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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
21 Bridges (Blu-ray) (2019)

21 Bridges (Blu-ray) (2019)

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Released 4-Mar-2020

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Audio Commentary-Director Brian Kirk & Editor Tim Murrell
Deleted Scenes-x 3
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2019
Running Time 99:26
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Brian Kirk
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Chadwick Boseman
Sienna Miller
J.K.Simmons
Stephen James
Taylor Kitsch
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music Henry Jackman
Alex Belcher


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

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

Plot Synopsis

     When he was nine years old Andre Davis’ New York police sergeant father was killed in the line of duty. Nineteen years later Andre (Chadwick Boseman) is a New York detective who has a reputation for shooting criminals. Thus when a midnight robbery of a drug cache in Brooklyn goes badly wrong and eight police officers are killed Captain McKenna (J.K.Simmons), whose officers they were, is sure that Andre is just the man to catch the shooters and to make sure they don’t survive. Because drugs are involved Andre is assigned narcotics squad officer Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller) to assist him.

     The killers are quickly identified as Michael Trujillo (Stephen James) and Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch). Andre is sure they crossed to Manhattan to sell the drugs they stole and so all the bridges and tunnels leading to the island are closed; Andre and Frankie, plus the full might of NYPD helicopters and cars, have five hours to catch the killers before the bridges have to be reopened. But the more Andre investigates the robbery and subsequent shooting, the more things don’t add up. Why did the robbers leave over 250 kg of cocaine behind? Why did the police turn up at the drug cache when they did? And why are some of the police more than overly keen to ensure that the killers don’t get taken alive.

     21 Bridges was directed by Brian Kirk, only his second feature (the first was in 2006) although he did direct three episodes of Game of Thrones in 2011. Taking place over the course of five hours in one night, 21 Bridges is a gritty, taunt and rather terrific thriller with intense action shootouts that lose nothing in comparison to Heat (1995) and slick editing that drives the plot relentlessly forward. Chadwick Boseman (better known as MCU’s Black Panther) is charismatic as the driven detective who finds, somewhat to his surprise, that he becomes intent in trying to take one of the shooters alive so that he can figure out what is going on, while J.K. Simmons chews the scenery as only he can. Stephen James and Taylor Kitsch also make an impact, giving a nice balance to the story. Indeed, within the tight running time and plotting the film manages to give the two men being hunted separate and distinct personalities; they not psychotic mindless killers but men who are caught within a tragedy of confusing events they did not expect. .

     While there is nothing that is particularly new in 21 Bridges, until the perhaps too convenient ending it is an intense, relentless thriller that wastes no time and takes no prisoners. Is there a difference between justice and revenge?

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Transfer Quality

Video

     21 Bridges is presented in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     The entire film, except for a couple of sequences, takes place in dark city streets or dark interiors with the occasional flyover of the city. Shot digitally, the print copes well with the contrast between dark streets and backgrounds with the flashing police car lights, car and building lights; the blacks solid and shadow detail superb, allowing us to see what the filmmakers want us to see. The action is chaotic with movement, gunfire, cars being shot up with automatic weapons but everything is solid in motion and artefacts absent. This is a gritty film; colours are muted, with that digital gloss. Skin tones are natural, contrast and brightness consistent.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are provided.

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

Audio

     Audio choices are English DTS HD-MA 5.1, English descriptive audio and English audio commentary, both Dolby Digital 2.0.

     21 Bridges seldom stops for breath. Police cars and sirens, helicopters circling overhead and the score by Henry Jackman and Alex Belcher drives the action forwards. Shootouts are intense with a chaotic sound design; shots and bullet impacts hitting vehicles, bodies, walls, doors, furniture and fittings, glass breaking, the crash of metal on metal. There are also some tense standoffs where there is little of no sound or music. Dialogue is clean and the subwoofer provided appropriate added depth.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

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

Extras

Audio Commentary with Director Brian Kirk and Editor Tim Murrell

     Kirk and Murrell sit together and discuss the film. This is not a technical commentary, nor do they relate much about the shoot itself, but rather they talk about the themes of the film, the visual language, the score, what they were doing in certain scenes, the balance between the two stories, changes in the script and plot points.

Deleted Scenes

     Three deleted scenes without commentary. Each must be selected individually:

R4 vs R1

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

     The US Region A Blu-ray of 21 Bridges is pretty much the same as ours but adds Spanish subtitles and three film trailers but does not have any descriptive audio listed. I’d call it a draw.

Summary

     I was far more impressed with 21 Bridges than I had expected to be. The casting is excellent, the action intense, loud and chaotic, the plot drives the film relentlessly forward but, impressively, still manages to give the characters on both sides of the manhunt emotions, foibles and distinct personalities. There is conspiracy, corruption and mystery and while I have reservations about the too convenient resolution to the story, for most of its running time 21 Bridges is a tremendous, tight action thriller. If you have any interest in the genre, check it out.

     The video and audio are excellent. The audio commentary is welcome, the deleted scenes minor.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Thursday, August 20, 2020
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

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