The Movie
Onto the ever-growing list of TV shows adapted for the big screen we can now add Stephen J. Cannell's/Frank Lupo's The A-Team, the weekly guns-blazing action series about four capable, misunderstood, good-hearted soldiers for hire. On the occasion of their movie debut, we are given their "origin," how most of them met up and how they came to be fugitives.
These four Army Rangers formed an unstoppable clandestine unit for the U.S. Army, brave, inventive and very patriotic, which makes their arrest and conviction for a crime they did not commit that much more difficult to swallow. They all escape and set about proving their innocence, striking a secret deal with the CIA, avoiding agents of the military, and going toe-to-toe with some nasty civilian contractors.
The many action setpieces are first-rate, but where is the undercurrent of fun from the original? The four A-Teamers are all wiseasses to varying degrees, and Sharlto Copely (District 9) is off the charts as clinically insane pilot Murdoch, but the movie seems to grow darker (visually as well as dramatically) and heavier as it unfolds. That's the trend in modern adaptations, but they might have gone too far with this one.
For A different point of view, check out Joe Lozito's review of The A-Team.
The disc contains both the PG-13 theatrical cut of the film plus a 15-minute-longer Unrated cut which adds back in some nice character moments, a couple of cameos, and some details that help to flesh out the story.
The Picture
This 2.4:1 master is a stunner; sharp, richly nuanced and generally stable; despite some occasional noise and twitch, particularly in unevenly-lit scenes. Everything from desert sands to treetops to the seamlessly-integrated special effects is exceptionally well-defined. The color palette is well-preserved and the blacks are inky and natural. There are no perceptible shifts whenever we cut to restored footage.
The Sound
As viewers should rightly demand for an over-the-top actioner like The A-Team, the soundtrack is packing lots and lots of palpable bass. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is very full and generous overall, but all five channels rock extra-hard on the whooshing of helicopters and jets and missiles, as well as the dynamic shootouts. I did have trouble understanding a couple of lines of dialogue, but I chalk that up to actor performance.
The Extras
"The Devil's in the Details: Inside the Action with Joe Carnahan" is another wonderfully elaborate Bonus View mode from Fox. Following a one-minute on-camera intro, the director guides us through the movie (theatrical version only) with full running audio commentary and interactive graphics that enable us to track the characters, the plans, the ordinance used, behind-the-scenes images and much more. Really cutting-edge exploitation of Blu-ray technology, as is the disc's BD-Live capability, with Live Lookup as well as exclusive online bonus content.
"Visual Effects Before and After with Commentary by Supervisor James E. Price" is exactly what it sounds like, a brisk six-minute overview in HD, like all of the Disc One extras. "Character Chronicles" takes us up close with the four principals plus Jessica Biel (23 minutes total), in addition to a roughly half-hour, no-holds-barred "making of." There are also six deleted/extended scenes and a gag reel.
Disc Two carries a Digital Copy of the theatrical A-Team for iTunes and Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
The A-Team is certainly worth a rental for casual fans of the series or the stars, and more serious devotees should consider adding this disc to their collections. It's fun, for the most part anyway, and the Blu-ray edition is first-rate by all our criteria. I love it when picture, sound and extras come together.
Product Details
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