Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Torque Blu-ray Movie Review

The Glib and the Glowering

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 29, 2014

Torque was the feature debut of music video director Joseph Kahn, and it's a very silly movie, but it's silly by design. Its principal producer, Neal H. Moritz, is the driving force behind the Fast & Furious franchise, of which the first two installments had appeared when Torque was released, and Torque was clearly intended to do with motorcycles what the F&F films had done with cars. But Kahn seems to have taken his cue from another Moritz creation, XXX, in which Vin Diesel played an extreme sports fanatic who became an indestructible superhero. Forget the two-dimensional characterization on which the F&F films rely. In Torque, Kahn and screenwriter Matt Johnson created one-dimensional characters, the better to replace them with faceless stuntmen and CG creations for the many stunt sequences that aren't physically (let alone humanly) possible. Kahn admits that he intended to make Torque a comic book. He succeeded.

Kahn establishes Torque's irreverent attitude upfront with an opening sequence involving drag racers whose cars are no match for a skillful bike rider. As all three vehicles speed past a whirling sign, it briefly flashes the message: "Cars Suck". The bikes are the real stars of Torque, which is why it has retained a devoted cult following after a mildly successful theatrical run. If you love watching beautifully crafted, custom-designed hogs getting the better of everything else on and off the road, Torque is your movie. Who cares that it took a small army of CG technicians to achieve the effects? It's the spirit of the endeavor that counts.

Carey Ford (Martin Henderson, Smokin' Aces) has returned from a self-imposed six-month exile in Thailand, because he wants to Set Things Right. What this really means is explaining to Shane (Monet Mazur), the woman he loves, why he suddenly disappeared without explanation, just ahead of an FBI warrant for Shane's motorcycle repair shop and a lengthy interrogation for Shane by two eccentric agents, McPherson (Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation) and Henderson (Justina Machado, Six Feet Under).

The whole affair hinges on a hissing, growling badass with attitude named Henry James (Matt Schulze, The Transporter), leader of The Hellions biker gang. Henry has a thriving meth business, and Ford discovered his latest shipment in the tanks of two bikes Henry left at Shane's, ostensibly for repair. Ford hid them and fled to protect Shane. Now Shane hates him, and Henry wants to kill him.

Ford shortly has other problems. Once Henry discovers that his nemesis has returned, he arranges for Ford to become the target of a revenge killing by Trey Wallace (Ice Cube), leader of the rival Reapers gang. The key to this scheme is false testimony given by Henry's girlfriend, China, who is played by an almost unrecognizable Jaime Pressly. Ford's only chance is to make it to Los Angeles, where Henry's two drug-laden bikes are hidden. If nothing else, this will clear his name with Shane. It may also help him with the FBI. He'll deal with Trey and the Reapers later. (As should be clear from his retreat to Thailand, Ford isn't good at planning ahead.) Accompanied by his old riding buddies, Val and Dalton (Will Yun Lee and Jay Hernandez), and reluctantly by Shane, Ford heads for L.A., closely followed by Henry, Trey and the FBI.

A chase movie with motorbikes provides director Kahn with numerous possibilities for inventive sequences. Undoubtedly the wildest involves a hot pursuit of Ford by Trey in, around, on top of and through a speeding passenger train. Even as you're watching it, you know that it can't possibly be real, but it's so well engineered and so smartly edited that it's giggle-worthy in the style of a Roadrunner cartoon (with Trey as Wile E. Coyote). Equally wild but somewhat more serious is the ultimate showdown between Ford and Henry and an intense confrontation between the two key women of the story, Shane and China, both on motorbikes.

Like most comic books, Torque plays out in a world where civilians and property are just so much fodder for collateral damage. In any realistic story, everyone involved in these shenanigans would be jailed for reckless endangerment and a host of other crimes, but the makers of Torque understand that they're operating in a realm unconstrained by normal rules. In one form or another, filmmakers keep trying to bring back the lawless Old West, even if horses have been replaced by horsepower. And just as the Wild Bunch headed south to Mexico to avoid capture, by the end of Torque, our heroes ride for the border where who knows what adventures await them.

Torque Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Australian cinematographer Peter Levy (Broken Arrow) shot Torque. On the crew commentary track, Levy and Kahn discuss their deliberate choice of a high-contrast style, and Kahn specifically discusses his desire to simplify the film's color palette—a task that was no doubt made easier by use of a digital intermediate in post-production. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray should please fans, because Torque's visual style is the kind where film-originated projects most closely approximate digital photography: sharp edges, tight focus, fine detail, high contrast and vividly saturated color. The image softens just slightly during scenes that are heavy with digital effects, a limitation either of budget or (more likely) ten-year-old computer technology. Blacks are deep and solid, and since the Blu-ray was probably sourced from digital files, the source appears to be as clean as what was output to film for theatrical release. At an average bitrate of 23.83 Mbps, the compression flirts with danger, given the film's nonstop action, but the rate falls within Warner's typical range, and compression errors either didn't appear or were concealed in the frantic cutting.

Torque Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sound editor Tim Gedemer reports an interesting experience on the crew commentary track. He says that when he first mixed the opening car race, he used the real sounds of the two automobiles in the scene—and it fell flat. Realism, he discovered, was not what Torque needed, and it's not what you get on the 5.1 track, presented on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA. The track is loud, boisterous and intense, with deep bass extension and plenty of zooming and panning effects, as bikes and vehicles criss-cross the landscape. Since many of the stunts are quite literally impossible, the sound designers had numerous opportunities to use their imaginations, but even the action done for real has been amped to the extreme. (I especially enjoyed the FBI agents' Humvee, which looks like even more of a behemoth when it's being used to chase motorcycles.) In the rare moments when dialogue is being exchanged, it's usually clear (Ice Cube's shouted delivery being the occasional exception), and the score by Trevor Rabin—wait, there was a score?

Torque Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2004 DVD.

• Commentaries


• With Director Joseph Kahn and Cast: The cast participants are Martin Henderson (Ford), Will Yun Lee (Val), Monet Mazur (Shane), Jay Hernandez (Dalton), Adam Scott (McPherson), Matt Schultze (Henry), Fredro Starr (Junior), Justina Machado (Henderson) and Dane Cook (Luff). As is often the case with groups of actors, there's a lot of joking and ribbing, but enough stories emerge about the production and its challenges to make the track worth listening to.


• With Director Joseph Kahn and Crew: The crew participants are Matt Johnson (screenwriter), Peter Levy (director of photography), Eric Durst (visual effects), Tim Gedemer (sound editor), Gary Davis (second unit direcctor), David Blackburn (co-editor) and Peter J. Hampton (production designer). This is by far the more informative of the two tracks, as the crew members discuss solving various technical challenges, with Kahn as moderator.



• Racing Animatic (480i; 1.33:1; 1:26): A comparison between the storyboards for the opening shot and the finished version, with commentary by the director.



• Train Animatic (480i; 1.33:1; 2:52): A three-level comparison of the train chase, with storyboards, an animatic and the finished version, with commentary by director Joseph Kahn and visual effects supervisor Eric Durst.



• Youngbloodz: "Lean Low" Music Video (480i; 2.39:1, non-enhanced; 4:07).



• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 1.85:1, enhanced; 2:33): "It's a place where everything moves so fast you have to pause just to catch your breath."

Torque Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Torque is a popcorn movie, and while it's certainly well-made, it doesn't happen to be my kind of junk food. I prefer a little more character and a little less fetishism of objects. I would probably feel differently if I were a motorcycle enthusiast, and I suspect that's a prerequisite for truly loving this film. Then again, some viewers enjoy any movie that's loud, bright and fast. If so, give Torque a test ride.