5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Retired marksman James Dial (Wesley Snipes) lives a secluded life on his ranch in Montana. Haunted by his failure to exterminate one of the world's most notorious terrorists, he is approached by his old employers to finish the job in London, where the terrorist leader has been captured and is under heavy protection. What would be a routine mission for the sniper turns into a nightmare as Dial is forced into hiding and relentlessly pursued by the British police and their lead investigator, Windsor (Charles Dance). But when Dial is framed for Windsor's murder, he begins to realize that he has been seriously double-crossed. His only hope is a 12-year-old girl whom Dial reluctantly befriends as he desperately searches to find the killer and the truth behind his betrayal.
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Eliza Bennett, Lena Headey, Ralph Brown (I), Charles DanceThriller | 100% |
Drama | 15% |
Action | 4% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: 'The Contractor' is currently only available as part of a two-film bundle with 'The Fan.'
The Wesley Snipes DTV film The Contractor is more like "DIY." The film is simple and unchallenging and offers a dearth of creative content
but does manage just enough
narrative and technical competency to skirt by on its otherwise bare bones essentials. The film is hardly what one would call "memorable" but strictly
consumed as a mindless time waster most genre fans should find it a capable diversion.
The Contractor was shot on film and the Blu-ray image is quite nice in the aggregate. The image is pleasant, firm, and film-like. Grain is present and maintains a constant, satisfying, organic appearance that is flattering and never overbearing. Textural response is excellent, with close-ups in particular yielding some very impressive natural skin intimacies, such as pores. The entire image is firm and revealing, with nothing coming up short for visual robustness, even some of the film's darker shots. The picture's color palette is a little drab and flat. There's little, if any, punch and vibrancy, leaving the image looking a bit dingy and worn, but saturation within the film's more muted look is fine, from natural greens to red blood. Skin tones can look a bit pasty here and there but black levels are impressive, particularly around some darker interiors towards film's end. No major source blemishes or encode artifacts are in evidence. Well done, Mill Creek.
A DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack builds The Contractor's audio needs. The track is, much like its video counterpart, sturdy and appealing throughout. The track offers a number of sonic highlights, beginning with an airplane flyover, or without overhead channels active more like fly-through, in chapter one around the five-minute mark. It moves towards the stage's left side to good, deep, room-filling effect. Other high yield one-off sounds are scattered throughout, such as a chopper encircling the stage at the one hour mark. An impressive barrage of alarms and gunfire in chapter four punctuates a dizzying scene with lights blinking on and off in rapid succession. The climactic shoot-out delivers a steady stream of gunfire with impressive intensity, both as the shots ring out from guns and as bullets impact various surfaces. Some dialogue reverb may be heard in a cavernous locale at the same time. Atmospheric effects are gently and naturally immersive, ranging from light winds blowing through the stage in chapter two to mild city din heard at several junctures throughout. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and naturally positioned in a front-center location.
This Blu-ray release of The Contractor contains no supplemental content. As it ships with the above-linked two-film bundle, a DVD copy is included.
The Contractor "Dials" up a smorgasbord of stale and uninteresting content, from a generic "framed-for-a-murder-he-didn't-commit" man on the run storyline to forgettable shootouts and car chases. Add in flat characters and blasé filmmaking and The Contractor really doesn't amount to much. Still, genre fans might well find it baseline competent and an acceptable brain-off 90 minute escape. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is understandably featureless but the studio does provide rather good video and audio presentations. Worth a look.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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