Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Bank Job Blu-ray Movie Review

Is the Blu-ray edition of 'The Bank Job' worthy of a spot in your safety deposit box?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 17, 2008

You know what scares me more? Living and dying with nothing to show for it.

Simply stated, The Bank Job is one of the finest movies of the year. It may also be the best caper movie yet, thanks to its no-holds-barred approach, not towards the planning of the robbery itself, which seems to be the focal point of your more standard-fare heist movies like Ocean's Eleven, but with regard to the consequences of the robbery and the chaos that ensues when more than money is stolen from the bank. The Bank Job takes us into the trenches and delves into the nitty gritty, dirty underbelly when robberies get far too personal and intricate. The repercussions of the caper are felt throughout the entirety of the upper echelons of London's power elite. The robbery takes various esteemed Londoners to the brink of chaos and despair, dozens of lives intertwine, and the stakes are raised considerably for all involved, both in the heist and those on its periphery. What makes The Bank Job so spectacular is that it is loosely based on historical fact, although the extent to which the film retains fact versus creates fiction is open to debate, as the British government remains tight-lipped over the actual robbery that occurred on September 11, 1971.

What I learned from Blu-ray #842: Safety deposit boxes aren't safe from Jason Statham.

In The Bank Job, Martine Love (Saffron Burrows, Reign Over Me) approaches fellow countrymen Terry Leather (Jason Statham, War) with an opportunity to pull off the perfect bank heist. Terry rallies a few chums and agrees to the job. Little does he know that Martine's primary purpose is to secure a series of shocking photographs for Britain's MI5, which are the property of a Black Power activist named Michael X (Peter De Jersey). Michael X secures the photos in a bank safety deposit box as leverage to avoid prosecution for his crimes. As the plot intensifies and more secrets are revealed, Terry and his co-robbers find themselves embroiled in various scandals that involve both local and national authority figures and influential Britons, and the bank job becomes a deadly cat-and-mouse game with lives, reputations, and perhaps even places the good name of the Royal Family itself on the brink of ruin.

The Bank Job is fantastic, tense, and exhilarating movie. The various gut-wrenching scenes depicting the actual robbery are so well staged and photographed that I could not help but feel simultanously nervous and excited; the tension throughout is so palpable and thick that you could spread it like jam. Director Roger Donaldson (The World's Fastest Indian) never allows his audience to escape the movie's tension; it seeps out of the screen and into our consciousness, transporting us to 1971 England, into a tunnel under a bank, into the vault, into a makeshift torture room, into London's famed Paddington Station, and into every other major and minor locale seen in the movie. We cannot escape it even if we wanted to, but when a movie is this exhilarating, there was nowhere else I wanted to be than sharing the drama and intrigue of The Bank Job. Donaldson's first-rate direction is simple yet harrowingly effective. His sometimes-cockeyed angles and up-close-and-personal approach to filming the characters during their high moments of strength, their low moments of despair, and everything in between creates a spine-chilling yet rousing sense of realism that is almost too tense to bear at times but is nevertheless intoxicating. Donaldson deserves an Oscar nomination for his direction of The Bank Job.

Every actor in The Bank Job is unequivocally fantastic, and Jason Statham once again proves he's more than a buff body who can kick and punch with the best of them. He's a fine dramatic actor who holds his own and, while he receives top billing for The Bank Job, it is his fine supporting cast that carries the movie. Filled with various character actors who exude nothing but unequivocal perfection and professionalism in their roles, The Bank Job stands apart from the crowd through a cast that, other than Statham and Burrows, isn't necessarily comprised of household names but can act with the best of the best, and they prove their worth here. While the movie stands tall on its own merits, the absolutely first-rate score that itself becomes a character adds several layers of tension and heart-stopping thrills to many sequences throughout the movie. It retains a tense, powerful beat replete with the appropriate lows and percussion accompaniment that, dare I say, should garner composer J. Peter Robinson an Oscar nomination of his own.

