The Movie
Based on a little-known DC Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, RED is one of those big, loud action comedies that we can look forward to with an ice cold soda in one hand and a bucket of popcorn in the other. Rated PG-13, there's no particularly gory violence, especially foul language and no sex or nudity, really just a brisk, over-the-top string of good-guys-versus-bad-guys mayhem.
It all starts when the retirement of a mild-mannered CIA asset Frank (Bruce Willis) is interrupted by a hit team at his suburban home. Frank has been classified as "RED," which means he is Retired, Extremely Dangerous. He survives the attack (of course) and kills them all (also of course), but finds himself on the lam with an unsuspecting civilian for whom he's fallen: his pension service rep Sarah (an endearing Mary-Louise Parker) who's partial to trashy romantic novels.
The couple is embroiled in some very dirty business at the top levels of government, and so Frank needs to recruit his fellow retirees to help him stay alive and identify the threat. The wonderful, largely Oscar-wining cast is used to great advantage, although the higher-than-average median age of the characters might have put off some younger moviegoers when RED was in theaters last fall, a pity since it is great fun.
The only other issue I had was the matter of focus: The story almost seems like it wants to be told from Sarah's perspective, as she's swept into this dangerous new world, but it's not, and even star Willis disappears for quite a bit of screen time. But it all comes together in the end.
Also check out Joe Lozito's review of RED, only recently declassified.
The Picture
Ironically shot on film, not the RED One digital camera, RED shows some grain and some noise in the backgrounds. Fine lines and textures can get a little buzzy, and an early panning shot of Frank's snow-covered neighborhood is painfully juddery, even at 24Hz playback with my Samsung PN50C8000 Plasma's Cinema Smooth feature engaged. (I compared this to the similarly difficult Intrepid flyover clip from I Am Legend, which looked terrific at the same settings.) Only engaging the TV's anti-judder feature helped, but this introduces other issues so I can't really call this a solution. I also noted some edge enhancement here and there.
That's the bad news. The good is that colors (not just red) are remarkably strong, blacks are generally smooth and natural-looking (while not always surrendering a heap of nuance though), and there is a tremendous amount of detail in the picturesque locations, as the ex-agents travel from city to city.
The Sound
There's a lot of ordinance deployed over the course of RED, countless gunshots that go pop and sometimes whiz all around us, and flying grenades that go boom, sometimes fairly spectacularly. Bass is used with a happy generosity, and the surrounds are used frequently and deftly, be it for ambitious moments such as police cars converging from multiple directions at once or just little touches like birds tweeting or helicopters hovering behind us just to keep things interesting. Really an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track from start to finish.
The Extras
The Special Edition disc producers (there's also a movie-only version available) have put most of their eggs into one bonus basket, but it's quite a basket. "Access: RED" is a six-layer Bonus View option that combines cast interviews, insider insights about the CIA--procedures and controversial operations--along with trivia and facts on the screen during the movie. We can select any of the six categories we like best. I chose them all, and I experienced seldom an idle Bonus View minute, even if sometimes it was just outrageous tangential trivia. There's also a little dashboard control icon in the corner at all times.
From here the list is somewhat short, but distinguished. Retired CIA Field Officer Robert Baer, a 21-year man, has some pretty amazing stories in his audio commentary. And the ten deleted and extended scenes run about nine minutes total, in a high-bitrate MPEG-2 format.
Final Thoughts
While I do wish that the RED disc looked a tad better, the audio is terrific and the extras are some of the most exciting I've come across in a while. Even if you've seen the movie, now RED the Blu-ray!
Product Details
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