The
Fate Of The Furious
(2017/aka Fast
& The Furious 8/Universal
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
Picture:
A/B+ Sound: A Extras: B Film: C
The
eighth entry in Universal's Fast
and the Furious
franchise downshifts a gear and ups the ante in terms of action, with
a lesser focus on cars than earlier films with F. Gary Gray's The
Fate Of The Furious
(2017/aka Fast
& The Furious 8).
The first post-Paul Walker entry as well, this new Furious
has a pretty lazy screenplay that steals elements from several other
stronger films and crafts cardboard characters that are seemingly
invincible against weapons, car accidents, and bodyslams. Because of
this, it's hard for there to be much tension because you know ''they
aren't gonna kill that guy off''. This may as well be an entry in
The
Expendables
(or more suitably XXX)
franchise as it's that level of action intelligence and
believability.
The
cast includes Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson (aka 'The Rock'), Jason
Statham (The
Transporter),
Michelle Rodriguez (Resident
Evil),
Tyrese Gibson (Transformers)
and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges (No
Strings Attached),
Scott Eastwood (Suicide
Squad)
and superstars Charlize Theron (Mad
Max: Fury Road),
Kurt Russell (The
Hateful Eight)
and a few other surprise cameos.
The
old team gets back together again for a seemingly quick globetrotting
mission, but things go awry when Dom (Diesel) is bribed by a criminal
mastermind (Theron) who forces him to betray his team by blackmailing
him. While his old friends know he is being forced against his will,
they are seemingly helpless about the vast array of resources Theron
possesses not to mention the cunning skills that Dom provides. Will
the Furious unite together and get the bad guys setting up a
potential four films? You'll have to give this disc a spin (no pun
intended) to find out.
The
4K UHD presentation with HDR (high dynamic range 10-bit color) is up
to the new format's new high standards with a 2160p high definition
transfer and a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The film takes
place in several exotic locations which come across in eye popping
clarity in 4K, taking advantage of the HDR for even finer details.
Also included is a 1080p Blu-ray disc with the same widescreen and
audio specs as the 4K UHD disc and looks fine for the format.
As
for those audio specs, the sound mixes on both discs are presented in
lossless DTS:X Immersive Audio 11.1 sound at its very best, plus 2.0
Stereo DTS Headphone:X, DVS 2.0 Stereo lossy Dolby Digital, Spanish
and French (Canadian) and DTS Digital Surround 5.1. For a film of
this type, this could be a good demo disc to show off in terms of
sound and picture to impress your friends, relatives, etc.
One
odd choice for this release is an extended cut of the film that is
only available to watch on the Digital UV copy. You think they would
have made this cut available on the more expensive and luxurious 4K
Ultra HD, but alas, they want you to watch the film in lesser quality
on digital?
Special
Features...
The
Cuban Spirit
- As the first major studio motion picture to shoot in Cuba in
decades, the country's effusive spirit permeates the making of the
film. (Blu-ray exclusive)
In
The Family
- How the family of the series characters are tested in the film.
(Blu-ray exclusive)
Car
Culture
- A compendium of the supercharged vehicles showcased in the film.
(Blu-ray exclusive)
All
About The Stunts
- Behind the scenes to see how the largest stunts in the franchise's
history were pulled off.
Extended
Fight Scenes
and
Feature Commentary with Director F. Gary Gray
Another
entry in a franchise that is becoming formulaic more than it would
like to admit. However, with the explosions, stars, and high budget
nature of it all, it's sure to attract big home video revenue.
Expect all seven prior film to be reissued in the 4K Ultra HD format
as well, a process that has already begun.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
