6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When a police lieutenant discovers the chief of police is murdered by an organized crime ring, he vows to avenge his boss's death.
Starring: Luc Merenda, Richard Conte, Silvano Tranquilli, Carlo Alighiero, Martine BrochardForeign | 100% |
Crime | 10% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Sergio Martino's "The Violent Professionals" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Code Red. The only bonus feature on the disc is a gallery of trailers. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
The avenger
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sergio Martino's Violent Professionals arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Code Red.
The release is sourced from a brand new good organic remaster. However, the key word here is indeed 'remaster', which should not be confused with 'restoration'. Why? Because even though the entire film looks very fresh there are small areas of it that require additional work so that they look as good as they should. To be perfectly clear, I am not implying that there are some problematic anomalies; however, there are some small density fluctuations that are not part of the original photography, light discoloration, and a few blemishes and minor specks and scratches that remain. In other words, a restoration would have addresses all of these shortcomings. The good news is -- and for me this is a lot more important than everything else -- that there are no traces of problematic digital tinkering. Also, the color grading is convincing and never destabilizes the film's native dynamic range. Some encoding optimizations should have been made to ensure an even stronger overall organic appearance, but on a very large screen the film still looks quite good. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track.
Both tracks were officially overdubbed, which was a very common practice for these types of Italian genre films. I prefer the English track because a lot of the main characters spoke their lines in English, but as usual the English dub is a bit rough and too dramatic. The audio is stable and free of distortions. Dynamic intensity is decent, but again I must mention that the original dubs for these films often had plenty of dynamic fluctuations, and the English dub here also has some uneven spots. This being said, there is absolutely nothing that will affect negatively your viewing experience.
Luc Merenda plays a very angry cop on a mission to avenge the death of his boss in this predictable but still very entertaining action thriller from Italian genre master Sergio Martino. If you have seen Milano Calibro 9 and Gang War in Milan and enjoyed the macho attitude and hyper-violence they promote, then there is an excellent chance that you will also have a good time with The Violent Professionals. Code Red's new Blu-ray release is sourced from a good organic remaster, but the only bonus feature on the disc is a gallery of trailers for other titles from the boutique label's catalog. RECOMMENDED.
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