5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
When criminals take a couple hostage and ransom their young daughter, the mother discovers money isn't the only reason the family was chosen.
Starring: Charlize Theron, Kevin Bacon, Courtney Love, Stuart Townsend, Dakota FanningThriller | 100% |
Crime | 65% |
Drama | 27% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, French
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Kidnappings and ransoms and double-crosses and inescapable situations are all hallmarks of the standard Thriller, but they're all kicked up a couple of notches in Director Luis Mandoki's (Born Yesterday) Trapped, an entertaining and reasonably good adaptation of the Greg Iles novel, 24 Hours. Iles' book is a fast read and a rather intense one at that. Both the book and its counterpart film expertly shuffle together all of the genre clichés into a firm and spirited tale of a very well-conceived kidnapping that becomes unraveled and reforms as a complex organism shaped by two opposing forces, neither willing to give an inch but both ready to sacrifice everything in the name of victory. In the middle is a sickly young girl, the necessary pawn caught in the midst of a dangerous game in which one side comes in prepared and the other blindsided. It's a story of adaptation, of outthinking and out maneuvering the opposition, about the battle for supremacy and the fate of a child whose life depends on the fastest thinker rather than the one holding the weapon, and seemingly, all the cards.
Very trapped.
Trapped's high definition presentation isn't anything remotely special, but that doesn't make it remotely bad. In fact, it's a fairly healthy high definition transfer, not one that's endlessly attractive but instead one that handles most every element suitably well. The one drawback is a rather bland color palette. The image is dim to excess, with almost no brilliance to it. Even in the light of intense headlamps or a few daytime exteriors, the palette rarely finds much in the way of vibrancy. That said, the palette is at least consistent. Basic hues are revealed nicely enough, skin textures are fairly accurate, and black levels don't falter. Details are attractive. The image enjoys a good, basic cinematic feel. Light grain enhances quality skin and clothing textures. Other elements like the home's hardwood floors and marble countertops are also well defined. A few speckles pop up from time to time and light banding crosses shadowy faces, but otherwise it's a solid -- but unspectacular -- transfer all around.
Trapped features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that ranges from decent-to-good. Music is a bright spot. It's fairly crisp and well spaced across the front, yielding good clarity whether deeper notes or more airy ones. There's a light but critical and well implemented surround element to help the track along. Sound effects seem to vary in quality and presence. A brief parking garage scene in the final act offers a very authentic reverberation, but an overhead helicopter lacks much presence. A few heavy thuds enter the stage with authority, but crowd applause in an early scene falls flat. Dialogue is always center-focused and usually firm and presented at an appropriate volume, but there's also an occasional shallowness to it. There's otherwise little of note here; it's a basic Thriller soundtrack with all the usual elements but not many bells and whistles. It works well enough but Trapped's lossless soundtrack isn't one destined to end up playing through showroom floor speakers.
Most unfortunately, this Blu-ray release of Trapped contains no supplemental content.
Trapped is no classic, but it's a highly entertaining and largely effective Thriller. It takes old pieces and spins them into a rather fresh and invigorating back-and-forth tale of suspense, fear, and always-imminent peril. The cast is excellent; the six primaries play well off of one another and particularly against their opposites in the film. The Bacon-Theron relationship is where the film finds most of its raw excitement, but it's in the other two where it finds its best purely human emotions. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Trapped enjoys decent video and audio. No extras are included. Recommended primarily on the strength of the film.
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