War: It’s Time To Pick A Side

Studio: Lions Gate Films
Starring: Jet Li (Hero, Romeo Must Die, Warlords) as Rogue, Jason Statham (Crank, The Transporter, Snatch) as Jack Crawford, Devon Aoki (Sin City, 2 Fast 2 Furious) as Kira
Directed by: Philip G. Atwell (2nd Unit Director of National Treasure, National Treasure Book Of Secrets)
Subtitles: English, Spanish

The Story
In War [Blu-ray], when his partner and family are murdered by the assassin known only as Rogue, FBI agent Jack Crawford (Statham) goes on a personal mission to track him down and avenge the deaths. Meanwhile, Rogue is playing both sides in a bloody Triad vs. Yakuza war, but what are his motivations and who is controlling him? As the body count on both sides starts to rise, it becomes clear all is NOT as it seems. Will Crawford get his man and are his motivations what they seem?

I really like this movie which sees Statham’s angry, sometimes vicious Crawford being played against Li’s icy cool Rogue. There’s plenty of violence on show with Statham and Li’s mixture of gunplay and martial arts, which is beautifully choreographed and skillfully executed. I was pleasantly caught out by the twist at the end of the tale, though, to be honest, if you were extra vigilant, there were some clues to be had. This is the perfect high kinetic fix for all you action junkies out there. My score is 8.5/10.

The Visuals
This is another high quality release from Lions Gate Films. Sharp as a razor. There is some grain present, but this is the intention of the filmmakers and adds to the feel of the movie. Skin tones are natural, and all that blood is colourful but natural looking. Both close-ups and distant detail are beyond redemption. Black levels are fantastic as is shadow definition. The detail on Rogue’s suits is superb. A top notch presentation and reference quality. My score: 9.5/10.

The Audio
Yet again, Lions Gate delivers the goods with an exemplary 7.1 uncompressed PCM soundtrack. The panning is perfect, and the shootout in Chapter 10 proves my point perfectly as bullets and broken glass whizz past your ears in all directions - it’s quite unnerving. Yet, with all this action, dialog is never drowned out and vocals come thru loud and clear. The roar of the car engines actually pummelled my chest. This mix is not subtle, but greatly adds to the feel of the movie. My score: 9.5/10. Note there is also an English DD 5.1 EX soundtrack.

The Extras
Being a Lions Gate Blu-ray disc, we are treated to a shedload of bonus features for your viewing pleasure, and note that all video extras are shown in Full High Definition.

Visual Commentary - There is a visual Picture In Picture (PIP) commentary with director Philip G. Atwell. This can also be played as just an audio commentary for all those without profile v1.1 players.

War Zone Trivia Track is an audio fact track that plays along the entire movie complete with still images in a PIP style and comments from cast and crew. Scoring War is a featurette about the scoring of the movie featuring composer Brian Tyler. This runs for 9 minutes.

The War Chest is a collection of featurettes disecting 9 pivitol action scenes from the movie. They can be played individually or as “play all”. Agregate runtime is 72 minutes. Gag Reel is a 2 minute collection of cock-ups, mainly involing Jet Li.

B-Roll PIP shows how a bloody axe impact is set up. This runs for under a minute. Deleted and Extended Scenes include 1 extended and 2 deleted scenes running for 2 minutes.

Also From Lions Gate is a collection of trailers for The Condemned, Crank, Lord of War and TThe Punisher.

Yakuza Fighter Game is an interactive kick ‘em up game that can be played either individually offline or against online opponents. Use your remote controller to kick and puch your opponent. Ok, if you’re bored, I havent tried it online which may be more rewarding. You can also bookmark particular parts of the movie to watch at your leisure.

Once again, Lions Gate Films shows the other studios (Fox comes to mind) just how to make A Blu-ray, and that they are truly commited to the format. This disc is overflowing with quality supplements, and the fact that all the video supplements are in HD is pure gold. My score: 9/10.

Overall Impact
War is a great action movie featuring two of the hottest stars of the martial arts action genre. A superb audio visual presentaion backed up by a bumper collection of quality extras makes this a no-brainer. Go out and get it now. You won’t be disapointed. My score is 9.5/10.

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