Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Weapon Blu-ray Movie Review

Boyhunt.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 29, 2015

Unexploded ordnance from battles as long ago as World War I occasionally ends up making headline news when, for example, construction projects dig down to discover the potentially active remains of a bomb or something smaller like an unpinned grenade that never detonated for whatever reason. There’s a moment in the opening sequence of The Weapon where it’s not quite clear whether little Erik Jenner (Jon Whiteley) has somehow gotten trapped in the aftermath of just such a discovery and explosion. He’s in an obviously bombed out ruin, and there’s enough dust and debris floating around him to suggest something untoward has just happened. But as it turns out, The Weapon is actually set several years after World War II, in a London still rife with the detritus of the German Blitz. Erik has been playing in a collapsed building and comes across a rather startling discovery—not unexploded ordnance, but an actual pistol lodged within a piece of brick. The young boy is obviously excited by his find and calls to his friends, exiting the wreckage to be confronted by a Lord of the Flies-esque consortium of little boys who want the gun for themselves. A scuffle ensues and horrifyingly the gun discharges, shooting a little boy who quickly collapses to the street. Erik is certain he’s killed his friend, and hightails it out of there as adults start pouring in to see what’s happened. The Weapon takes it own sweet time (at least for a certain class of concerned parent) to divulge that the victim actually is not dead, simply wounded, but in the meantime Erik is out there on the cold, still wartorn streets of London by himself, while a quick ballistics test of the bullet reveals that the gun was used in a decade old cold case that involved the United States military. Suddenly, there’s a whole investigative apparatus built up around the shooting, since both British and American law enforcement want to get their hands on the gun, which means getting their hands on the missing Erik.

Erik’s mom turns out to be attractive if apparently somewhat harried Elsa (Lizabeth Scott), a widow who is used to having Erik fend for himself during the day while she’s away at work as a waitress. That is perhaps one reason why she’s not in a state of panic when Erik turns out not be back at the apartment when she gets home to find a bevy of concerned neighbors as well as several policemen in attendance. In fact, it’s not until much later in the evening that finally her worry gets the best of her and she finally sets out in the debris of the neighborhood to search for her son.

In the meantime a martinet American captain named Mark Andrews (Steve Cochrane) is called in by his commanding officer when British forensic analysis of the bullet indicates it came from the same gun that killed a friend of Andrews’ years ago. While the British inspector (Herbert Marshall) takes a reasoned, reserved approach, Mark is a man of action, as evidenced by a throwaway line as he departs a shooting range early in the film. As his jeep tools off in a swirl of dust, one of the grunts can be heard exclaiming that while the rest of the rank and file are counting the days until they get home, Andrews actually likes being in the service.

The Weapon takes a somewhat bifurcated approach which might be best boiled down to being part manhunt, part boyhunt. Erik manages to fend for himself surprisingly well, especially when his sweet face (Whiteley looks rather like Mark Lester in Oliver!) convinces strangers to offer the kid a little help in the way of food and the like. But Mark is out to capture a murderer, and his trek takes him through a world of dubious morality which seems to be the interior analog to all the wreckage that is seen outside in the ruins of London.

The Weapon works up a fair amount suspense while also delivering solid character beats for supporting players like Nicole Maurey as a working girl with a connection to the murder victim. Perhaps surprisingly, there’s not much a romantic angle plied between Elsa and Mark, and instead the film unfortunately tips over into silliness in its final act when an all too obvious villain enters the scene under the guise of providing help. A florid climax provides a necessary catharsis, though it should be noted that by this point in the film mother and son have already been united, if only temporarily, and not much after that reunion the identity of the murderer is more or less disclosed.

Director Val Guest is probably most associated with entries like The Quatermass Xperiment, but here, working in an almost neorealist style, he captures a gritty, unvarnished view of London on a somewhat dubious “rise” after the horrors of World War II. As the text on the back of the Blu-ray quite aptly points out, the views of London in The Weapon may instantly bring to mind similar cityscapes of Vienna that were offered in Carol Reed’s The Third Man. Guest doesn’t have Reed’s innate stylish qualities, but his workmanlike approach to The Weapon delivers a mostly solid thriller that features good work from a varied cast.

The Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Weapon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While elements utilized for this transfer have perhaps more than their fair share of issues, mostly involving things like minus density and scratches (see screenshot 10), overall this presentation looks very pleasing. There's a slight disconnect in sharpness and clarity, as well as grain structure, between what I assume may have been second unit location shooting (as in screenshot 1) and studio bound sequences (screenshot 2). Contrast is generally a bit stronger in the studio scenes, though is never overly problematic in any case. Grain is fairly heavy, spiking somewhat in outdoor location scenes. Close-ups reveal decent detail but this is not a razor sharp presentation. As with most Olive releases, a "hands off" approach to the elements delivers a nicely organic if at times slightly rough looking presentation.

The Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Weapon lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix capably support what is essentially a dialogue driven piece that has occasional underscore and sound effects mixed in. The mix is just slightly "dry" sounding to my ears, something that adds a bit of boxiness to score elements, but dialogue comes through just fine, and there's no overt damage to cause worry or concern.

The Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.

The Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Weapon completely avoids any intimation that lack of gun safety played into the accident which begins the film in a somewhat horrifying manner, and instead makes the primary focus the twin unfolding and interconnected hunts for Erik and the mystery murderer. Performances are generally excellent, with Maurey and little Whiteley real standouts. (Whiteley was one of only two recipients of the Juvenile Academy Award in the 1950s for The Little Kidnappers. The other recipient was his co-star in that film, Vincent Winter, in the only incidence of the Academy offering two Juvenile Awards in the same year. Only one further winner, Hayley Mills in 1960, would be announced before the award was discontinued.) Guest offers a really fascinating look at early 1950s era London, and it's a somewhat unsettling view. Technical merits are good, if occasionally problematic. Recommended.