Ffolkes (North Sea Hijack) (1980) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Action |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Scene Selection Anim & Audio |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1980 | ||
Running Time | 95:28 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4,5 | Directed By | Andrew V. McLaglen |
Studio
Distributor |
Universal Pictures Home Video |
Starring |
Roger Moore James Mason Anthony Perkins |
Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
RPI | $19.95 | Music | Michael Lewis |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English French German Italian Spanish Portuguese Dutch Swedish Danish Finnish Norwegian Hebrew Arabic Russian Turkish Greek |
Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Ffolkes, aka North Sea Hijack, is a lacklustre thriller from 1980. Roger Moore plays the character of Ffolkes, a misogynistic anti-terrorist agent for hire. Ffolkes and his men are activated by the British Government to eliminate a group of terrorists, led by Anthony Perkins, who have taken over an oil rig. Perkins is holding the employees hostage and demanding a ransom payment from the government or he'll kill everyone on board with explosive charges. The race is on to diffuse the situation prior to the life-threatening deadline.
Ffolkes, as far as thrillers go, is very slow. In fact, for a 95-minute film it seems to take forever. There is no sense of tension or impending doom during the film, which is the death knell of any thriller. The screenplay is weak and uninvolving, and with the exception of Roger Moore, all the characters are merely set dressing. Anthony Perkins, as the leader of the terrorists, overacts to the point where his character becomes truly laughable. Any film of this type is only as good as the lead villain, and in this case the villain is so incompetent that it becomes painful to watch. Roger Moore does his best with poor material and the great James Mason is simply cashing a pay cheque.
The only positive aspect of the production is the model effects work. The film obviously had a decent budget and the special effects work is top notch by 1980 standards. If only the rest of the film was any good. Ffolkes is a tired, clichéd waste of celluloid.
Ffolkes is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.
Sharpness levels are fine with no edge enhancement noticeable. Shadow detail is strong and there are no low level noise complaints. There is, however, a grain issue. Whenever the film switches to the model effects work, the picture becomes noticeably grainy. Now this could be the fault of the transfer or simply the miniature process shots, but thankfully it is not that intrusive and doesn't distract from the quality effects work.
Colours are washed-out but remain fairly natural.
The print was mostly devoid of any film artefacts.
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Overall |
There are five 2.0 audio tracks available on this DVD; English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The English track is reviewed here.
Dialogue is always clear and strong with no audio sync problems, not surprising as the film was mostly studio-bound.
The film's music by Michael Lewis is simply awful. It distracts and intrudes every time it gets a chance.
Surround channel usage is reasonable with the occasional directional effect popping up.
The subwoofer is adequate in supporting the many explosions and effects work.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
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Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
All versions of this DVD across regions are essentially the same.
Ffolkes is a slow, uninspired thriller. The disc has a good transfer with no extras.
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Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
Display | LG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Sony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Sony HT-K215 |
Speakers | fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie |