5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 2.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
In a dangerous, action-packed battle to regain his glory and reclaim the empire, Mathayus’s journey is steeped in intrigue, sorcery and romance, fueling this new film that spawned from the billion-dollar The Mummy film franchise. The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption tops the series once again, featuring even more of the heart-stopping action, mind-bending stunts and astonishing plot twists that have earned the series millions of fans the world over.
Starring: Victor Webster, Ron Perlman, Billy Zane, Bostin Christopher, Temuera MorrisonAction | 100% |
Adventure | 69% |
Fantasy | 50% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
BD-Live
D-Box
Mobile features
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Before disemboweling The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption and mounting its entrails as a warning to the two or three sequels that will almost certainly follow, I feel compelled to defend director Roel Reiné, if only so the poor man doesn't draw unwarranted comparisons to Uwe Boll and other kings of direct-to-video schlock. Whatever its faults, Reiné's Death Race 2 was at least a competently shot and staged film, and a mild to moderate success for Universal. (Death Race: Inferno is already in the pipeline, helmed by -- you guessed it -- the studio's favorite Dutch filmmaker.) To his credit, Reiné works relative wonders with The Scorpion King 3, and with a fraction of the support, financial and otherwise. Battle for Redemption was already a bottom-drawer project at Universal, one that barely had the cash necessary to sustain pre-production, much less the shoestring-budget shoot and non-stop action he manages to conjure out of thin air. Don't misunderstand: The Scorpion King 3 is awful; a franchise abomination that's almost, almost more atrocious than its 2008 predecessor. It shouldn't exist, at least not in its current incarnation, and it shouldn't be sitting in as many Amazon shopping carts as it is. Still, basement-budget as it may be, disappointing as even the most zealous Mummy franchise fans will rightfully declare it, Universal could have enlisted far worse directors than Reiné, the MacGyver of underfunded, overblown direct-to-video productions.
If you boys are bored, I can find something for you to do. Vacuum, dust, take out the trash...
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption isn't a pretty film, by any means. It has the same muted, glossy digital video look as many a low-budget direct-to-video sequel, and there isn't a lot to compliment, at least not on an aesthetic level. Colors are dull and diluted, skintones are washed out, black levels rarely dip below charcoal or iron kettle, and contrast is weak and sun-bleached. But I have no doubt Universal's 1080p/VC-1 presentation is (presumably) a near-perfect representation of the film's source. Detail is strong and closeups are even stronger, edge definition is crisp and clean, fine textures are neither smeared nor indistinct, and delineation is revealing (albeit to a fault). Even Reiné's dingy, at-times soulless palette is consistent and proficiently preserved, without so much as a burst of artifacting to complain about. There are some digital anomalies to be found, but most -- if not all -- appear amidst Redemption's shoddy visual effects, which suggests, again, that almost every issue that appears is source-based, not the product of a mediocre transfer. The Scorpion King 3 may look like a bargain-bin reject, but its high definition presentation is technically sound.
Redemption's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is more difficult to evaluate. I'm guessing it, like Universal's video transfer, is an accurate representation of Reiné's intentions, but with so many fundamental flaws, audiophiles will find the experience grating. Dialogue rises and falls as often as dear Mathayus, and prioritization is spotty at best. Voices range from thin and tinny to bright and bold to hollow and distant, sometimes in the span of a single battle scene. The thunder of battle and the roar of magic is suitably supported by the LFE channel and rear speakers, but with little regard to the less bombastic elements in the soundscape. Directionality draws attention but never graduates beyond artificial, pans bobble between smooth and rickety, and dynamics are hit or miss. Again, though, the majority of the mix's shortcomings strike me as a product of haphazard sound design, not a poorly produced lossless track. Ultimately, The Scorpion King 3 somehow manages to sound cheaper than it looks, regardless of how much soundfield pomp and low-end power kick in on occasion.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," uttered the unfortunate fellow who decided to join me in watching The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption. "Star Wars?" I asked with a smile, catching what I assumed was a familiar movie reference. "Oh, no. I just really have a bad feeling about this," he replied. Our worst fears were confirmed within minutes, I'm afraid, and the prospect of a so-bad-it's-good B-movie crumbled before our eyes as Redemption dove off the Cliffs of Unwatchability. If I didn't have a job to do, I don't think we would have made it past the twenty minute mark. So how does the Blu-ray release fare? I'll wager director Roel Reiné's audio commentary will strike you as the most entertaining thing on the disc... if, that is, you're willing to soil your Blu-ray player for another 105 minutes to listen to it. Universal's video presentation is excellent... if you overlook its problematic source and the film's ungainly, unpleasant digital photography. And its DTS-HD Master Audio track delivers... a slippery sonic experience with more innate oddities than I care to count. In sickness and in health, the Blu-ray edition of The Scorpion King 3 is a technically proficient eye-and-earsore. Fans -- the few that will admit it anyway -- will be the only ones who enjoy everything this one has in store.
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