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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.
Exit Wounds (2001)

Exit Wounds (2001)

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Released 20-Nov-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Dolby Digital Trailer-Train
Main Menu Audio
Biographies-Cast & Crew
Featurette-Making Of
Music Video-DMX
Featurette-A Day On The Set With Anthony Anderson
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 97:12 (Case: 124)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (36:21) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Andrzej Bartkowiak
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Steven Seagal
DMX
Isaiah Washington
Anthony Anderson
Michael Jai White
Bill Duke
Jill Hennessy
Tom Arnold
Case Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI $39.95 Music Jeff Rona
Damon 'Grease' Blackman


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
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

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

Plot Synopsis

    Are you tired of the work involved in following a plot? Do you want a movie that you can sit back and let roll over you? Something where the plot is a mere decoration or wire-frame sculpture that they have hung a vast array of stunts upon? Yup, that's what we have here. Well, no, that's not fair - there is a plot, but it is complex, and incoherent, with some large holes. If you treat it as a gala display of stunts, you'll probably enjoy it more than if you try to follow the plot.

    This is Steven Seagal's first film back after a break. They may have been wondering if he could draw enough of an audience by himself, so they added a rapper called DMX to the mix. He also contributes extensively to the score - I rather liked his version of Ain't No Sunshine, even though rap is not a favourite of mine. They must also have been wondering about Seagal's fighting style, because they brought in a fight choreographer from Hong Kong, Dion Lam. It shows: plenty of wire work (most of it a little less obvious than Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), and some truly improbable fighting moves. I guess they figured that there was no problem with Seagal's character defying the laws of physics - he doesn't pay attention to any other laws. The least credible part of the fighting comes toward the end, in a sword fight, although the "shotgun on a string" trick is quite difficult to believe, too.

    I don't want to tell you too much about the plot, because there are a couple of twists that are (almost) worth seeing. The basics are familiar to anyone whose seen any Steven Seagal as cop film - Seagal is a loose cannon cop, a lone wolf, you know. He is busted to directing traffic not because he is unsuccessful, but because he doesn't follow the rules. We've seen this part of the plot many times before - even in Lethal Weapon 3.

    Tom Arnold is contending with Anthony Anderson as the comic relief. Of the two, I find Tom Arnold funnier, but he has help from the script writer. Seagal meets Arnold in a rage management group therapy class; the script is a bit heavy-handed here.

    This is not a bad movie, but it is not particularly original. The stunts are mostly rather good, although they have flaws: spot the obvious dummy in the scene where the motorcycle cop is hit by the truck in the first five minutes. There are a couple of moments that are unnecessarily gruesome (just like Under Siege) - two impalings that linger a moment longer than I'm comfortable with.

    If you want an action movie with some spectacular fight scenes, and some heavy music, then maybe this is for you. One thing to note, though: the cover quotes the running time as 124 minutes - it is really 97:12 - that's a huge discrepancy.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. That is the theatrical aspect ratio.

    The image is rather clear, with very good shadow detail and no low level noise. There is no visible edge enhancement.

    Colour is solid, with deep, well-saturated colour and no hint of colour bleed.

    There is some film grain (particularly at 75:33, and 77:10-77:14), but no film artefacts. There is only a little bit of aliasing, and one moment of moire. There is nothing in the way of MPEG artefacts other than a little shimmer in some backgrounds.

    The only subtitles are English captions. They are presented in white with a black border, in a simple, easily read font. Apart from the occasional abbreviation, they are accurate.

    The disc is single-sided and dual-layered, formatted as RSDL. The layer change is at 36:21. It comes in the middle of a scene, but it is not especially objectionable. Placed a few seconds later it would have been nearly invisible - oh, well.



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

Audio

    We get a choice of one soundtrack; English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 384 kbps.

    Moments of the dialogue are obscured under the score, but the missing words don't rate as critical dialogue. There are no visible audio sync flaws.

    The score is credited to Jeff Rona and Damon Blackman, but DMX is a significant contributor. Parts of this score reminded me of Dangerous Minds, but that is probably because I don't listen to rap very often. 

    There is some directionality in the soundtrack during fight sequences (especially the fight in the club), but generally the surrounds are used for no more than adding depth to the score. The subwoofer gets some work from both the score and the sound effects, but it is nicely merged into the sound, rather than drawing attention to itself.



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

Extras

Menu

    The main menu is static, with some music behind it. Nothing special, but perfectly functional.

Cast and Crew

    A listing of all the major players, with a one-page filmography for five of the participants: Steven Seagal, Tom Arnold, DMX, Isaiah Washington, and director Andrzej Bartkowiak.

Making Of (18:49)

    This is a fairly standard fluff piece, in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Don't watch it until you've seen the movie - it blows every major plot point, even though it isn't particularly informative.

Music Video: No Sunshine (5:29)

    DMX performing the song, intermixed with shots from the film. It's a music video. There is a moment of clear audio sync failure, but I think that's in the source material, rather than the transfer.

A Day on the Set with Anthony Anderson (8:53)

    Anthony Anderson trying to be funny, and hamming it up. Has some mildly interesting moments, but isn't worth a second view unless you're a fan.

Trailer (2:09)

    A fairly ordinary trailer, in an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1, not 16x9 enhanced. The usual warning: it blows some plot points, so don't watch it before seeing the movie. There's one interesting scene in the trailer which makes it look as though a particular person used to work for Internal Affairs, when it's someone else - I wonder if that was deliberate?

R4 vs R1

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

    The Region 1 disc offers the same features - looks like this is another case of the two being close to identical.

Summary

    Exit Wounds is an action film with some cool fight scenes, but not a fabulous plot, given a very good transfer onto DVD.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good, despite a little bit of inaudible dialogue.

    The extras are reasonable.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Sunday, October 21, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDArcam DV88, using Component output
DisplaySony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE
SpeakersFront Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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