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Hitman: Unrated Special Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (12th April 2008). |
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The Film
 French filmmaker Xavier Gens must have made an impression on the Fox brass to have hired him to helm a big budget action film such as “Hitman,” his previous effort “Frontier(s)” (2007) filmed before but released after “Hitman” was his gateway to studio pictures. From early on the production showed some of promise, considering most video game adaptations have failed miserably. Originally action man Vin Diesel was to don the barcode tattoo as Agent 47, Diesel dropped out of the role for whatever reason but stayed onboard as an executive producer. Eventually the role went to Timothy Olyphant who wowed us in the HBO series “Deadwood” (2004-2006) and played the villain in the latest “Die Hard” flick “Live Free or Die Hard” (2007), another Fox production. Olyphant was a good choice for the role, a serious actor could bring depth to the character that someone like Diesel can’t. Furthermore director Gens’ influences included Jean-Pierre Melville’s excellent “Le Samourai” (1967), John Woo’s “The Killer” (1989) and Korean film “A Bittersweet Life” (2005). The combination of drama and violence was exactly what a film such as “Hitman” needed, however, and to everyone’s disappointment hardly any of these influences appear in the finished product, or at least they’ve been cut out and reworked so much that Gens’ vision was lost in what became a generic shoot‘em up with a convoluted plot. “Hitman” tells the story of Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant), as a child he was orphaned. Picked up and trained by an elite underground organization only known as ‘The Agency’. Their purpose is to turn these children into killing machines. Their clients include governments, arms dealers, etc. anyone with a sizeable bank account. They take no sides and kill with efficiency. Agent 47 is assigned to assassinate Russian politician Mikhail Belicoff (Ulrich Thomsen). As a result he finds himself entangled in a political conspiracy and double-crossed by his own organization. Agent 47 is pursued by his own people, Interpol and Russian police as he tries to unravel the truth behind his hit. Having played the videogame numerous times, I was rather excited at the concept of this film. Despite some changes that were made, for example in the film Agent 47 is an orphan and not a clone, it’s understood that some creative changes had to be made for whatever reason. Perhaps an orphan was a much more believable scenario? (If that were the case, why didn’t anyone think that it might be hard to be a convincing hard-to-find killer with a bald head and a barcode tattoo?) In any case the trailers looked good; they did their job in making the film seem like an exciting and worthy entry into the action genre. Then again there was always that nagging feeling in the back of my head reminding me that no videogame adaptation has yet fulfilled by every whim. During the film’s marketing push, news started to surface online through various fan sites and movie news sites about trouble at Fox regarding the film’s edit. Reports were released by the Fox press machine stating that the film’s release date would be pushed back to allow for reshoots. Denial of the director’s non-involvement was expected and true to form a denial was issued in the form of silence, as nothing official was released by Fox in regards to Gens’ involvement in the reshoots. It would be later learned through star Olyphant confirming that Gens was not directing the reshoots and that editor Nicolas de Toth was brought in to ‘soften’ the edit. Although the film retained an ‘R’ rating the original cut delivered by Gens to the Fox brass was turned down for being too violent and dark. Gens was denied final cut and the version released to theaters was the ‘softer’ ‘R’ rated version of the film with more focus on flashy edits and action. It’s a shame that Gens was not allowed to complete his film, the studio cut we have here is deeply flawed. The film feels like it’s missing a lot of pieces, as the plot is not only difficult to follow at times but it’s filled with holes and nonsensical plot direction (especially concerning why would an agency want to double-cross their most dangerous and effective killer? Surely he’s worth more to them alive and working?), furthermore all character relationships appear aloof. There’s never enough character development to actually care for anyone. Especially Agent 47, while Olyphant does a serviceable job as the killer, he was lacking in any human emotion, never once taking us beyond the cold exterior. Despite having several chances to do so with the many scenes he shares with Nika (Olga Kurylenko). Supposedly Gens’ cut would have focused more on character development and would have meticulously paced itself to its final conclusion. It sounds like Gens’ film would have been a thriller styled film (with some ultra violence thrown in for good measure) rather than the action set-piece it is. The film’s other cast are largely forgettable, Dougray Scott plays the clichéd lawman who’d do anything to capture Agent 47, his motivation is driven by his obsession with ‘The Agency’ and brining this man to justice. While TV’s Robert Knepper puts on a convincing Southern drawl for his role as T-bag in “Prison Break” (2005-present) he does a terrible one of putting on a Russian accent here, and same goes for Henry Ian Cusick who plays Belicoff’s no good brother. The action, while exciting, is nothing new. Just like the weapons used these scenes are throwaways, filler injected to take your mind off the flaws of the plot and to “’make the film more user friendly, this was Fox’s agenda after all. The action feels very familiar and that’s because there’s Hong Kong influence stamped all over it. Especially John Woo films, take the 4-way subway fight which starts in a pointed gun stand-off that culminates into a sword wielding slash fest. I half expected a dove to