Magnificent Seven or The Wild Bunch. It is a genuine B-film with very limited potential that does not leave a lasting impression. It is not one of those so-bad-it-is-actually-brilliant B-films either. Huff moves the camera well and together with his fellow co-stars engages in an appropriately intense display of fireworks that are the biggest attraction. The character arcs are mediocre at best, though Davi leads with authority and has a couple of pretty good scenes. In other words, The Bad Pack is most effective as a nostalgia fix for action junkies that used to rent every action film that came with a cool VHS cover.

The Bad Pack Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Bad Pack arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Massacre Video.

The release is sourced from a very nice, exclusive new 4K master that was struck from the original camera negative. To be honest, I have only one minor criticism. In a couple of areas, the grain becomes quite loose, so encoding optimizations should have introduced to ensure that it holds as well as it can. I think that on a big screen this shortcoming becomes rather impossible to ignore. The rest is either very good or excellent. For example, close-ups and wider panoramic shots look equally impressive. Color balance is very, very good, too. All primaries are healthy and stable, while the ranges of supporting nuances are very convincing. Image stability is excellent. I spotted a few nicks, but there are no large cuts, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Bad Pack Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. However, you will have to use your remote control to turn them on/off because this cannot be done via the main menu.

The lossless track is outstanding. I was actually quite surprised to hear how potent it is because The Rat Pack is not a big-budget production. The dramatic music creates the most effective dynamic contrasts, but the shootouts sound great as well. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Bad Pack Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Assembling the Bad Guys - in this exclusive new program, Brent Huff discusses his background in the theater and movies, and explains how The Bad Pack was conceived and produced. Also, Mr. Huff explains how the cast of The Bad Pack was assembled. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Stills Gallery - a collection of promotional stills. Presented with music. (4 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by Brent Huff, producer Terence M. O'Keefe, and co-writer Doug Walton. The commentators go down memory lane and discuss in great detail how various parts of The Bad Pack were shot, how some action stunts were done and redone, and what extras were used, etc. Also, the commentators share some good stories, like the "confirmed" emergence of Arnold Schwarzenegger who was supposed to say a few lines.

The Bad Pack Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A few more action B-stars, like Frank Stallone, Christopher Mitchum, Billy Drago, and Michael Dudikoff, as well as a slightly bigger budget for Brent Huff to work with, probably would have transformed The Bad Pack into quite the cult film. In its current form, it is not bad at all, but it is just a B-film, not a memorable B-film. I think that it is most effective as a nostalgia fix for action junkies that used to rent every action film that came with a cool VHS cover at their favorite independent video store. Massacre Video's release of The Bad Pack is sourced from a solid new 4K master and features a couple of very good new bonus features. RECOMMENDED.