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Need For Speed
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (21st August 2014). |
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The Film
 “The thing you gotta understand is, racing is an art. Racing with passion, dude, that’s high art.” And the other thing you gotta understand is, “Need For Speed” is not art. And while the much appreciated references to cult-classic car-cinema—key plot elements lovingly lifted in vaguely piecemeal variety from “Vanishing Point” (1971) and “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977), and a rather on-the-nose nod to “Bullitt” (1968) among them—make it more than clear director Scott Waugh has a passion for the genre, his racing film is most certainly not high art. Yet, in some way, the mostly unpretentious approach, and Waugh's welcomed aversion to things usually computer generated, makes serious criticism of his film sort of superfluous. The stunt work alone is reason enough to watch, simply for its technical mastery, if car culture is even remotely your thing, or you just like to see stuff get smashed. As an adaptation of the same-name video game franchise, “Need For Speed” is an absurd film, too long and sometimes too serious for its own good, almost stunning in its stupidity and baffling in belief that it even exists. But beneath the silly stock characters, misplaced pathos, structurally stupefying screenplay and logic-defying nature of the entirely unnecessary production, there’s an unabashed sincerity about it; a glorious genre effort blown up to the scale of a big budget studio blockbuster. The epitome of turn-off-your-brain entertainment, “Need For Speed” is three things: big, dumb, and, most important of all, pretty fun. “Need For Speed” is big in the sense that the on-location photography hopping from state-to-state, and vehicular mayhem on screen sell the massive scale of a $65 million film. Multi-million dollar super cars shot off car-launchers at breakneck speed; Koenigsegg’s bursting into fireballs and Shelby Mustang’s screeching down motorways, in and out of traffic, at 150 MPH go a long way. Oh, and there’s a scene where said Mustang is airlifted by helicopter in the middle of Moab, Utah. Sure, it's stupid, but the desert scenery is as impressive as the silly stunt that uses the flat-top mountains and salt flats as a backdrop. At a bloated 130 minutes, “Speed” is arguably bigger—essentially an epic, for its genre—than really needed. Too long; really dumb. It’s a cacophony of action movie cliches, and nearly makes a fatal mistake of taking itself too seriously, thankfully unleashed of pretence for long stretches after the first act, relishing instead in a frantic ticking-clock cluster of crashes, clashes and law-evading ludicrousness for the remaining hour and a half. Aaron Paul plays Tobey Marshall, a struggling mechanic who competes in illegal street races to help pay off the debilitating debt his recently deceased father left unpaid. When the bank comes knocking, threatening foreclosure on the Marshall Motors auto shop, the racer agrees to rebuild a rare Shelby Mustang for the dangerous and brooding Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Brewster and Marshall might have once been on friendlier terms, when they were younger, but Brewster burned all bridges when he made some money and moved to the big city, and took Marshall’s ex-girlfriend, Anita (Dakota Johnson), with him. Still, half a million dollars—the fee Dino agrees to pay if the restored Mustang sells at auction for the suspected sum—is too tempting for Tobey to pass up. On payday, Marshall’s big-haired and bigger-mouthed best friend, Petey (Harrison Gilbertson), who's also Anita's younger brother, opens up old wounds, insulting Brewster in the process. Pride proves more important than mere money for the moment, and the three agree to a race. The winner gets the whole pot—about $3 million—and the satisfaction of knowing they're the better racer. The better man. Unfortunately, Petey is killed in the ensuing high-speed sprint, when Dino clips his car and then flees the scene. Tobey is left to fend for himself, his friend's body burning in the mangled wreckage. The cops clasp Marshall in cuffs and sentence him to two years in prison, for manslaughter. Two years—and, astoundingly, 40 minutes of screen time—later, Tobey is set free. He immediately breaks bad (sorry), violates parole, and sets about seeking revenge on the man truly responsible for the death of his friend. Through a confluence of events condensed to a hurried phone call and a complete lack of logic, Tobey ends up behind the wheel of the same Shelby that started the whole thing, with a muscle-car-minded British mechanic named Julia (Imogen Poots) in the passenger seat. Together they head, against the clock and across the country, toward California to compete in The DeLeon, an annual race held by a gear head millionaire who calls himself Monarch (Michael Keaton). Tobey is sure the DeLeon is where Brewster will be. Of course, it isn’t just Tobey and his high-heeled cohort facing off against the baddie, but Marshall’s other old buddies, who want justice for Pete and to see Brewster beat just as much, too. There’s high in the sky Benny (Scott Mescudi aka Kid Cudi), an omnipresent pilot always on the look out for law enforcement and traffic congestion, or, if need be, a random deus ex machina airlift; on-the-go Joe (Ramon Rodriguez), who drives the big truck that's both a mobile gas station and parts shop for Marshall and his Mustang; and the feisty Finn (Rami Malek), a guy pretty much game for anything. “Need For Speed” is dumb. At times, unrelentingly so. It’s characters are ridiculous, from the cartoonishly evil Dino, to the duelling love interests constructed in cliche, a supporting cast of broad character-type friends, and lame-brained law enforcement. No one in “Speed” is a believable person. Of course, a blockbuster with believable people is a rare thing; and it certainly doesn’t help that every last one of the actors is stuck with what they're given. Each unable to articulate their talent, should it exist, because they must spout off eye-rollingly-awful dialogue penned, somehow, by Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Gatins, and his lesser-known brother, George Gatins. The one exception is Aaron Paul, whose performance carries the film on it’s flimsy frame, rolling along on rickety rims to a finish line seemingly always on the horizon. His raw talent transcends the script, its stifling stupidity, uneven tone and misplaced swings for emotional moments. He plays Marshall with stoic if also bleary eyed conviction, buying into and then swiftly burying the misplaced pathos of the early scenes, crying crocodile tears and giving it his all during Petey’s death. You’d think he was acting in an indie drama that was in contention for an award. Even later, as a much more reserved man of few words, with little on his mind other than revenge, Paul's believable; so good he really blinds the audience to Marshall’s many, many flaws, to the point where there’s no choice but to root for him despite not being that good of a guy either. The solid but too-brief turn by Keaton also deserves mention; his Monarch is a kitschy sort of commentator on the pre-race chase, via webcam, as well as the real thing later on. He blathers about the art of racing with the utmost seriousness, but Keaton plays it off as lightly as most other cast members seem unable or unwilling to. As always, Keaton makes me wish he were in better things—actually, anything—more often. As dumb as “Speed” is—and boy is it ever—at least some is of it is of the dumb-fun mold. Fun, in large part because the picture exploits its scale, and labored structural setup to turn on a sort of narrative cruise control an hour or so in, and simply bombard viewers with volley after volley of flashy cars getting absolutely obliterated, suitably high-octane and even higher-speed stunt work, precise editing and effective if at times erratic camerawork that puts viewers up close and even in the driver seat. Befitting the style of a man who started out in stunts, and who clearly loves the unhinged and undeniably unsafe cinema of the 1970's—when some filmmakers seemingly only made films to destroy as much as possible—Waugh set out to shoot as much in his film practically, without CGI. There's still CG; and most of the cars were only shells of the real thing, because no one in their right mind blows up a super car. But the overall effect is, in contrast to the incredibly artificial if not total triteness of the tale being told, a raw and refreshing sense of realism. As distinctly digital as the flat but pristine HD-sourced ‘scope photography is, there’s an organic, analog quality to the picture's action and effects. A sort of throwback to films not really commonplace anyone; the type of films that have been eclipsed by equally epic scale but only on stale green screen. The film excels when it comes to the visuals and technical craft, and little else. As frenetic as the film can feel from time to time, it also has a fantastic, tangible quality, aided by ace sound design and top shelf practical stunts. “Need For Speed” is disjointed, and trying to piece together the plot in any coherent sense is a dangerous task that might leave some delirious. There’s a reckless danger in its lack of logic, a curious absence of consequence to most character actions which result in punishments not bound by the law of man. Surely, even the hero is responsible for a couple of automotive-related deaths beyond the one he was wrongfully imprisoned for? He brushes each off, as apparently should we. The film's flagrant disregard for innocent bystanders is expected of blockbusters, although it does make those sudden swings into serious drama all the less earned and earnest. In a brain-dead sort of way, there’s little point in denying the inherent entertainment value of the film; its hypnotic race, chase, and race again pace is a fun and wild ride. And truth be told, completely casting aside a critical eye, I admit to having a lot of fun watching “Need For Speed.” Is it a art? Hell no. But there’s genuine love of the genre on the filmmaker's end, an unmistakable energy, and anyone even remotely in the same mindset should have a good time.
Video
“Need For Speed” achieves a level of transparency rarely seen on Blu-ray. The presentation proves to be a case where the clarity of high definition exposes the inherent inconsistencies of the original source, at times to an unflattering degree. Director Scott Waugh and cinematographer Shane Hurlbut assembled an arsenal of digital cameras to capture every moment on screen, with little care for the consistency or overall quality of any one image. Consumer-grade DSLR's. Compact, technically HD-native rigs. Even GoPros. Each one is as often in play as any other, including more standardized modes of modern capture, primarily the Arri Alexa. The Alexa oversamples at a resolution of 2.8K, intended for down conversion into a 2K digital workflow, and has a much wider latitude than a simple HDcam, not to mention the incredibly limited sensor of an off-the-shelf GoPro. In the right hands, especially those of a seasoned DP, the Alexa approaches but never quite achieves the range of conventional, analog, film. Even a professional can only do so much with consumer grade GoPros. Composed within a consistent 2.40:1 widescreen frame, the cavernous variety of sources introduce an unmistakably mismatched aesthetic that’s been partly smoothed out with subtle processing, to minimize the blockiness of the GoPro and the softness and occasional aliasing that can manifest in some DSLR footage. The end result of the post-processing is some faint ringing in a few shots, and some intermittent artifacts in a couple of others. Colors are modestly saturated, with a touch of the too-orange and yellow tint (the new teal-and-orange?) rather pervasive in night scenes. Contrast is satisfying if not especially rich, but the black level is surprisingly stable, despite the variety of formats. Night or day, clarity is often exceptional, especially in the tight close ups of Poots’ pouty or Paul’s intensely focused face, and detail is fairly impressive overall, with some gorgeous glory shots of the exotic cars checkering the expansive landscape. As most of the material was shot natively near the 1080p resolution of Disney’s AVC MPEG-4 encoded high definition transfer, things are about as sharp as the source allows, which is to say extremely except in the rare case of focus-related softness, which usually presents in shaky handheld material. The encode itself is competent, with presumably all minor flaws easily traced back to the problematic methods of image acquisition. In broad terms, “Need For Speed” looks fantastic. But it’s also fairly inconsistent, with the mismatched cameras creating a slightly jarring and incoherent aesthetic. “Need For Speed” was post-converted to 3D for its theatrical release, and the film has plenty of inventive and immersive shots that were clearly designed for added depth. For reasons I cannot even begin to fathom, as they did with the similarly discarded “Frozen” (2013), Disney has again decided to release a 3D theatrical feature only in 2D on Blu-ray in the United States. In a disturbing trend that I imagine infuriates US-based 3D-capable customers, various 3D editions of “Need For Speed” are available on the format in other regions.
Audio
The rumbling roar of a V8. The whining whir of a spun-up supercharger. Throaty, ear-splitting exhaust. Squealing tires. Crunching car crashes. The minutia of motorized machinery, moving and meshing in a manic yet meticulous fashion. “Need For Speed’s” English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track (48kHz/24-bit) is downright incredible and will surely be new demo material for those still looking. And yet, as bombastic as the bulky and brute-forced 8-channel mix is—the thump of mammoth-sized LFE supported by an extremely wide dynamic range—there’s precision in place, too. The sound designers have isolated individual effects in independent channels, layering elements on top of others to create an aural equivalent of the immersive depth potential 3D customers are deprived of on the video front. The mix offers excellent fidelity, with each idiotic line of dialog as crisp and clear as the energetic effects smoothly panning between the surrounds. Composer Nathan Furst’s score is undistinguished, although tonality is acceptable; the real symphony is the sound of the cars, each so well orchestrated by the sound mixer they might as well have taken a conducting or composing credit. Other tracks include French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1. The disc offers optional subtitles in English, Spanish and French.
Extras
In an era when even some record-setting blockbusters aren’t exactly overflowing with supplements—lets call it the post-bonus-boom—it’s a surprise to see a modest earner like “Need For Speed” come to Blu-ray with a decent, if not exactly exhaustive, collection of extras: an excellent audio commentary, 4 less essential featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes, bonus trailers and an HD digital copy of the film. The highlight of the disc is an audio commentary with director Scott Waugh and star Aaron Paul. An affable if also slightly self-serving discussion, the two commentators cover the daunting task of adapting a video game to film, Waugh’s personal and professional history, his genre influences, the stunt work and visual effects, Paul’s performance, the ensemble cast, and more—including the many, many million-dollar cars on screen, most of which were really only replicas, at least when crashed. “Capturing Speed: Making an Authentic Car Movie” (2.40:1/1.78:1, 1080p; 9 minutes 45 seconds) is a fairly standard EPK featurette, with director Scott Waugh, stars Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, executive producer Steven Spielberg, cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, and many other crew members who talk cars, cast, and the conception and production of the film. “Ties That Bind” (2.40:1/1.78:1, 1080p; 12 minutes 4 seconds) is another featurette, far less promotional and more authentic than its predecessor. Waugh discusses his work as a stuntman, his father, who was also a stuntman, on more than 200 films, and the special bond the director had with the Gilbert clan—Lance, Troy, and Corey—a three-generation family of kindred spirits, who all worked on “Need For Speed” as drivers, stunt performers, coordinators. Yet another featurette headlined by director Scott Waugh, “The Circus is in Town” (2.40:1/1.78:1, 1080p; 10 minutes 50 seconds), offers a look at the cross-country on-location shoot, with Waugh providing commentary over a series of photos and behind-the-scenes footage. “The Sound of ‘Need for Speed’” (2.40:1/1.78:1, 1080p; 9 minutes 25 seconds) is a featurette with composer Nathan Furst, the sound mixers, and sound editor who all discuss the soundtrack, which was mixed natively in 7.1, with specific attention given to—what else—the cars. “Monarch and Maverick” (2.40:1 1080p 1 minutes 43 seconds) is a montage of outtakes with Michael Keaton and Kid Cudi, both in character. The disc also includes 4 deleted scenes (2.40:1, 1080p; 5 minutes 9 seconds, play all) with introductions by director Scott Waugh: - “Pole Position” - “Princess Julia” - “Salt Flats” - “Jailhouse Dance Party: Extended” Pre-menu bonus trailers are for: - “Need for Speed: Rivals” (1.78:1, 1080p; 1 minute 25 seconds). - “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2.40:1, 1080p; 2 minutes 32 seconds). An HD digital copy is also included.
Packaging
“Need For Speed” races to home video in a simple, sleek Vortex eco-case. The single disc, dual-layer BD-50 Blu-ray from Walt Disney Home Entertainment, distributing for DreamWorks and Touchstone Pictures, is marked Region A.
Overall
“Need For Speed” is the epitome of popcorn entertainment. Big, dumb, and fun in equal measure. It demands the viewer turn off their brain, lest it melt from the mightily stupid script that makes the mistake of taking too serious a tone... at least some of the time. The picture stumbles off the starting line, slipping gears with sluggish pacing in the first act and an unbelievably protracted 130 minute runtime to the finish. A film comprised of mostly crummy cardboard characters, questionable if admittedly not always terrible acting, and a stunningly silly story that stretches the limits of even the most elastic disbelief suspended over the proceedings each give pause. But the absolutely absurd nature of “Need” is made much more palatable, and stupidity seemingly forgotten however briefly, by the not-so-ridiculous realism in the impressive stunt work and visual effects, achieved with minimal CG and mostly practical live-action. And there’s a sense, from both the supplements on this Blu-ray and the slight sight of cinema references on screen, that director Scott Waugh is certainly sincere; that his love of the genre is genuine. "Need For Speed" is a manic, occasionally maudlin, hilariously dumb yet entertaining racing film filled with all manner of chases and crashes. The Blu-ray has impressive video, reference quality audio, and a surprisingly solid supplemental package.
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