Hard
Target 2 (2016/Universal
Blu-ray w/DVD)/Now You See
Me 2 (2016/Lionsgate 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Tony
Rome (1967)/Lady
In Cement
(1968/Sinatra/Fox/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B- & C/B/B Sound: B- &
C+/B+/C+ Extras: C-/C-/B Films: C-/C-/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Tony
Rome/Lady
In Cement
Frank Sinatra double feature Blu-ray is now only available from our
friends at Twilight Time, is limited to only 3,000 copies and can be
ordered while supplies last from the links below.
If
you want to be cool in a feature film, there is the correct way to do
it and many bad ways that will lead to failure. These latest Blu-ray
releases show us how....
Roel
Reine's extremely belated sequel Hard
Target 2
(2016) really has nothing to do with the Jean-Claude Van Damme hit
from eons ago, this time featuring Scott Adkins going to Myanmar to
get into fighting since he feel from grace the same way in the U.S.,
but of course, it is a lie and he is been lured into a hunting game
where he is the top prize. Thus he has to fight to survive,
including survive this highly cliched script that helps this dud run
for 104 minutes. Universal waited this long for this bad idea, so
this is how they filled it all in?
Stunts
are often subpar, digital effects lame and choreography for the
fights nothing special. Guess they thought Van Damme was too old to
rehire? Highly forgettable and not worth your time, target another
action film if you must.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the discs add Deleted Scenes,
four Making Of featurettes and a feature length audio commentary by
Reine, Adkins and Robert Knepper, et al.
Jon
M. Chu's Now
You See Me 2
(2016) is a sequel to the first film of the nearly same title
(subtract the '2'...) in what was just luck on Lionsgate and Summit's
part combining Ocean's
11
and The
Italian Job
remake with a magic trick gimmick. The Four Horsemen are back with
more magic tricks for their Vegas audiences, making other people's
money 'mysteriously' disappear in the process. However, at a long
129 minutes, even a good cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Mark
Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Morgan
Freeman and Michael Caine (from the original Italian
Job)
can save us from this very predictable script.
The
not so fantastic four want revenge on Radcliffe's character and
dealing with the FBI in the process, the script has them traveling to
other countries (pumping up the budget, no doubt) leading to more of
a boring digital travelogue with no wit than anything resembling a
fun or smart film. It would have been nice if this were one of those
rare sequels where it was better than the original (not a hard thing
to do in this case), but that is not the case. Look forward to
seeing all these fine actors and locales in better films next time.
Oh well...
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the regular Blu-ray adds three
Making Of featurettes and (two are Blu-ray exclusives) and a feature
length audio commentary by Director Chu.
Now
for the way to really pull it off being cool, starting with not
trying so hard. Gordon Douglas directed both of Frank Sinatra's
outings as the boat-residing detective Tony Rome in Tony
Rome
(1967) and Lady
In Cement
(1968). They also happen to be two of Sinatra's best films and did
well in their original theatrical release, but he and Fox quit while
they were ahead. We previously reviewed the two films a while ago on
DVD at the following links...
Tony
Rome
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2236/Tony+Rome+(1967/Fox+DVD
Lady
In Cement
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2345/Lady+In+Cement
The
films hold up well and are fun to watch again, with Jill St. John
great as the first film's female lead, Rachel Welch as the lead gal
in the second. Nice they are together on one disc (nice they fit on
one!) and glad to see them finally arrive in high definition.
Sinatra is in rare form here, fun yet effective in mature material
always interesting to watch. Lainie Kazan fans will be happy to see
her in Lady
too, showing that cool also has to do with picking great people and
knowing what to do with them.
Extras
many not include the many Sinatra trailers of the DVD version, but
you get a new, nicely illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text and another excellent, underrated essay by the great
film scholar Julie Kirgo, while the Blu-ray adds Original Theatrical
Trailers, Isolated Music Scores with some sound effects and a brand
new, excellent feature length audio commentary track by film scholars
Lee Pfeiffer, Eddy Friedfeld, Anthony Latino and Paul Scrabo. All
that makes this a solid Sinatra collectible.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced 2.35 X 1 Ultra
High Definition image on Me
2 is
the best performer here as expected, but it is only marginally better
than the 1080p regular Blu-ray resolving Video Black and some color a
bit more. Otherwise, the image is too gaudy for its own good, but
the 4K version is more naturalistic, professional and pleasant by
comparison.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Target
2 has
some motion blur issues and is not a great HD shoot, especially by
today's standards, so you can imagine the anamorphically
enhanced DVD version has more blur and less stability, as it does.
Weak all around.
Fortunately,
the 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Rome
and Lady
confirm how good both films look and we were impressed with the DVDs
back in the day. The Deluxe color and real anamorphic 35mm
Panavision display better color range, detail and depth than those
DVDs and make both films more involving. Fans of film and Sinatra
alike will be impressed.
As
for sound, both the
2160p 4K and 1080p regular Blu-ray versions of Me
2
have Dolby
Atmos 11.1 mixes that are pretty decent throughout if not outstanding
uses pf the format. That's still enough to make it the sonically
best presentation here as the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 or 5.1
lossless mix on Target
2 has
an inconsistent soundfield (a situation made worse on the DVD with
its lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix), so it is not impressive and not
even as good as the original Van Damme film for that matter.
Though
some simple stereo versions were included on the DVDs, the DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes on Rome
and Lady
still manage to sound a bit better than their DVD's
lossy Dolby Digital counterparts, though the music even sounds better
than the final film mixes in the lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo
isolated music scores. We should note that on the title song of Tony
Rome
by Nancy Sinatra, the isolated score is there minus her vocal
performance, but it is a nice bonus to have the song that way. If
you want to hear the song in stereo in the best possible way, you'll
have to go out and the get the Super Audio CD edition of her hits set
we reviewed at this link....
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11363/Michael+Feinstein:+The+Sinatra+Legacy+(2011/I
To
order the Tony
Rome/Lady
In Cement
Frank Sinatra double feature limited
edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusives while supplies
last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
