Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Dynamite Brothers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Jessi's Girls Blu-ray review.

Disc Ten of The Masterpiece Collection finds the ever resourceful duo of Al Adamson and Samuel M. Sherman starting to move into so-called Blaxploitation territory, though kind of interestingly, they quite quickly start to offer at least a smattering of kung fu as well, in a perhaps instructive example of how attuned to the general cinematic zeitgeist Adamson and Sherman could often be.

As with tons of other properties fostered by Adamson and Samuel M. Sherman, there is a clear cinematic antecedent to The Dynamite Brothers, namely the well remembered 1958 opus starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitiers as convicts handcuffed to each other, The Defiant Ones. In this case our shackled pair are Stud Brown (Timothy Brown) and Larry Chin (Alan Tang). Stud and Larry arguably get out of their predicament a bit more quickly than the pair in The Defiant Ones, but this is another obvious (if rather interesting) attempt on the part of Adamson and Sherman to combine a Blaxploitation element with kung fu (or other martial art). That said, Dynamite Brothers probably doesn't register very strongly in either category, though it has some goofy action scenes and fun supporting turns from Aldo Ray and James Hong.

The Dynamite Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dynamite Brothers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Fans may get their hopes up when they see a virtually undamaged Indepedent International masthead, but that optimism may falter at least somewhat when a lot of the following credits suffer pretty badly. The palette once the film starts is generally very good, though there are occasional variances in clarity and some slight flicker can be discerned. Grain occasionally looks gritty, something that's probably most noticeable against bright blue skies. Some day for night material is skewed toward blue (with blacks verging on purple). There's typical speckling on display, but nothing major. My score is 3.25.

The Dynamite Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dynamite Brothers features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that occasionally sounds just slightly muffled in the midrange with regard to some of the score. Otherwise, though, effects (especially outdoor ambient environmental effects) and dialogue are presented with good fidelity, though some accents can be a bit hard to decipher. English subtitles are available via the button on your remote.

The Dynamite Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Dynamite Brothers TV Spot (480p; 1:02)


• Stud Brown TV Spot (1080p; 00:31)

The Dynamite Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dynamite Brothers may admittedly never completely capitalize on its interesting if derivative premise, but it has some fun action scenes and the story moves along briskly enough. Video and audio are both generally solid, if both encounter occasional minor hurdles.