Blu-ray Movie Reviews

After their last adventure in London, the team headed by Dominic Toretto has made a new enemy in ex–black ops assassin Deckard Shaw, the brother of Owen Shaw, the mercenary they just took down. With revenge on his mind, Shaw systematically targets every one of the crew for death, and they must band together in order to survive—which isn’t a guarantee. Help comes from Mr. Nobody, a secret U.S. government agent who is willing to trade support for the gang as long as they can capture Ramsey, a hacker who has created a technology that will make finding Shaw a piece of cake.

The plot is as far-fetched as they come, but it’s an action movie, and you’re supposed to check your brain at the door. If you fail to do that, you’ll wonder whether any of the writers ever took a physics class. Cars don’t fly unless you’re in the Furious universe where they do actually fly—more than once. They can roll down mountains with the occupants walking away without a scratch, and can be turned into Swiss cheese from .50 caliber bullets and still hit triple digits on the speedometer. MythBusters could fill an entire season’s worth of episodes from this one movie. That being said, it’s a hell of a ride.

The digitally shot production looks outstanding on Blu-ray with only the occasional speed bump along the way. The color grading varies from orange to turquoise, depending on the scene, and some of the longer shots lack the pinpoint detail needed to receive a perfect score. Black levels are inky, but shadows on a couple of occasions are slightly obscured. Equally impressive is the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack, which is near reference-quality. The surround envelopment is outstanding, and the dynamics are incredible. The bass doesn’t dip quite as deep as it could, and dialogue intelligibility is an issue in some of the action scenes.

The supplement package includes two versions of the movie—theatrical and extended—four deleted scenes, featurettes about the numerous stunts, cars, and fight scenes, as well as a bonus DVD and UV Digital Copy.

I enjoyed the film but felt it was much too long at 140 minutes, with too many never-ending action sequences. There is a tribute to Walker in the final scene that’s tastefully done; he’ll certainly be missed if there’s a Furious 8 in the making.

Blu-Ray
Studio: Universal, 2015
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio Format: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Length: 140 mins.
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: James Wan
Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson