El Gringo (Blu-ray) (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Featurette-Behind The Scenes-(6:08)
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	98:44
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Eduardo Rodriguez
Studio Distributor	Transmission Films	Starring	Scott Adkins Christian Slater Yvette Yates Erando Gonzalez Vlado Mihaylov Sofia Sisniega
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Luis Ascanio

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The Man (Scott Adkins) escapes on foot across the Mexican border with a bag full of US dollars and arrives in the small town of El Fronteras. The locals are not friendly; a young girl, Flaca (Sofia Sisniega), tries to rob the Man and steal his bag and no one will even sell him a glass of water except bar owner Anna (Yvette Yates). El Fronteras is run by a drug gang lead by Culebra (Vlado Mihaylov) and the corrupt Chief of Police (Erando Gonzalez) and when the dollars are discovered in the Man’s bag all hell breaks loose as the gang pursue The Man in a hail of gunfire. Meanwhile, back across the border in the US, Police Lieutenant West (Christian Slater) is on The Man’s trail and crosses the border in pursuit.

     El Gringo is the second feature by Venezuelan born director Eduardo Rodriguez; there is nothing remotely original about El Gringo and his most obvious influence is Desperado by Robert Rodriguez (no relation!) in its use of music and in some scenes. Stylistically, El Gringo throws in every camera and editing trick in the manual with colour manipulation, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts and pans and character’s names on screen. Thus we are always aware that this is not supposed to be a realistic film.

     As our “Man with No Name” British actor Scott Adkins gets shot numerous times, kicked, punched and generally beaten enough to fell an ox but gets up for more. Adkins has had smaller roles in a number of action films, such as The Expendables 2 (2012) and here he takes his chance to lead. He is athletic and looks good, doing everything demanded. The most prominent name in the cast is Christian Slater, who seems to be doing anything for the money these days. As El Gringo was filmed in Bulgaria, numerous supporting cast members look nothing like Mexicans, such as Vlado Mihaylov who looks more like a Vampire!

     But this is first and foremost an action film and El Gringo seldom stops for breath. There are car chases, crashes and explosions, shoot outs, hand to hand combat with fists, boots, knives and any range of blunt instruments, fires and a bazooka, double crosses, redemption and a bit of lovemaking. None of it is very credible but it works; the result is a film that is unashamedly loud, exuberant and very entertaining.

Video

     El Gringo is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     As noted, the print of El Gringo has been heavily manipulated. Brightness levels has been enhanced and colour reduced, giving the film a washed out, yellowish look. Close-ups have good detail, but the brightness and glare results in a lot of scenes looking soft. Blacks are solid, although some shadow details could have been better.

     Given all the manipulation of the print, as well as the jump cuts and pans, it was difficult to see if there were any artefacts. Marks were absent.

     There are no subtitles, not even for the substantial sections of Spanish dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is English DTS-HD MA 5.1.

     This is a loud and enveloping audio track. Dialogue is mostly easy to hear and the surrounds and rears were used constantly for music and effects such as engines, shots, ricochets, explosions and the thumps and crunches of hand to hand combat. The sub-woofer added appropriate bass to shots, explosions, engines, thumps and the music.

    I did not notice any lip synchronisation issues which was a bit of a surprise as a number of the Bulgarian supporting cast were dubbed.

     The original score was by Luis Ascanio. It was fine, but far more noticeable on the soundtrack were a number of fun Tex/Mex rock songs by the likes of Spindrift and Los Dos, while the closing song El Gringo was performed by Manowar.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Behind the Scenes (6:08)

     A lot of film clips, a little on set footage and superficial comments by Scott Adkins, Christian Slater and Yvette Yates. A little about the story, characters and the director; sadly nothing about shooting a film set in Mexico in Bulgaria – now that might have been interesting.

     There are Region B German and Italian releases of El Gringo (including a German 3D) but no Region B UK or Region A US versions are listed on Amazon.com.

     The action packed El Gringo is done with a sense of humour and Scott Adkins looks the part. It is loud, exuberant and entertaining; just remember the popcorn.

     The video is heavily manipulated, but fine, the audio very good. Extras are minimal, but I suppose at least there is something.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall