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Never Back Down (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Summit Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (28th August 2008). |
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The Film
 If Jean-Claude Van Damme had ever made a movie set in a high school, 'Never Back Down' would probably be close to the end product. The plot follows Jake Tyler (Sean Faris, no relation to Anna), the new guy in school, who gets beat up by Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet) for one of the stupidest reasons someone ever gets beat up by someone else, and who then trains to try to beat him back. The movie is set in a high school, inexplicably includes a younger brother that wants to be a tennis star and has a cute blonde student, Baja (Amber Heard), who is only there for show and, not to offend her or any of her fans, is pretty interchangeable for any other blonde you can think of. On the surface, the movie has shades of the 2004 Korean flick, 'Once Upon a Time in a High School', though that movie had harsh things to say about the Korean educational system, while 'Never Back Down' doesn't have all that much to say about anything. The movie tries very, very hard to have a moral about not fighting but despite itself you can't help but be confused by what some of the characters say. The movie sets itself up for disappointment in this aspect, though. It's fight movie where the star learns martial arts to put his own demons at rest, and not to fight the blonde ass with the 6-pack abs, who, by the way, look far too old to ever be in high school. This brings me to another point: despite what the filmmakers try to do, you know what two people will fight each other in the end. In fact, all that's needed is rain during the climactic scene, and all the clichés would be hit. While Jake trains very hard, Ryan lies in luxury, surrounded by cute girls (though, because this movie is essentially PG-13, when I say 'surrounded', that's exactly what I mean – nothing else happens). The girl who befriends Jake the first day at school also just happens to be Ryan's girlfriend. The movie also has the most inexplicably hostile mother-son relationship I've seen in a long time. By the same token, Jake is also much angrier than he should be. Even angrier than 'he's a teenager' might indicate. Obviously, these are problems that will be addressed by the time the movie ends, and just about everybody can guess how everything will turn out. Because of this, some of the character moments seem somewhat pointless. The undue hostility between the mother and son, the whole betrayal subplot between Jake and Baja, and even the relationship between Jake and his trainer, seem somewhat pumped up for reasons that anybody with half a brain will find obvious. I'm easy to please, so I didn't find these problems too annoying, but had it been a straight drama, I probably wouldn't have liked this movie that much. This being a fight movie, there are fights and they are well done. I mean, they did win Best Fight at the MTV Movie Awards. The drama behind the movie could easily be better, but the choreography of the battles is exciting and energetic. Without a nice base, however, all you're waiting for is the next fight, and the filler in between can get pretty long or tedious. Like I said before, if Jean-Claude Van Damme had made a movie set in a high school, it would probably be 'Never Back Down'.
Video
2.35:1 widescreen, using the MPEG4/AVC codec. The picture quality is very nice, though not up to par as some of the more extravagant movie productions. The colours are accurate, with good contrast and nice black levels. The shadow detail is a little bit flat, but the picture is still good. The picture is a bit soft, not really having the level of detail I've seen from other Blu-rays. The print is clean and clear, though, with no noise or any compression artifacts. It's a good transfer.
Audio
The only audio track is an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and it handles things pretty well. The dialogue is always clear and clean, and always centered. The music is loud and clear, as well, with the subwoofer getting its voice heard during the louder music. The track doesn't create an immersive atmosphere, though, as the rear speakers aren’t used too much. There are used on occasion, like the crowds during the fights, but otherwise, it's missing a few sounds. The track is overall passable, but it's missing a few beats. English HoH and Spanish subtitles are here.
Extras
Here's where the disc shines. Summit was incredibly generous with the special featurs. First off is a director's introduction, lasting 22 seconds long, where he explains what was added to the 'Extended Beat Down Edition' of the movie. Heavier sound effects and more violence, if you're interested. Next is an audio commentary by director Jeff Wadlow, writer Chris Hauty and actor Sean Faris. These three guys enjoy their movie and you feel the enjoyment they had making it. They talk about production details, like how the length and locations of shooting various scenes. They also talk about the fights and the training. Mr. Faris also broke his back, and kept shooting for another two weeks before realising there was something wrong. You hear about that. You also hear about the script changes and they made. If you enjoy the movie, this is a decent track. There are no dead spots and the discussions are relevant, while being funny once or twice. Next up are a slew of Deleted Scenes. They don't add too much to the movie, though the 'Extended Famous Montage', the montage after Jake fights the three guys at the intersection, is pretty nice, with some good style. 'They Don't Care Who Wins' is also pretty good, though not necessary when looking at the movie. Director Jeff Wadlow provides a short introduciton for each scene, explaining why they were cut. The scenes are: 'That’s Alright Mini-Jake' (0:48), 'Salt in the Wound' (1:13), 'Just Wanted to Talk to You' (0:47), 'Extended Famous Montage' (1:05), 'One of Those Awful Days' (2:18), 'A Little Stalker-ish' (1:21), 'Justus Von Liebig' (1:08), 'Ask Him Again' (0:40), 'Your Semi-Finalists (1:07), 'Extended McCarthy/Villa Fight' (1:16) and 'They Don't Care Who Wins' (1:37). The only actual featurette on this disc is Mix It Up: Bringing MMA to the Big Screen (10:15). It explains the making of the fights. After a quick MMA introduction, the two stars come in and talk about their training. The director and fight choreographers talk about the Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet, and Djimon Hounsou. You see plenty of training footage, as well as on-set footage, which is pretty interesting. Blow by Blow: Breaking Down the Fights is next. There are 9 scenes here, and it's essentially a fight scene commentary. Director Jeff Wadlow, director of photography Lukas Ettlin, and fight choreographer Damon Caro talk over the scenes. Somewhat like the 'Waiting' commentary, these guys have the ability to stop, rewind and slo-mo whatever shot they want. Their comments are insightful and interesting. You can either view the clips individually or branched into the movie itself. The breakdowns are for: 'Gridiron Tyler' (5:20), 'Backyard Brawl' (3:56), 'The Main Event' (8:10), 'Roqua's: Day One' (4:53), 'Half Speed' (2:57), 'Road Rage' (4:14), 'Mega Training Montage' (3:46), 'The Beat Down' (16:37) and 'Battle on the Blacktop' (14:44). In addition to this, also running through the movie or viewed through the menu is a, high-definition exclusive extra, an Alternate Angle Fight Mode, where you can see three different angles (or a split-screen of all three angles) of the various fights they show. These are interesting enough, but mostly from an editing standpoint. The scenes are: 'The Main Event', 'Road Rage', 'Checking In', 'The Slam', 'Kick to the Ribs', 'Ryan Fouls Out' and 'Battle on the Blacktop'. Lastly is a Promo Reel (1:37). It's basically a trailer of the movie made to promote production of the movie. The very basic story is told and the tone of the intended movie is set.
Overall
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