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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.
Ride or Die (2003)

Ride or Die (2003)

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Released 8-Dec-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Dolby Digital Trailer
Audio Commentary-Director
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-xXx
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2003
Running Time 84:21
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (53:51) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4,5 Directed By Craig Ross Jr.
Studio
Distributor

Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring Duane Martin
Vivica A. Fox
Meagan Good
Michael Taliferro
Case ?
RPI ? Music Jadakiss


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Arabic
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Slovenian
Swedish
Turkish
French Audio Commentary
German Audio Commentary
Italian Audio Commentary
Spanish Audio Commentary
Dutch Audio Commentary
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Ride Or Die might sound like a great biker flick (leather jackets, Harleys, sawn-off shoguns, fat bearded men with mullets and tatts, and chicks with cut-off denim shorts), but it's a weak and empty black-American detective story that resembles a lame 90 minute rap video.

    Rad (Duane Martin) is an urban, black-American James Bond character. He's a PI who solves crimes by acting outside the law, and then lets the Police take the credit. He marches into heavily armed drug fortresses and with just his hand-gun manages to out-shoot and out-fight all of the villain's henchmen, who happen to be armed with automatic weapons. When not busting out dull kung fu moves or solving the crimes that leave the Police scratching their heads, Rad is a lady killer, and every woman swoons at his mere appearance. Rad has gorgeous woman chasing after him, and every man thinking that he's cool . . .

    Guess what? This weak drivel was written and produced by Duane Martin. A rather average looking guy, and a very bad actor, Martin has somehow managed to convince others to help fund his personal fantasies -- if only they were more interesting.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Overall, the transfer is a little grainy, but fine.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness and shadow detail are okay. The colour is good, and the skin tones are accurate.

    There are no problem with MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. A few small film artefacts appear at times, but they are never distracting.

    English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Swedish, and Turkish  subtitles are present for the feature, and the English ones are accurate. This is an RSDL disc, with the very smooth layer change placed at 53:51, where it is barely noticeable..

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

Audio

    There are six audio options on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s), Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s), and an English Audio Commentary in Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s).

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are fine.

    The musical score is credited to Jadakiss, and Hip Hop music is featured throughout the film. Jadakiss has a small role in the movie, and also performs in one scene.

    The surround mix is very front-heavy, with the rears providing a little ambience at times, such as during the party scene at 10:04. The LFE track kicks in when required, and also provides some extra bass for the hip hop music.

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

Extras

    There are a few extras

Menu

    A very simple menu.

Audio Commentary

    Presented in Dolby Digital  Stereo Surround, the Director, Craig Ross Jr provides a pretty bland commentary that usually involves identifying the actors on-screen, and how they got their role (most seem to be friends of Martin's), or letting us know when and where each scene was shot.

Theatrical Trailer - Ride or Die

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, non-16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital  2.0 audio.

Theatrical Trailer - xXx

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital  5.1 audio, this reminds the viewer what a real action movie looks like.

R4 vs R1

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

    Ride Or Die only appears to be available on VHS tape in Region 1.

Summary

   Ride Or Die is completely derivative and boring. It is also the first DVD that I've reviewed that I would call garbage. Ride or Die is simply garbage.

    The video quality is acceptable.

    The audio quality is limited in its presence.

    There are a few extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayGrundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
SpeakersSony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer

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