The Bank Job Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bank Job comes to Blu-ray in a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer that isn't shiny and pristine, but instead presents an image that is true to the gloomy feel of the movie. Although some of the film appears soft, it seems to be intentionally so, setting the mood of the film and the era in which it takes place. Blacks levels are deep and inky and I noted no apparent crushing. Flesh tones often take on an orange tint, but most of the time the issue seems the result of the lighting of the room rather than any issue with the transfer. Detail is only moderate and many scenes feature low lighting and soft edges. The various neon signs on streets and the bricks on façades under them do look very good. The detail improves in better-lit scenes, but as a general rule, the film is mostly devoid of the finest of detail in favor of a soft, somewhat drab, lifeless picture that reveals little in the way of clarity or definition. In general, colors are drab and lifeless. The bleak, scary, unscrupulous nature of the movie lends itself well to a transfer of this style, and what we see here seems to be what the director intended.

The Bank Job Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Bank Job pulls no punches on Blu-ray, receiving Lionsgate's tried-and-true DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless audio treatment. The studio has done it again with a fantastic presentation that is cinematic in its reproduction and truly makes the phrase "home theater" live up to its name. This is an excellent production with fabulous surround activity, encompassing everything from the score to the atmospherics to the action. The viewer is continually encircled for the duration of the film for a wonderful 360-degree listen. Various classic hits play in clubs and over the film with a wonderful presence. The live band performing at a wedding in chapter three provides a highly realistic presentation. The sound is slightly distorted but comes through as it might in real life, which is what I listen for in instances such as this one. The ear-piercing reverberations of the jackhammer digging into the ground is felt throughout the listening area, and it made my skin crawl with its fingernails-on-chalkboard sound, making me shiver throughout parts of the movie, definitely a new experience for me. Blowtorches and other equipment also create a rumble in the track. Bass, as you might expect from these descriptions, is always palpable and ready to shake the media room with some of the finer lows I've yet experienced. Dialogue is crisp and natural, especially important for audiences not used to the thick British accents heard throughout the film. The Bank Job doesn't shortchange Blu-ray listeners, and it oftentimes puts your sound system through its paces and to its limits.

The Bank Job Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Bank Job doesn't rip-off Blu-ray fans by skimping on the extra materials. This supplemental set is highlighted by a feature-length commentary track with director Roger Donaldson, actress Saffron Burrows, and composer J. Peter Robinson. While the track isn't a bad one, it isn't all that engaging, either, contributing a fairly standard offering of ideas and background information on the casting, shooting schedule, set locations, and the real-world robbery the film derives its plot from, discussing the accuracy of the appearance of the locations seen in the movie and other fascinating nuggets of information. Inside the Bank Job (480p, 16:44) is a standard feature that showcases interviews with the cast and crew about not only the history of the incident, but the casting, choice of director, and other interesting production facts. The Baker Street Bank Raid (480p, 14:53) is the most interesting feature on the disc, an examination of the crime that took place in 1971, intertwined, of course, with numerous clips from the film but creating a character all its own with archival footage and interviews with historians and other individuals that provide a basic history of the event. This feature should fascinate history buffs. Rounding out the supplements on disc one are several deleted and extended scenes (1080i, 6:15) with optional commentary by Donaldson, Burrows, and Robinson, and 1080p trailers for The Bank Job, Bangkok Dangerous, Forbidden Kingdom, Rambo, War, and Crank. Disc two provides a standard-definition digital copy of the movie for playback on personal computers and portable video devices.

The Bank Job Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite the presence of action star Jason Statham, The Bank Job isn't an action movie, but rather a thinking man's caper with a few minor pieces of action thrown into the mix. You won't see any intricate shootouts, martial arts showdowns, high speed car chases, or other Statham staples, but what you will see is the actor in his element, portraying a deep, motivated, intelligent character who relies on brains over brawn to accomplish his tasks. You'll also see one heck of a movie, a movie that has assuaged the sour taste that one of director Roger Donaldson's previous films, The Recruit, left me with. I believe the Bank Job to be worthy of a few Oscar nominations, and I cannot help but highly recommend the movie. Be aware, however, that The Bank Job is rated "R" for good reason. Plenty of nudity, language, and a few cringe-inducing acts of violence are present in the film. Lionsgate has once again delivered a fine Blu-ray product with The Bank Job. Sporting a video transfer that seems true to the mood of the film, a first-rate audio track, and a welcome supplemental package, I can also highly recommend the Blu-ray disc itself.