I'll
Sleep When I'm Dead
(2003/Paramount/ViaVision/Imprint Region Free Blu-ray)/Missing
(2023/Sony Blu-ray)/Training
Day 4K (2001/Warner 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B/B-/B+ Sound: B-/B-/B+
Extras: B/C/B Films: B/C/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The I'll
Sleep When I'm Dead
Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at ViaVision
Entertainment in Australia, can play on all 4K and Blu-ray players
and can be ordered from the links below.
Up
next are two older crime dramas revisited and a new, different
drama...
Mike
Hodges' I'll
Sleep When I'm Dead
(2003) was the second of two films the director had made with Clive
Owen when he was a contended to become the next James Bond,
especially when many pointed out to some similar looks to George
Lazenby. They had just had success with Croupier
(now on 4K disc in the U.K.) and here's what I had to say about the
film when Paramount issued their U.S. DVD (both releases have the
same cover):
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1783/I'll+Sleep+When+I'm+Dead
More
than just a reprise of Get
Carter
or Pulp,
it was one of those rare times that an older film I rewatched that I
had not seen in a good while was actually a little better than I
recalled, very rare indeed. Hodges was always a bit underrated a
director and this great cast is in much better form than I
remembered. Definitely worth rediscovering, definitely check it out.
Unlike
the basic DVD, we get plenty of extras here including a
Feature-Length Audio Commentary by director Mike Hodges and writer
Trevor Preston
Mike
Hodges and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead documentary
2
Deleted Scenes (one with optional audio commentary by Mike Hodges
and Trevor Peston)
an
Original Theatrical Trailer
and
FOR A LIMITED TIME, a Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500
copies with unique artwork.
Will
Merrick and Nick Johnson's Missing
(2023) is one of those occasional releases that is not a regular film
or feature film, but a non-stop (a long 100 minutes in this case)
onslaught of video screens, from PCs to laptops to smartphones and
much, much more. That might work for a montage sequence in a real
film, but gets tired very quickly and that includes here. In past
attempts at this, the screens were cheap and soft. This might be
sharper by comparison, but a train wreck still looks like a train
wreck.
A
young lady (Storm Reid) has her life disrupted when her mother (Nia
Long) sees her happiness destroyed when her new boyfriend disappears.
The daughter goes on line and searches, and searches and searches
and searches for him, no mater how long it will take. Unfortunately,
despite a convincing cast and some locales that never get a chance to
look good or be palpable, I was hoping I would go missing so I did
not have to keep watching this. Too bad, because restraint and a
simpler approach would have produced a better result.
Extras
(per the press release) include:
Lastly,
we get Antoine Fuqua's Training Day (2001) gets the 4K UHD
treatment in honor of Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary Collection. The
hit crime thriller looks great on the format and features one of
Denzel Washington's most iconic performances. The film questions
what is wrong and what is right as it blurs the line between being a
police office or being deep undercover no some of LA's most dangerous
streets. Washington stars as tough-guy Alonzo Harris who on the
LAPD's narcotics force and isn't afraid to shoot first and ask
questions later as he trains a wide-eyed agent (Ethan Hawke) and
pushes him into the deep end of crime. The film was a big hit for
the studio and later spawned a television series of the same name.
The
film stars Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Eva Mendes, Dr. Dre, Scott
Glenn, Tom Berenger, Cliff Curtis, and Harris Yulin.
Special
Features:
Audio
commentary by Antoine Fuqua
Additional
scenes
Alternate
ending
Theatrical
trailer
Training
Day: Crossing the Line featurette
Two
music videos: Nelly's "#1" and Pharoahe Monch's "Got
You".
Training
Day looks and sounds better than any previous home video
presentation in this release and worth the upgrade if you're a fan!
Now
for playback performance. Training Day is presented in 2160p
on 4K UHD disc with HDR10, an HEVC / H.265 codec, a widescreen aspect
ratio of 2.40:1 and an audio track in English DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix. The film also includes a 1080p Blu-ray disc
with similar widescreen/audio specs. The 4K presentation is very
nice with sharp detail and refined color that’s not as deeply
detailed on the Blu-ray, even if it is not in Dolby Vision.
The
other two Blu-ray releases here happen to both be presented in 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers, though Dead
is all shot on 35mm photochemical color film negative and Missing
is digital all over the place. The former looks as good as it did on
35mm film and the latter can be on the soft side, but is as good as
it ever will be.
Both
also offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes and Dead
adds a PCM 2.0 Stereo track that is on par with its 5.1 upgrade. I
liked the PCM slightly more and both are better than the compressed
Dolby Digital 5.1 on the older U.S. DVD, but both sound fine, while
Missing
is as good as it will ever sound.
To
order the
I'll
Sleep When I'm Dead
region-free import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other
hard-to-find releases at:
https://viavision.com.au/shop/ill-sleep-when-im-dead-2003-imprint-collection-206/
-
Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (4K)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
