BLU-RAY REVIEW

Red

Featured In Issue 154, February 2011

Picture5
Sound5
WSR Score4
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Summit Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
66118024
(MPAA Rating):
PG-13
(Rating Reason):
Intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language
(Retail Price):
$30.49
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
111
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
2010
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
01/25/11
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Robert Schwentke
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

In Red, former black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses' (Willis) idyllic life is threatened by a CIA hit-squad. Now targeted for assassination and his identity compromised, Frank reassembles his old team—Joe (Freeman), Marvin (Malkovich), and Victoria (Mirren—and sets out to prove that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Using all of their collective cunning, experience, and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history. Based on the graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with retired CIA Field Officer Robert Baer; "Access Red,"—a six-part interactive feature including pop up trivia, videos, and interviews; and 10 deleted and extended scenes (HD 08:46).

The 1080p AVC picture is terrific, with a fully saturated character that exhibits rich and warm hues that pop. Contrast is excellent, with deep and solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. Dimensional depth is quite good. Fleshtones are perfectly natural. Resolution is excellent, with sharp and well-defined detail, especially during close-ups of facial features, fabrics, and object textures. The picture is engaging, with a bright, dynamic quality that is sure to please. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is dynamic and actively exciting, with plenty of transient hits, such as gunfire, rockets, and explosions. Sound effects are aggressively enveloping, with directionalization. Deep base is punctuated with sub-25 Hz .1 LFE energy. The music score is well recorded with a wide, deep, and spatial soundfield presence that projects effectively. Foley effects are nicely effective as well. Dialogue is in large measure ADR and suffers from inadequate spatial integration, sounding a bit forward. This is a fun, exciting soundtrack that perfectly complements the comedic action storytelling. It won't disappoint. (Gary Reber)