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Bad Penny (The) AKA Bangkok Bound
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Signature Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (30th December 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Six years ago Jack "The Ripper" Stemmons, an American boxer, had his career destroyed by a St. Louis bookie. After Jack seeks revenge he is forced into hiding. Jack disappears half way around the world in Thailand. There he falls victim to the addictive smell of Bangkok's exotic and dangerous underworld. Eventually he finds solace in the arms of a beautiful prostitute who has been set in his path by a Russian gangster in order to get Jack back in the ring, this time in Bangkok's notorious underground fight clubs. No matter how hard Jack tries to distance himself from his past, it always hunts him down like a Bad Penny. When a mysterious fight fan appears, it's only a matter of time before Jack's past, present and future accelerate and collide into a twisted climax.
Video
Signature Entertainment have released the low budget movie "Bangkok Bound" onto Blu-ray in the United Kingdom at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (original aspect ratio is 1.85:1). The transfer is in 1080p and uses an AVC MPEG-4 coded, but leaves a lot to be desired. The first thing I feel I should point out, is that this feature was shot using an Arriflex Super 16mm camera, so with that in mind, we should offer the transfer a little leeway in comparison to a feature shot on 35mm or on digital. Still, even with leeway, this is a disappointing transfer. The heavy grain does become a little intrusive in some of the darker scenes, and although this film is only a few years old, the print had several scratches at various points during the run time. Detail is generally poor, though there are one or two close-ups that almost look passable, and shadow detail is non-existent. It looks like an average DVD at best. The disc is a BD25, and the feature runs 92:50.
Audio
Despite the front of the case displaying a DTS-HD Master Audio logo, there is no lossless audio to be found at all on the disc. In fact, we only get an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. Unfortunately, it's very dull. There's little separation, and no real oomph to any part of the track that helps engross you into the story. Although this is very much a dialogue driven movie, there are plenty of opportunities where a 5.1 track could take advantage. Punches from the boxing, crowd noise, and the various environments in both America and Thailand would've all benefited from something more here. On the plus side, there's no real problems with the track either. Dialogue is clear at all times and the track is undamaged, with the disc experiencing no background hiss. Still, this is the age of Blu-ray - lossless immersive audio is what we need, not just what we want. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
None.
Overall
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