Swelter
(2014/Well Go USA Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B+ Extras: C- Film: C
Swelter
(which wants to be Reservoir
Dogs
so bad that it can taste it) is a brutal crime drama starring
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Josh Henderson and Alfred Molina. The story
centers on a gang that steals more than $100 million from the Luxor
Casino in Las Vegas. Shortly after, all but one of the five gang
members are captured and jailed. Ten years later, after blasting
their way out of a maximum security prison, the convicts go on the
trail of their former accomplice and the remaining $10 million in
stolen cash.
Bishop
(Lennie James) is a small-town sheriff, making an honest living with
no memory of his criminal past, but when the old crew rolls into town
looking for the buried cash, the perfect getaway threatens to turn
into a nightmare of greed, revenge and retribution. The film has
some cool action moments but all in all feels like previously treaded
territory.
On
an interesting side note, Swelter
is the first completed movie financed by Exchange Peaks Film Capital,
a fund created as a full-service specialty film fund financed by
Grand Peaks and run by The Exchange. This is also the first time
that it has been released in the USA and sold out all of its
international markets following the American Film Market. Not half
bad!
The
sound and picture on the disc are pretty solid with a 1080p high
definition transfer in 2.35 X 1 widescreen and a powerful DTS HD MA
5.1 sound mix that's great for all those explosions and gunfire.
There is also a French dubbed track and closed captioning for the
hearing impaired. Total runtime for the film clocks in around 110
minutes.
Extras
on the disc are simply interviews
and a trailer.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv
