Crank (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation-(0:64) Featurette-Shooting Crank (7:10) Featurette-The Stunts of Crank (17:26) Featurette-Pushing Crank (6:22) Trailer-Incubus (2005) (2:40) Trailer-Bandidas (2006) (2:40)
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	84:48 (Case: 88)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Mark Neveldine Brian Taylor
Studio Distributor	Lions Gate Ent. Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Jason Statham Amy Smart Jose Pablo Cantillo Efren Ramirez Dwight Yoakam Carlos Sanz Reno Wilson Edi Gathegi Glenn Howerton Jay Xcala Keone Young Valarie Rae Miller Yousuf Azami
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Paul Haslinger

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

Poison in his veins. Vengeance in his heart.

Jason Statham is Chev Chelios, a former professional assassin, who is now a dead man walking. Chelios has awakened in his apartment to find he has been poisoned with a lethal concoction named the ‘Beijing cocktail’. As the mysterious poison runs through his veins, Chelios is informed by Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo), a rival gangster, that he has only one hour to live. Confused and in despair, Chelios’ senses begin to fail him, his heart beat instantly decreases and he becomes infuriated, hostile and violent. Chelios soon realises that the poison can be slowed by his own adrenaline. What follows is a race through Los Angeles to find an antidote, get revenge on West Coast crime syndicate and save his naive girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) from those who tried to kill him.

Crank (2006) in its simplest form, is a cross between D.O.A. (1950) and Speed (1994) as Chev Chelios is unsteady and dazed yet he has to keep moving in order to pump up his adrenaline. As a result, Chelios resorts to barbaric violence, cocaine, gun play, car chases, epinephrine, caffeinated drinks, nasal spray and a very public display of affection in order to increase and stabilise his heart rate.

This action film is written and directed by both Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, two first time directors who created the visual effects for Biker Boyz (2003). The look of the film is frenzied and energetic, replicating the protagonist’s emotions and anxieties. However the imagery and stunts aren’t conceived in an innovative way as the film makers try to replicate Tony Scott’s unique vision for Beat the Devil (2002), Man on Fire (2004) and Domino (2005) with extensive editing, use of trick camera angles, split screen and graphics. The concept for the film is unique but despite the short runtime, the film is tedious as the characters are conventional and predictable, but Statham remains engaging in his uninhibited role. The film is also filled with pop culture references which may draw the audience out of the film but the usage of Google maps is innovative. Crank has its amusing moments of madness and it is probably best described as a live-action video game, as the scenes play out like levels of Grand Theft Auto, and while the film’s ambition and intent is admirable, the result is unfortunately underwhelming.

Video

The film is preserved in its original theatrical aspect ratio and presented on this DVD in 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced widescreen. Crank was filmed on digital high definition video using the Canon XL2 and Sony HDC-F950. The transfer is pleasing with excellent black levels and realistic skin tones; overall the colour scheme is clear, bright and defined. The transfer has been encoded at an average bit rate of 6.68 Mb/s over a dual layer disc and there are no incidents of MPEG compression artefacts. The transfer remains sharp with excellent shadow detail. The English subtitles unique to the film (i.e location, selected dialogue) are burnt onto the print. There are no subtitle streams.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

The English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack is also pleasing as it exhibits the ambience and lively atmosphere of the film with excellent channel separation. Dialogue remains clear and audible while Paul Haslinger’s lively hard rock influenced score drives the onscreen action. The sound design of the film reflects the protagonist’s disillusion and drug induced state as the rear speakers’ output muffled atmospheric sounds such as insistent chatter and indistinct mobile phone ring tones. The usage of the subwoofer is modest. Songs performed by Rocket from the Crypt, Quiet Riot, Refused, E. Foxx, The Black Mob Group, Loverboy, Harry Nilsson, Gerald Levert and Jefferson Starship feature prominently.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

The main menu has a simple design focusing on key moments from the film. The still images are animated to a section of the score and rapidly build up to the sound of a heart beat.

Shooting Crank Featurette (7:10)

The executive producer, director of photography and the directors talk about the unique improvisational filming process and why the film was shot on digital high definition video.

Stunts of Crank Featurette (17:26)

The cast and crew discuss the key stunts which required no wires or CGI. Behind the scenes B-roll footage is incorporated in this feature.

Pushing Crank Featurette (6:22)

Crank had some excellent teaser posters and this feature discusses the marketing of the feature film and the choice to use Youtube as a promotional tool.

Trailer

Incubus (2005) (2:40)

Trailer

Bandidas (2006) (2:40)

The PAL R2 SE Universum Film - 2 Disc Edition features more extras, but please note that the single disc release from Universum Film is CUT according to DVD Compare. The PAL R2 SE Universum Film - 2 Disc Edition features an uncut version of the film.

The PAL R2 SE Universum Film - 2 Disc Edition features the following specifications and extras in addition to those available on the R4:

DISC ONE:

• German Dolby Digital 5.1

• Optional English and German HoH subtitles

• Trailers for The Transporter, Transporter - The Mission (Le Transporteur II), The Crimson Rivers, The Empire of the Wolves, Hard Candy and Road to Guantanamo.

DISC TWO:

• Cranked Out Interactive Movie

• Jason Internet Shout Out

• Auditions

• B-Roll

• Spanish Fly Interview

• Theatrical Trailer

• Special packaging.

The NTSC R1 Lionsgate - Widescreen Edition DVD includes the following specifications and extras in addition to those available on the R4:

• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

• Optional English and Spanish subtitles

• Crank'd Out Mode - Picture in Picture Commentary

• Crank: Family Friendly Audio

• "Adrenalina" performed by 'David Rolas' Music Video

• A selection of Lionsgate Trailers.

Crank offers a unique take on the action genre but unfortunately the chaotic music video style of the film becomes tiresome.

The exploitation film is excessively violent and crude but at times has enjoyable moments of madness as Statham is engaging in the role.

While the local DVD has limited extras the film is presented very well.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall