5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Biker Cary Ford is framed by an old rival and biker gang leader for the murder of another gang member who happens to be the brother of Trey (Ice Cube), leader of the most feared biker gang in the country. Ford is now on the run trying to clear his name from the murder with Trey and his gang looking for his blood.
Starring: Martin Henderson, Ice Cube, Monet Mazur, Adam Scott, Matt SchulzeComedy | 100% |
Action | 81% |
Crime | 53% |
Thriller | 34% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish 2.0=Latin; Japanese is hidden
English SDH, French, German SDH, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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.
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.
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?
The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2004 DVD.
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.
2008
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1987
The Unrated Other Edition
2010
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2016
Mastered in 4K
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