From Paris with Love (Blu-ray) (2010) |
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From Paris with Love (Blu-ray) (2010) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Director Featurette-2 on spying Featurette-Making Of Deleted Scenes Music Video Theatrical Trailer |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2010 | ||
| Running Time | 92:08 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Pierre Morel |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
John Travolta Jonathan Rhys Meyers Kasia Smutniak Richard Durden Yin Bing Amber Rose Revah Eric Godon François Bredon Chems Dahmani |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | David Buckley |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Luc Besson churns out ideas, stories, scripts and films at a fairly alarming rate which has resulted in some classic films which he directed like The Fifth Element and Leon: The Professional. It has also resulted in stories and screenplays other directors have brought to the screen such as Taken, The Transporter series, the Taxi series and many others. This new film, From Paris with Love, is another example of where the original idea came from Besson but the execution is via another director, Pierre Morel (who recently directed Besson's Taken), and a screenwriter Adi Hasak who took the original story and turned it into a screenplay. Besson is also one of the producers. This has resulted in an entertaining and action packed film which is enjoyable but ultimately disposable.
The story is set in Paris (as you might guess from the title) and involves an aide to the US Ambassador to France, James Reece (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), who wants to be a secret agent. He has been performing low level tasks like switching number plates but yearns to be more involved. He gets his instructions via phone from someone he hasn't met. One evening he is about to have dinner with his French girlfriend, Caroline (Polish actress Kasia Smutniak), when the call comes in that he needs to drop everything and go to the airport to collect another agent, Charlie Wax (John Travolta), who he finds is an annoying loudmouth who has instantly come to the attention of the French authorities. James must help Charlie get through customs and then he takes him around Paris on some sort of mission which Charlie doesn't really explain to him. James is suddenly in the middle of a number of violent gunfights involving drug dealers and terrorists. He is completely out of his depth and is not sure how to react to the decidedly “act first, ask questions later” approach of Charlie. James realises that all he can really do is try not to get killed as Charlie undertakes his mission.
There is nothing particularly new or overly intelligent about this film but it will appeal to fans of action films like The Transporter series or Taken. It lacks the emotional punch of Taken as here the main protagonist is a professional doing his job rather than a father trying to find his daughter. This is more in the line of a mismatched buddy action comedy. Travolta is over the top in his role as Charlie Wax but certainly seems to be enjoying himself. This is quite a different role for Rhys-Meyers but he also acquits himself quite well. The film has a nice European feel, driven by the locations and the style of filmmaking that Besson and Morel are known for. There is a quality car chase through the streets of Paris which is somewhat reminiscent of Ronin (without being quite as good).
Generally this is an enjoyable popcorn action film set in Paris, worthy of a rental for fans of the genre or Besson's work. Turn off your brain and go along for the ride.
The video quality is mostly excellent, however it has annoyingly been cropped from 2.35:1 to 1.78:1 for this Blu-ray release. To add insult to injury, footage from the film used in the extras is presented in the correct aspect ratio. Personally, I view this new practice of cropping or open matting widescreen films to fit a 16x9 television without bars as just as reprehensible as pan and scan. I really don't understand why suddenly the advent of Blu-ray seems to have brought this practice back into vogue.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is NOT the original aspect ratio. It is encoded using the AVC codec.
The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with lots of detail. The shadow detail was also excellent. The colour was generally very good although I did notice some bleeding of lighter colours although I expect this would be inherent in the source material. During one scene (83:00) I noticed some light background grain.
There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read. There are yellow and white for different speakers.
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The audio quality is very good but not quite as good as the best Blu-ray releases. This Blu-ray contains two audio options, a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack and a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack in case you can't decode the DTS.
Dialogue was very clear and easy to understand at all times.
The music by David Buckley is well suited to the film but doesn't really attract your attention.
The surround speakers are used aggressively, especially during action scenes for gunshots and explosions and also for music and atmospherics at other times. The subwoofer was also used aggressively to add tension during action scenes and for explosions, gunfire and thumps and thuds.
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| Overall | |
A good selection of extras featuring the type of extras which I most enjoy, factual information relating to the subject matter of the film rather than just details of the production.
The menu included scenes and music.
Not the greatest commentary ever but decent. When the commentary begins he seems to start talking in mid thought rather than the usual 'Hi, I Pierre Morel' or similar. Once you get past this he mixes up interesting insights with describing what is going on. He is a bit dry but certainly easy to understand despite English not being his first language. He covers locations, Paris itself, characters, casting, music and other topics.
A short featurette about a spying museum in Washington DC including a tour of some of the exhibits.
A more expansive featurette about the techniques and tools used by spies in the field. This includes interviews with ex-CIA agents and others talking about some of the methods used in the film such as listening devices, sex, counter terrorism, satellite tracking and more. Quite interesting.
A better than usual making of which covers Besson's involvement, the director discussing how it compares to Taken, casting, the setting and locations, the influence of John Woo, shooting, doing the stunts and chase scenes. Certainly worth watching.
Very similar to scenes in the film these don't really add much except to show you how the film looks in its correct aspect ratio. grrrr!.
Disposable hard rock song.
Quality Trailer.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region A Blu-ray release of this movie includes the follow extra items
The Region B release has the following in addition to the Region A version
On this basis, the Region A is the definite winner.
A dumb but fun action film from Luc Besson and Pierre Morel.
The video quality is very good but has been cropped. The audio quality is excellent.
A good selection of extras are included.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |