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300 Killers (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - Germany - Great Movies Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (23rd October 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** In the near future, drugs and crime have risen 500%. A disintegrating police force is unable to deal with this horrifying problem. When an undercover cop (Anthony Tomei) disappears, his girlfriend (Tierra Peterson) and the chief of police (Johnny Andrews) take to the streets to fight crime their own way. Take a tour of a town gone mad. All victims of the bloodthirsty DRUG CULT!
Video
German independent budget company Great Movies, have released 300 Killers onto Blu-ray in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer uses an AVC MPEG-4 codec, and is 1080p. Unfortunately, I think this has simply been upscaled from their DVD transfer. The transfer, quite simply, is very disappointing. Now I'm a very forgiving person, and a film that has a budget as low as this one (I'd be surprised if it was more than $20,000) will generally get extra leeway with me when compared to the latest multi-million dollar blockbuster. The transfer here though, barely reaches the quality I would expect from an average DVD release. Detail is poor, with no clarity, edges are warped on everything in the background, and contrast levels seem completely off. Black levels are never deep enough, and the poor lighting on set does cause occasional blooming. I have a number of low budget movies on Blu-ray, and none of them lack the clarity or sharpness that this unfortunate transfer does. It's still watchable, but you might as well pick up the DVD release. The film is cut by 0:59 and runs a total of 73:33. Please visit Schnittberichte for more details of these cuts.
Audio
There are two audio options included here: - English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 I opted for the original English language track, and like the transfer, it is a big disappointment. Before the opening credits have even finished, we have already experienced two audio dropouts, and there are a couple more in the score throughout the duration of the feature. This is not the biggest problem however; because the volume levels really started to bug me. Sometimes the score drowned out the dialogue, and even when it didn't, the dialogue often came across as a series of mumbles, especially from Johnny Andrews. Like the transfer, I can forgive some anomalies in the audio due to the budgets, but these issues mainly appear to be from post-production. Also worth noting, is the rears are underused to the point that this may as well of been a stereo track. They do peak on the rare occasion, but without directionality or fluidity. No subtitles are included.
Extras
All the extras are unsubstantial and self-explanatory. Photo Gallery Bonus Trailers: - "5 Minarette in New York" (2:31, German) - "Thor" (1:32) - "Siren" (1:34) - "Battle of Los Angeles" (1:09) - "River of Darkness" (1:44) - "Bread Crumbs" (1:59) - "6 Guns" (1:11) - "Demon Kiss" (1:11) - "Krieg der Welten 3" (1:17) - "Der Exorzismus der Anneliese M." (1:03) The disc also includes a bonus movie, Retrograde, starring Dolph Lundgren.
Overall
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