Blu-ray Movie Reviews

While on a hiking trip to reconnect with his son after the death of his wife, Ray Keene stumbles into a nightmare scenario of paid assassins and ex-military guns-for-hire. Frank Cardin is attempting to fulfill a contract to assassinate a high profile businessman when things go awry and he ends up in the custody of the U.S. Marshalls. After an ill-fated attempt by his compatriots to free him Frank finds himself in the custody of ex-lawman Ray and his son. As the trio tries to make their way back to civilization they are relentlessly pursued by Frank's friends who are intent on freeing their leader in order to collect on the contract. But one pursuer may be more foe than friend.

Despite the star leads, this really could be a movie you see on USA network and made for TV. The premise has been done before and the story overall can be a bit slow at times. The plot revolves around a father and son who were out camping at the wrong place at the wrong time and run into a contract killer who didn't quite escape on his way to the Feds. Now they are being hunted by the killer's companions through the wilderness. Problem is, the hunt is a bit slow and the dialogue isn't the best. Freeman and Cusack make the most of the parts, but can't save the ship overall.

The transfer looks pretty much identical to the previous HD DVD release. Contrast is excellent and most of the forest is lush with detail and depth. Some of the effects work softens up the image at times, and longer shots are inconsistent in quality. Far better than I was expecting, given the budget and retail model, but not quite reference material.

Unlike the previous HD DVD, this Blu-ray release features a Dolby TrueHD lossless mix. Dynamics are good overall, but you can tell the sound design was constrained by the budget a bit. Some of the action sounds a bit canned if you know what I mean. The soundstage is nice and open though, and the ambience and details of the woods and environment are very realistic throughout the front and rear soundstage. While not a huge improvement over the previous DD+ mix, there was some subtle improvement in spatial quality.

Extras include a picture-in-picture behind the scenes look at the production, including interviews and a documentary on the making of the film. This disc also features bookmarking for capturing your favorite scenes and some trailers.

First Look has upped the ante in the A/V presentation on this one compared to the previous HD DVD release and thrown in some nice features. Worth a rental.