|
|
|
Gateway (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Signature Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (10th September 2021). |
|
The Film
 The film focuses on Parker Jode, a passionate, no-nonsense, downtrodden social worker in the grips of alcoholism, whose assigned to take care of the daughter of single mother, Dahlia. When husband Mike is released early from prison and sweeps his family back into a world of crime after a failed drug bust, Parker intervenes blurring the lines between professional obligations and personal desires. Outmatched and outgunned, Parker must turn to the father who abandoned him as a child to seek redemption and to help protect the only family he’s ever known.
Video
Gritty, modern, digitally lensed thriller drama with exceptional performances, production and direction. Has a killer soundtrack as well. A powerful if grim character drama starring Shea Whigham. Daylight exteriors are naturalistic with muted flesh tones, a little contrasty but interiors (bars casinos, clubs) are boldly coloured (clock those neon links and electric blues at 37 minutes in!) with deeper shadows and make for a very pleasingly coloured image favouring yellows, browns and reds. Flesh tones in those situations are warm and rich. Overall The Gateway has a mild greenish cast at times, yellowish at other times. Black levels are deep and rich through and through with plenty of shadow detail or at least as much as standard definition will allow. Contrast is punchy but I saw no blown out highlights to speak of. Detail is string for the format. Obviously this image would be in the 'A+' range were it to be on BD or UHD BD ... the later with HDR would sear the scream and blow ones mind! However, this is DVD so the final grade is my top mark for the format = 'B+. MPEG-2 / DVD5 / 2:1 / 87:19 PAL
Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: None A strong image deserves and strong soundtrack and The Gateway has an active track with plenty of rear channel activity; the casino sequences feature beeps, wallah (background chatter) and other ambiance. Score is supportive and never interferes with the dialogue which is always clear. LFE and the subwoofer occasionally make their presence known during some brief actionfull moments (bullets zing about the room satisfyingly). The 5.1 is obviously the way to go as the 2.0 gets the same comments but is not encoded for surround unless played through an amp set to ProLogic II or similar. There are no hard of hearing subtitles, alas.
Extras
Startup Trailers: - Honest Thief (2:09) - Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins (2:11) The usual promos for forthcoming releases presented in 2.39:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.
Packaging
Standard black DVD Keepcase.
Overall
Gritty crime thriller drama gets a pretty sweet standard def DVD release from Signature Entertainment in the UK; image and sound are strong for DVD. Sadly, there's no extras to speak of. Film buffs will go for the internationally available BD releases but this DVD will hit the spot for more casual viewers. Highly recommended for the price; £7 preordered on UK Amazon (out 4.10.2021).
|
|||||
|