Half Past Dead (2002) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Alternative Version-Full Screen Version Audio Commentary-Director Deleted Scenes Featurette-Making Of Theatrical Trailer Trailer-I Spy, National Security, xXx
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	94
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	3,4	Directed By	Don Michael Paul
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Steven Seagal Morris Chestnut Ja Rule Nia Peeples Tony Plana Kurupt Michael Taliferro Claudia Christian Linda Thorson Bruce Weitz Michael McGrady Hannes Jaenicke Matt Battaglia
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	Tyler Bates Ken Jordan

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary 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 Spanish Portuguese Chinese Korean Thai	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    Steven Seagal plays Sascha Petrosevitch, an undercover FBI agent intent on bringing down a vicious crime lord responsible for the death of his wife. After a botched chop shop sting, Sascha and Nick Frazier (Ja Rule) are sent to a newly re-opened Alcatraz prison. Things quickly go from bad to worse when a group of elite criminals take over the prison. Their mission is to interrogate one of the prisoners scheduled for execution who knows where $200 million worth of gold bars are hidden. Not only do they want the prisoner for his knowledge of the gold, they're also holding a Supreme Court Justice hostage for insurance. Now it's up to Sascha to gather the remaining prisoners and fight back before Alcatraz becomes everyone's final resting place.

    This was the last film Seagal brought to the multiplexes, and in hindsight now feels like a Shakespearean opus compared to the direct to DVD atrocities of the last few years. The direction is competent, the script actually makes sense, the special effects are adequate and the big guy actually delivers his own lines. Director Don Michael Paul is obviously trained in the Michael Bay school of more is more filmmaking. He manages to elevate a cliché-ridden script that borrows heavily from past action classics like The Rock & Die Hard, and makes the enterprise enjoyable, albeit in the sense of a guilty pleasure. Indeed, several shots of the San Francisco Bay area are unused dailies from The Rock, lent by Bay himself. Seagal, looking heavy and tired, manages to participate in most of the fight sequences with only one or two noticeable stunt double shots. Half Past Dead turns out to be the last semi-respectable outing for Seagal, and as such fans should savour it.

Video

    Half Past Dead is presented in both full screen and 1:85:1 16x9 enhanced widescreen.

    The transfer is very sharp, with no signs of aliasing and little in the way of edge enhancement. Mind you this is a Sony release so quality is assured. Black levels are strong, with fine shadow detail impressively rendered. There were no low level noise issues.

    The film's colours are mostly blends of blues and grey, so natural colours are intentionally muted.

    The transfer is fairly devoid of film and video artefacts.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

   There are four audio options offered on this disc. Firstly, we have a very dynamic English 5.1 Dolby Digital track, followed by two 2.0 surround tracks in Spanish and Portuguese. The final track is a 2.0 surround Director's Commentary.

    Dialogue is clear with no discernable audio sync hiccoughs.

    The film's score is a mix of Rap and Hip Hop chart busters.

    The 5.1 Surround Channel track is excellent. The rear channels are kept extremely busy with directional effects making full use of the 5.1 soundfield.

    Subwoofer use is first rate, with excellent bass and reverberation levels.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Menu Audio

Alternative Version - Full screen version.

Audio Commentary

Deleted Scenes

Featurette-Making Of

Theatrical Trailers

    All versions currently available are the same, give or take the full screen availability.

  Half Past Dead turns out to be the last semi-respectable outing for Seagal. Considering how mediocre the film is really indicates how low the mighty have fallen. However, the disc looks and sounds great.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall