6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Two cold-blooded career criminals kidnap a surrogate, expectant Mother and find themselves in an escalating mayhem.
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Benicio del Toro, Juliette Lewis, Taye Diggs, Nicky KattCrime | 100% |
Dark humor | 40% |
Thriller | 36% |
Drama | 2% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
As much as I appreciate everything Quentin Tarantino has done to inspire modern filmmakers, I don't think I can stomach many more imitators. For every exception, there are literally dozens of cinematic miscarriages all too desperate to cling to the Pulp Fiction auteur's every shot and quip. Hell Ride, 3000 Miles to Graceland, American Strays, Truth or Consequences, NM and countless others have practically made Tarantino a genre unto himself. But it takes more than eccentric gunmen, chatty gangsters, a neo-noir story, and a slew of pop culture references to make a good movie; more than blood-spattered faces and tense Mexican standoffs to lure audiences into yet another grisly crime caper. With that we come to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie's The Way of the Gun, an over-spiced gumbo beset with issues. Granted, it boasts strong performances and several good ideas -- enough to make it stand out from other genre pics -- but it fails to unite its more eclectic elements into a satisfying, cohesive whole.
Eyeing the prize...
Gooooood morning, DNR! While not nearly as debilitating as the noise reduction Lionsgate utilized for the recent Blu-ray release of Frailty, Way of the Gun's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer suffers from a slight waxiness that leaves Del Toro and Phillippe looking as if they fell asleep in the makeup chair. Grain has been subdued, sure, but finer textures have inadvertently been scrubbed away, lending the presentation an artificial appearance that's sometimes at odds with McQuarrie's style. Otherwise, everything is as it should be. Director of photography Dick Pope's palette is strong and stable, blacks are reasonably well-resolved (minus a few nighttime mishaps) and contrast, though inconsistent over the course of the film, is strong. Depth and dimensionality are lacking, but I suspect the original photography is the culprit. Likewise, detail and definition waver on occasion but are impressive enough overall to rule out any major technical issues (DNR notwithstanding). To the encoders' credit, artifacting and crush are nowhere to be seen, edge enhancement is kept to a minimum, and other digital anomalies are rarely a distraction. So where does that leave fans of the film? Once you factor in its bargain bin price and the fact that it offers a significant upgrade over its muddy DVD counterpart, the answer practically presents itself.
While the Blu-ray edition of The Way of the Gun arrives packing a hefty DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track, the results are less dramatic than you might expect. For a flick loaded with tense shootouts and bloody gunfights, the mix doesn't sound as full and weighty as it should. LFE output is decent but restrained, rear speaker activity is convincing but rarely enveloping, and dynamics are adequate but sometimes underwhelming. Still, effects are clean and clear, pans are smooth, and dialogue, aside from a few scenes, remains intelligible and neatly prioritized throughout. It's worth noting that directionality is somewhat limited by the film's original sound design -- which tends to be two-dimensional whenever Parker and Longbaugh's weapons are holstered -- but it doesn't detract from the experience, especially since lengthy conversations play such a crucial role. Don't get me wrong, the track isn't a complete wash and actually sounds pretty good for a now-decade-old catalog title. It just isn't the lossless 7.1 monster I was hoping for.
Unfortunately, Lionsgate opted to leave quite a few special features from the previously released DVD on the cutting room floor, among them a behind-the-scenes featurette, storyboards for a deleted scene, and other secondary content. It certainly isn't a huge loss, especially considering the bulk of the material has been retained, but it is disappointing nonetheless. What remains? A pair of fairly extensive audio commentaries -- one with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and composer Joe Kraemer, and an isolated score track with Kraemer -- an all-too-brief collection of cast and crew interviews (SD, 2 minutes), a TV spot (SD, 1 minute), and the film's theatrical trailer (SD, 2 minutes). The commentaries are obviously the big guns on the disc (despite the fact that Kraemer's solo track is a bit repetitive at times) and McQuarrie does a fine job candidly detailing the production, the challenges he faced, his vision and his script, the time he spent on set with the actors, and the style and imagery he employed. All in all, the supplemental package could have been a lot better, but it also could have been a lot worse.
The Way of the Gun is an interesting film; a mesmerizing whirlwind of grit and blood when it works, a Tarantino-toned misfire when it doesn't. While it benefits from a solid script and memorable characters, a number of bizarre decisions overload the story and undermine the potency of the performances. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release is just as hit-or-miss. Its video transfer isn't very remarkable, its DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track comes up short, and its supplemental package, despite offering two strong commentaries, is missing features from the previously released DVD. Regardless, its low price takes all of the risk out of a purchase. Hate it? Eh, pass it off to someone else. Love it? Congrats, your eight dollars was well spent.
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