The Raid: Redemption - Blu-ray Review

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The Raid: Redemption

Hell hath no fury like a 20 man Swat team unit given the task of removing a ruthless crime lord and his hundreds of cronies from an apartment high rise. Intense and insanely violent - but never in bad taste - The Raid: Redemption turns war into art.

If action is your addiction, then The Raid: Redemption is your drug. Hands down, the best action film of the year has hit the blu-ray market fully loaded. It’s a no-filler rage fest that gets straight to the point of the picture without unnecessary exposition. Two minutes in and the bullets are already flying. Suffering from PTSD? You might want to skip this one. Otherwise, game on.

The Raid: Redemption is the very definition of action. With no holds barred and a suspenseful attitude that just won’t quit, the movie only disappoints in story department. This is full on “have gun will travel” territory. It’s as if the makers of the Call of Duty series decided to bypass video games altogether and made a movie instead. It’s that intense and uncompromising in its display of violence.

Written and directed by Gareth Evans, this Indonesian film is a non-stop showcase for the traditional Indonesian martial art pencak silat and tells the story of expectant father and rookie cop Rama (Iko Uwais) as he leads a swat team into a violent slum. Their objective is to remove the notorious crime lord Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy) and defeat his thugs once and for all. Co-starring Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, and Joe Taslim The Raid: Redemption might be more understood if viewed as a survivor-type horror film where the bullets fly faster than some of the bullets.

The story might get tossed aside, but the action and the choreography gets the deluxe treatment. This sucker is brutal and many, many, many a fine soldier meets their maker once the raid is on. The suspense is enough to do the audience in. This is an edge-of-your-seat nail-biting thriller that simply will not let you go. In one sequence, two wounded cops hide behind a wall as one of Tama’s brutal henchman stabs his machete through the wall in order to cut through them. In another, a refridgerator is used as a bomb to blast unwanted thugs from entering a once blocked door.

Simply put, The Raid: Redemption is 101 minutes of nonstop action and martial arts mayhem. Directed by the adrenaline it produces only, there’s no denying that – as a film – it’s a force to be reckoned with. Forgive it of its narrative flaws, you’ve not seen action like this on celluloid before and you certainly won’t forget it. When the violence becomes art, you recognize that this is escapism at its finest.

Screen Gems might be remaking this for English-speaking audiences but something tells me they’ll screw it up. Catch this one if you can (and, hell, listen to the dubbed version if you must) and wait for its sequel, also written and directed by Evans, which is only just now wrapping up its production. With a killer amount of martial arts, guns, explosions, and gore, how could it disappoint?

MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal bloody violence throughout, and language.
Runtime: 101 mins.
Director: Gareth Evans
Writer: Gareth Evans
Cast: Iko Uwais, Ananda George and Ray Sahetapy
Genre: Crime | Action | Thriller
Tagline: 1 Ruthless Crime Lord, 20 Elite Cops, 30 Floors of Hell
Memorable Movie Quote: "Pulling a trigger is like ordering a takeout."
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Official Site: www.sonyclassics.com/theraid
Release Date: March 23, 2012 (limited)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: August 14, 2012

Synopsis: Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the sixth floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission. Starring Indonesian martial arts sensation Iko Uwais.
Read more at http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-raid/feature-trailer#LmgAheAigrRzWMtP.99

The Raid: Redemption

Component Grades
Movie		Blu-ray Disc


Blu-ray Experience

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - August 14, 2012
Screen Formats: 1.78:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD); UV digital copy
Playback: Region A

It might have been received well from critics and action fans alike, but lower your expectations on the presentation. The Raid: Redemption arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer that's a victim of its low, low budget. Due to a dark and delibrately dull shoot, there’s simply little detail in the picture. Fine object detail is flat and startling lifeless as moments rush by. Surfaces are smooth and without texture. The color is dulled by a dominant blue tint that bathes the film. Black levels are inconsistent and colors are dull, dull, dull. Banding is apparent and, overall, the transfer suffers from the low-grade photography that originally captured the action. There’s no fixing this one, folks. On a brighter note, the 5.1 channel lossless DTS track, presented both in English and Indonesian, is a kickass companion to the sights. Skulls explode and bullets zoom by with unprecedented clarity. Some of the ambiance is lost in the mix but the track is pretty good for the release.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Provided by Writer/Director Gareth Evans, this dark humored commentary is pretty informative from a filmmaking point of view and also manages to cover the beginning of the film (as a jail riot picture) to its worldwide reception. With optional English, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles.

Special Features:

There’s just no way the supplemental material found on this release could ever disappoint a fan. Even the casual fans should be entertained with this comprehensive release. The best feature has to be the detailed Video Blogs which feature the rehearsal, training, and preparation of the actors as they get ready for the demands of the shoot. The Video Blogs also go into the shoot and provide a look at what happens on two of the biggest set pieces. There’s also an unedited interview with Evans, and composers Mike Shinoda, and Joe Trapanese (who also get their own interview session) as they sit down with moderator Hadrian Belove and answer questions about the film. It appears that only these three were available for interviews because there are several interviews included which feature their fielding of questions. Some of the advertising campaign is featured here, but the most bizarre special feature is the film replicated with claymation cats. Quite humorous. Also included is a UV Digital Copy of the film.