fly off in slow motion... What’s left over from Gens’ vision is the film’s style, the film does look slick. From the costumes to the production design and photography the technical aspects of this production shine like many big budget actioners that have come before it. I was however surprised at the obvious and annoying looping, there are scenes that take place in Agent 47’s car between him and Nika that appear to have undergone ADR (additional dialogue replacement; often source recordings cannot be used because of external variables so they are re-recorded in a studio). These scenes are a fraction out of sync. And I’m certain this is not a technical issue with the disc because I noticed this rather shoddy ADR when I saw the film theatrically. Fox has released this film as an ‘Unrated’ cut, which boasts an extra 1 minute of material, the only changes appear to be a few scene extensions and some added blood. These ‘Unrated’ cuts have become the cherry on top of the home video cake, marketed to fans as new material not seen in theaters, but Fox has kind of cheated with this release. Adding only a few moments to an already flawed studio edit and slapping a new moniker on it to entice purchase, but what would really have done the trick is Gens’ edit in all its glory. Now that would be worth checking out.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this widescreen transfer is in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and has been created using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The image is solid in terms of sharpness and detail, the film's many stylistic elements are retained especially the colors. The transfer is free from dirt and other annoyances that pop up in older films, I spotted no evidence of edge-enhancement which is another bonus. The film does have a fair bit of noise amid the black levels which reduces the level of detail amid shots that are more dimly lit, which is a bit of a distraction. Overall it's a very good transfer that presents the film well but doesn't quite reach the reference quality heights.
Audio
Only two audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio presented at 48kHz/24-bit and a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track in Spanish. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD track, this lossless track does a very good job of pumping out the aggressive sounds. The film is populated with a myriad of effects sounds from gun shots to explosions, helicopters, cars, etc, etc. and the mix is well balanced. Dialogue is clear and distortion free and the only problem I had was some bad ADR (as mentioned in the film review above). Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing imapaired, French, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.
Extras
Fox has released this film on Blu-ray with a collection of extras that include four featurettes, five deleted scenes, a gag reel, the film's theatrical trailer, a series of bonus trailers and a digital copy of the film. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. DISC ONE: "In the Crosshairs" is up first, this featurette runs for 24 minutes 18 seconds, and is a slightly longer EPK clip. Here we get interviews with the principles about the film and their roles as well as the usual behind-the-scenes type stuff we've seen in a 1001 other featurettes. This clip focuses on the basics and doesn't really go into detail, it would have been nice to see what happened after the production when Gens' involvement was cut short, but then again this is made to promote the film and not cast a negative light on it. "Digital Hits" is a featurette that runs for 10 minutes 36 seconds and takes fans through the various videogame incarnations of "Hitman", this will help initiate the uninitiated, you'll learn the history of the game and more about the character. The game developers are interviewed they comment on the influences among other things. Next up is "Instruments of Destruction" featurette that runs for 14 minutes 26 seconds and is made up of six individual segments that highlight the various weapons used in the film. In this clip you'll hear from the film's weapons coordinator who takes us through the Para-Ordinance P18.9, the Blaser R93 LAS2, the M16, the FN F2000, the Micro Uzi and the M240 and why they were chosen for the film. This features some very cool stuff especially if you're into this sort of stuff, I wish it was more in-depth though. Following that is "Settling the Score," a featurette that runs for 5 minutes 13 seconds and as the title suggests is about the film's score, here we get a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the film's music, that's about it. A series of 5 deleted scenes is also included and feature: - "Ovie's Pool Scene" which runs for 23 seconds, a victim is dragged to the warlord while poolside. - "Hospital Scene" runs for 1 minute 48 seconds, Ovie is rushed to hospital where Agent 47 finishes him off. - "A Different Train Platform" runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds, this is an alternate version of the platform scene, this one takes place on an outdoor platform and does not involve the 4-way sword fight. - "Udre's Death" runs for 59 seconds, this is an extended version of the scene as Agent 47 walks away from the carnage in slow motion. - "Alternate Ending" runs for 2 minutes 7 seconds, in this version of the ending Nika dies. A very generic gag reel is also featured and runs for 4 minutes 53 seconds, comprising of the usual line flubs, missed cues and so forth. There's also the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 50 seconds. This disc's extras are rounded off with a collection of bonus trailers for: - "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" (2:19) - "Live Free or Die Hard" (2:30) DISC TWO: This is a DVD which features a digital copy of the film made for portable media players only and is compatible with both PC and Mac, the package includes instructions on how to access this version of the film.
Overall
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