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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Going in Style (Blu-ray) (2017)

Going in Style (Blu-ray) (2017)

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Released 2-Aug-2017

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Deleted Scenes-11 deleted / extended scenes (13:11)
Audio Commentary-Director Zach Braff
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2017
Running Time 96:25
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Zach Braff
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Michael Caine
Morgan Freeman
Alan Arkin
Ann-Margret
John Ortiz
Joey King
Matt Dillon
Christopher Lloyd

Case ?
RPI ? Music Rob Simmons


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
German Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired
French
German for the Hearing Impaired
Italian for the Hearing Impaired
Spanish
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
Icelandic
Norwegian
Swedish
Smoking Yes, marijuana anyway!
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Joe (Michael Caine), Willie (Morgan Freeman) and Albert (Alan Arkin) have been friends for over 25 years; they worked in the same factory and now spend their retirement hours together. Money is tight on the factory pension; Joe is behind on his mortgage payments on the house in which he lives with his daughter and fourteen year old granddaughter while Willie needs a kidney transplant urgently. But their financial position becomes impossible when the factory where they had worked is sold to off-shore interests and the pension fund disappears.

     Joe receives a foreclosure notice from the bank. When he visits the bank to discuss the notice the bank is robbed by three masked gunmen. This gives Joe an idea; rob the bank with his two friends and go out in style, or at least pay their debts. Initially Willie and Albert are reluctant, but finally they agree. But there are problems; the three prove completely inept at shoplifting food for dinner from a supermarket so they decide they need some expert advice. Through Joe’s ex-son-in-law they find Jesus (John Ortiz), who has 20 days to run them through their paces. On the fateful day, disguised in Rat Pack masks (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.) they rob the bank. Things do not go entirely to plan but they do escape with bags of cash. Now, they just have to avoid the FBI and live long enough to spend the money.

     Going in Style is a rather sanitised remake of the 1979 film of the same name which starred George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg. This latest version was directed by Zach Braff, who is better known as an actor in TV such as Scrubs although he did write / direct / act in the well regarded Garden State (2004). In Going in Style he does utilise split screens and a montage section with slow motion, but on the whole Going in Style is simply shot and an inoffensive (unless you have any sympathy for banks) light-weight situation comedy that is amusing and not taxing. There are some unnecessary sub-plots, such as one involving Joe’s granddaughter (played by Joey King) and his ex-son-in-law, and another involving Albert’s romance with supermarket worker Anne (Ann-Margret) which do little except slow down the plot. The real reason for watching Going in Style, of course, is the cast. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin can do this sort of thing effortlessly but they are, as usual, great to watch as they interact (and react) with each other. Ann-Margret still looks pretty good and the cast also features Matt Dillon as an FBI agent and Christopher Lloyd doing his nutty thing, but this film belongs without a doubt to Caine, Freeman and Arkin.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Going in Style is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Going in Style looks pretty much as you would expect of a recent film shot digitally using Arri Alexa XT Plus cameras. It is sharp with excellent detail and colours are clear, bright and natural except where there is that digital yellow look under lights. Blacks and shadow detail is pristine, skin tones fine and brightness and contrast consistent.

     I did not notice any artefacts or marks.

     English subtitles for the Hearing Impaired, plus a range of European languages, are available.

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

Audio

     Audio is a choice between English DTS-HD MA 5.1, and English descriptive audio, French, German, Italian and Spanish, all Dolby Digital 5.1. The audio commentary is Dolby Digital 2.0.

     The audio was fine for a non-action film. Dialogue was easy to hear and understand. The surrounds and rears were used mostly for ambient effects and music although during the bank robberies the gunshots are suitably loud and reverberate in the high roofed bank. The sub-woofer mainly supported the music.

     The orchestral score by Rob Simmons, whose credits include Foxcatcher (2014), was light-hearted, suiting the tone of the film. More memorable was the popular music in the soundtrack including songs by Dean Martin, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed. Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Dinah Washington, which were a lot of fun.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

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

Extras

Deleted Scenes (13:11)

     Eleven deleted / extended scenes. They each have a title card and play after each other, so cannot be selected individually. Nothing essential; one is in front of a green screen.

Commentary

     Director Zach Braff is humorous and has a pleasant speaking voice. He talks about locations, sets and set design, where CGI was used, why some scenes were deleted, details of camera set ups, the score and the cast. Everyone involved was wonderful, fantastic or incredible (he uses these frequently), he “loves that shot” a lot and many shots are “cool” but this is still a reasonable commentary.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     This Australian release is similar to the Region A US Blu-ray of Going in Style, including the FBI warning and the same extras. However, the US release is a Blu-ray / DVD combo, if that is of value, and has some different language and subtitle options.

Summary

     It is always a treat to watch such screen icons as Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin doing their thing. Their rapport and interaction is the reason for watching Going in Style which is otherwise an untaxing, light-weight situation comedy.

     The video and audio are fine.

     The extras are the same as available elsewhere.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Friday, September 08, 2017
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE