Today You Die (2005) (NTSC)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Trailer-Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, The Marksman, Submerged Trailer-Into The Sun, Kung Fu Hustle, Layer Cake
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	90
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,4	Directed By	Don E. FauntLeRoy
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Steven Seagal Anthony 'Treach' Criss Mari Morrow Lawrence Turner Nick Mancuso Jerry Trimble Robert Miano Kevin Tighe
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	Stephen Edwards Tom Erba Scott Marcussen

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English French Spanish	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    The Steven Seagal slide into direct to DVD hell continues. This time he plays a modern day Robin Hood, who steals from assorted Las Vegas drug dealers and gives the money to struggling children's hospitals and other charitable institutions. Now framed for an armed hold-up and sent to a maximum security prison, the Seagal meister must escape and clear his name.

    At this stage in the Under Seige veteran's career all hope is lost for a big screen comeback. Seagal puts in an atrocious performance, even for him. I got the impression he was reading from queue cards during his line delivery. The sheer look of disinterest in the aging action icon's performance is pathetic. About the only positive thing that can be said about his effort is at least he showed up for his dubbing sessions, unlike most of his other recent efforts. Director Don E. FauntLeRoy adds nothing to the mix. Tired action set pieces are strewn together with all the imagination and artistic merit of an episode of the A-Team. Today You Die is without merit and should be sentenced to oblivion.

Video

    Today You Die is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    The transfer is fairly sharp with little in the way of edge enhancement. Black levels are strong with reasonable shadow detail. There are patches of grain scattered amongst the darker elements, however low level noise problems are not apparent.

    Colours are natural with no signs of image bleeding.

    There are few film or video artefacts present and those that are do not present a problem.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The film has been graced with two Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in English and French.

    Dialogue is clear, except when Seagal is mumbling his way through atrociously written dialogue. Audio sync is reasonable, with the standard post ADR changes sticking out.

    The film's score is standard C grade fodder with urban hip hop scattered throughout.

    Surround channel usage is reasonable. The rear channels offer a number of directional sound effects, and ambient background noise is present throughout.

    The subwoofer adds enough bass and reverberation to carry the mediocre soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Trailers for

    All versions currently available appear the same.

   Today You Die is for Seagal completists only. The film by itself is beyond redemption and not worth 90 minutes of your time. The disc looks and sounds fine - it's the content that causes concern.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall