Landmine Goes Click (Blu-ray) (2015)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Trailer-Film trailer x 2 Trailer-x 2 for other films Interviews-Cast
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	104:58 (Case: 110)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Levan Bakhia
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Spencer Locke Sterling Knight Dean Geyer Kote Tolordava Nana Kikuadze Elene Bezarashvili
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Peke Begashvili Beqa Jguburia Audio Network Limited

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Three young Americans, Alicia (Spencer Locke), her fiancé Daniel (Dean Geyer) and his best friend Chris (Sterling Knight) are on a hiking and camping trip in the mountains of Georgia in an area that had previously been a war zone between Georgia and Russia. All seems serene, but it is quickly apparent that Alicia and Chris have slept together sometime and are keeping it from Daniel. At their isolated camp site Chris steps on a landmine which arms itself; if he steps off it will explode and kill everyone within range. However, things are not quite as they seem and Daniel leaves. As Chris and Alicia try to decide what to do, Ilya (Kote Tolordava) and his dog arrive on the scene. Ilya offers to help, but first Alicia must play some of his twisted games, and things turn nasty with Chris unable to move or to intervene. To say much more about how the story develops would be to reveal too much about the unexpected second and third acts.

     Landmine Goes Click is a surprise. It starts off as a wilderness adventure with undertones, and twice changes into thriller / horror territory. In the first act, while the Georgian landscape looks stunning, the film seems a bit flat and pedestrian but once the landmine goes click things move to a different level, especially when Ilya arrives and the principal themes of Landmine Goes Click, such as power, revenge and humiliation that had been hinted at previously, come to the fore. Ilya is a wonderful creation. As played by Kote Tolordava, who tragically died in Moscow in 2015 at the age of 35, Ilya is a bear of a man, bumbling, comedic, sinister and crazy, effortless sliding between funny and menace is seconds. Spencer Locke is also very good and believable as Alicia but while Sterling Knight does a reasonable job I do feel that we are not fully prepared by his performance for the character reversals of the third act.

     Landmine Goes Click was directed by Georgian producer and director Levan Bakhia with funding from Georgia. The film builds a palatable sense of dread and uncertainly and it is assured, uncompromising, tense and well-crafted. The film also refuses to go where one thinks it is going and it finishes with an unexpected and shattering conclusion that will stay in the mind. The film may not be the best advertisement for Georgian tourism, but it will certainly be a positive for Georgian filmmaking.

Video

     Landmine Goes Click is presented in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, close to the original 2.35:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Landmine Goes Click looks great and it is nice to see a film that does not rely upon colour manipulation for its impact. It has a clear and sharp picture and bright, glossy digital colours, the greens of the Georgian countryside looking vibrant. Blacks and shadow detail are fine, skin tones natural and brightness and contrast consistent.

     I did not notice any marks or artefacts.

     No subtitle streams are provided although white subtitles automatically translate some sections of Russian dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0 are the audio options. I listened to the 5.1.

     Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. This is a subtle track with lots of silences but the rears and surrounds did add appropriate sounds including voices, ambient effects such as bird calls, and music. The gunshots are loud. The subwoofer added rumble and some bass to the music which was all that was required.

     The music, credited to Peke Begashvili, Beqa Jguburia and Audio Network Limited was effective.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Trailers (3:29)

     Trailers for The Hallow and Hellions play on start-up. They cannot be selected from the menu.

Film Trailers

     Two different trailers for Landmine Goes Click (1:30 and 1:40).

Cast Interviews

     These are EPKs with on set footage and brief comments by the cast member about their character, the story and the director. Each section ends with TV spots, although the sections with Geyer and Locke repeat the same TV spot twice for some reason. Interviewees are:

• Dean Geyer (4:01)
• Spencer Locke (5:22)
• Sterling Knight (3:33)

     There is currently no Region A US listing on Amazon.com for Landmine Goes Click and the UK Region B version is not due until the end of July. We get to be first!!

     I had no idea what to expect from Landmine Goes Click but was surprised and stunned, not to mention enthralled. Beautiful Georgian locations, good acting, a script that does not go where expected and a shattering and memorable, but very appropriate, conclusion, means that Landmine Goes Click is an unexpected treat for those looking for something different in the thriller / horror genre. If this sounds of interest, give it a look.

     The video and audio are fine, extras are minimal, but at least there are some.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall