5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Rudy Cafmeyer, a thief and smuggler who deals in rare objects, must rescue his archaeologist father from a secret religious order that wants to use an ancient artifact to bring about the apocalypse.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Charlton Heston, Sofia Milos, Brian Thompson, Ben CrossAction | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
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
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
If you don't recognize The Order as the title of a 2001 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, it's probably because the film never received a U.S. release, although it did reasonably well on home video. Still, the lack of theatrical distribution meant the title was still available two years later, when Brian Helgeland wanted to use it for the film he wrote and directed starring the late Heath Ledger. (It bombed.) When you look up The Order here or at IMDb, you get two results, and you have to know which one to choose. Helgeland's film is the one that had to be called The Sin Eater (or some variation) in most non-U.S. markets, because the Van Damme vehicle got there first. The Order was scripted by Van Damme and Les Weldon, who helped write Replicant and is currently one of many producers on The Expendables 2. It's one of JCVD's lesser efforts, but it was directed by the reliable Sheldon Lettich, who was the principal writer on Van Damme's breakthrough, Bloodsport, and helmed Double Impact, another of his hits. Lettich keeps up a snappy pace and gives the whole derivative affair a gung-ho energy that suggests a bargain-basement Bond film. As in a typical Bond plot, everything in the story is absurd, including the villain's whack-job plan, and Lettich didn't have the budget for the kind of eye candy that keeps your mind from dwelling on the illogic of it all. But he compensates by never letting you pause long enough to think about it. And who cares anyway, when all Van Damme’s fans want is to see him kicking?
The Order is a Sony catalogue title being released through Image Entertainment, and in general the 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray maintains the high standards we've come to expect from such releases. The source material is in fine shape, and Israeli cinematographer David Gurfinkel's finely detailed location photography is presented to good advantage, for the most part. Black levels are deep and well-differentiated, which is essential in the heist scene in the film's first act and the cavern scenes in the third. Contrast is appropriate for the tricky light levels in the bright Middle Eastern sun during the second act, and colors are varied and vibrant without over-saturation. However, there is occasional aliasing on fine horizontal patterns, which is something I'm not accustomed to encountering in Image/Sony Blu-rays. An obvious example occurs early in the film as Rudy examines the building he's about to burgle from a vantage point across the street. Also noteworthy is an almost complete absence of visible grain. Sony has been particularly reliable at leaving the grain in its transfers undisturbed, which makes the absence of visible grain especially unusual in a film of this vintage. Close examination did not reveal any of the usual signs of high frequency filtering (e.g., waxy complexions or loss of fine detail), but in many shots the image has acquired a kind of "digital" appearance that leans more toward video than film. The difference is slight enough that many viewers probably won't notice. Indeed, had Image/Sony not established such a high standard with their previous releases, the issue would not be worth this much comment.
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track for The Order is unusual, in that pushes the musical score by Pino Donaggio (Brian DePalma's favorite composer in his early career) to the rear of the soundstage, forcing the surround speakers to carry much more of the burden than is typical in film mixing. The effect isn't unpleasant, but I don't think it would work for most films. It helps that Donaggio's score is energetic and well-suited to the material (and certainly nothing like the lush orchestral creations he supplied for DePalma). In addition to music, the rear channels are used for their more typical purposes of supplying vehicles passing, glass breaking, people running or other standard accoutrements of action scenes. A particularly memorable effect occurs late in the film, when gunshots are fired in underground caverns, and the surrounds create the hollow effect of the explosion echoing within a narrowly confined space. Dialogue is clear and intelligible. By this point, both Van Damme and his director knew exactly what and how much he could get away with saying.
The 2002 Sony DVD contained the film's trailer and a few "bonus" trailers. The Blu-ray contains no extras.
My sense is that The Order isn't well-regarded among JCVD's fans, but I think it should be. Despite its derivative story, the film is efficient, it doesn't overstay its welcome, and it provides a lot more Van Damage than the unfocused The Quest, which badly needed a sharp directorial eye like Lettich's to insist on a clear narrative. With minor reservations about the video, as noted above, the Blu-ray is recommended.
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