The Replacement Killers / Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Replacement Killers / Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray Movie Review

Hunters and Hunted

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 13, 2013

Contrary to the package labeling, Mill Creek's double feature Blu-ray features the 88-minute theatrical release of The Replacement Killers, not the 96-minute "extended cut" first seen on video in 2006. This marks the first appearance on Blu-ray of the version of the film seen in theaters in 1998—and that's a good thing. Although the extended cut added no new sequences or entire scenes, it prolonged or altered numerous moments and substituted alternate takes. The original cut was spare, swift and brutally efficient. Fans who have only seen the film in its longer version may miss the occasional line or gesture, but they owe it to themselves to see how director Antoine Fuqua's feature debut was originally assembled, reportedly amid much tension and debate between Fuqua and the studio.

If for nothing else, The Replacement Killers would be notable as the Hollywood debut of Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat, whose iconic status will always be inseparable from the films he made with John Woo. Screenwriter Ken Sanzel, best known as a writer and producer of the TV series Numb3rs, had written the script for Chazz Palminteri (with whom Sanzel proceeded to make a similarly themed film called Scar City), but the story was retooled once Chow was cast. The mafia became the Chinese mob, and the assassin hero became one of Chow's classic, conflicted bad-guys-with-a-conscience, as in Woo's The Killer , which Fuqua had been looking to remake. Because Chow was still learning English, his lines were kept to a minimum. This ended up working to his advantage, because stillness and physical grace have always been among Chow's most effective traits as a screen actor.

The editing process and audience testing streamlined the film even further, eliminating significant backstory and all of the romantic relationship between Chow's heroic hitman and the document forger played by Mira Sorvino, who took the part for the express purpose of joining the vanguard of women in action roles that included Jennifer Garner (Alias) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The result played like an abbreviated version of one of Woo's ballets of violence, with all of the emotions telegraphed in short bursts between elaborately choreographed scenes of mayhem. Fans of Chow's previous work grasped the film's relationships and motivations immediately, but the broader audience was unmoved, and the film performed poorly at the box office. It found its fan base on home video.

Mill Creek has paired the film with 1997's Truth or Consequences, N.M., which is the best known of the four films that Kiefer Sutherland directed during the long career before he became permanently identified as 24's stalwart federal agent Jack Bauer. The script by Brad Mirman (best known as the writer of Madonna's albatross, Body of Evidence) bears the unmistakable stamp of the Age of Tarantino in its tale of a heist by small-timers gone wrong, followed by flight, squabbling, ineptitude and more bloodshed. But Mirman didn't have Tarantino's gift for tasty dialogue of the kind that has routinely attracted extraordinary talent to his projects, even when he was unknown. (Not that Mirman didn't try; the script is filled with chatter about such trivia as mind-reading, fast food and blind dates, none of it memorable.) It was Sutherland's long-established roots in the movie industry that allowed him to assemble a cast of the caliber that could elevate Mirman's story into something watchable, including extended cameos by Rod Steiger and Martin Sheen. If Sutherland gave himself the juiciest and most unhinged of the characters, he at least ensured that he'd be counterbalanced by performers of equal (or even greater) weight. Truth or Consequences, N.M. isn't a major film, but it is certainly one of the better examples of the many neo-noirs inspired by the success of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

For a discussion of The Replacement Killers, see The Replacement Killers Blu-ray review.

For a discussion of Truth of Consequences, N.M., see the Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray review.

The Replacement Killers / Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For a discussion of The Replacement Killers, see The Replacement Killers Blu-ray review.

For a discussion of Truth of Consequences, N.M., see the Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray review.

The Replacement Killers / Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a discussion of The Replacement Killers, see The Replacement Killers Blu-ray review.

For a discussion of Truth of Consequences, N.M., see the Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray review.

The Replacement Killers / Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This disc contains no extras for either film.

The Replacement Killers / Truth or Consequences, N.M. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If only for the theatrical cut of The Replacement Killers, making its Blu-ray debut in a good presentation, this disc from Mill Creek would be a bargain. That it also includes a serviceable hi-def copy of Truth or Consequences, N.M. makes the recommendation easy, especially at current prices.