The Siege Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.5

The Siege Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 28, 2023

In the wake of Cocaine Bear, I've gotten any number of semi-hilarious press releases for other upcoming films, including Meth Gator, a film whose title led me to quip, "How could they have missed Crackodile just staring them in the face?" Somewhat similarly, the lead character in The Siege is a butt kicking action hero identified only as Walker (Daniel Stisen), which may lead other curmudgeons (ahem) to quip, "What, no Texas Ranger this time?" While the inimitable Chuck Norris was never officially a stunt performer, he of course got his start in motion pictures and later television due to his martial arts skills, and in an at least somewhat analogous way, several of the performers in this film evidently have longer credits in the stunt category than in the acting category, which frankly may become obvious fairly quickly into this action heavy enterprise.

It might have been nice had this particular Walker been given some history like being a Texas Ranger or something like it, but instead the viewer is thrust in medias res into a tale where an international hitman (that would be Walker, and that's about all you'll ever find out about him) has had his identity compromised, which means he can't be Walker anymore. When he's sent to what might be thought of as a high tech "witness protection" facility where he'll receive his new identity, things of course go seriously haywire when another team of international hitpeople (genders vary) show up to try to solve a little problem they have. It's all relentlessly predictable, but it is at least relentless, in that the film knows that its strengths are the action elements, which are featured prominently throughout.

The Siege Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Siege is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Probably unsurprisingly, there doesn't seem to be much if any technical information on this shoot available online (at least that I was able to find), but if I had to guess, I'd venture that this was captured with Alexa models of some kind and probably finished at 2K. The reason I think this might be an Alexa capture is that it is one of the best recent examples of what I have frequently termed "Alexa murk", with a kind of dirty yellow look in low light situations, which unfortunately are by and large the majority of this tale, courtesy of a story that unwinds in nighttime and frequently in very dimly lit conditions. As a result, fine detail can ebb pretty dramatically at times, though all things considered, and within a somewhat ubiquitously jaundiced appearance, close- ups and even midrange framings can often offer decent detail levels (see screenshot 4 for one good example). While not as noticeable as on some other Well Go USA releases, there are some minor flirtations with banding, due again to an often dark ambience which can suddenly be infiltrated by a changing light source.

The Siege Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Siege features a propulsive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that delivers solid immersion in the action sequences, where everything from bone crushing combat to lots of gunfire help to populate the side and rear channels. Dialogue (such as it is) is delivered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Siege Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (HD; 21:04) is a longer than average look at the production, with the requisite interviews and behind the scenes footage.


• Trailer (HD; 1:49)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on Making Of is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

The Siege Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Siege is by the number action oriented filmmaking, and it probably delivers enough adrenaline pumping shooting and fighting to suffice for undemanding viewers. The acting is pretty wobbly, and the story is beyond predictable. Technical merits are generally solid with the passing caveats noted above, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.