16 Blocks Blu-ray

16 Blocks

 (2006)

Action | Drama | Thriller



From Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner comes "a hard-to-beat thriller" (Gene Shalit, Today/NBC-TV). Bruce Willis hits the mark as Jack Mosley, a broken-down New York City police detective assigned to escort a petty criminal (Mos Def) from the precinct to the courthouse. The seemingly simple 16-block journey becomes a test of character fro them when Jack's ex-partners attempt to stop them.. Its' the gripping story of how two men change each other during a tense 118-minute struggle between life and death.

For more details about 16 Blocks on Blu-ray, see the 16 Blocks Blu-ray Review

Starring: Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse, Jenna Stern, Casey Sander
Director: Richard Donner

16 Blocks Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


16 Blocks traverses onto Blu-ray in a remarkably average 2.40:1, 1080p high definition transfer from Warner Brothers. Fortunately, "average" is still fairly good, and 16 Blocks, amidst its decidedly bland appearance and uninteresting visual style, does make for a decent viewing experience for fans of this movie. The image has a soft look to it with dull, lifeless colors, but this seems to be the director-intended look for the film. Tan and gray hues permeate many scenes in the film. Colors are anything but eye-popping, certainly duller than those in another film I recently screened and reviewed, The Pursuit of Happyness. Even brighter outdoor scenes, of which there are several near the end of the movie, don't offer colors that jump off the screen. Detail remains moderately high, but there is a flatness to the image that adds to the dull nature of the film. Look at the old yellow phone Mosley uses in chapter 13. We can see every bit of grime and dirt on it, and it is certainly a phone I'd rather not put to my ear unless the circumstances were life and death, as they were in this film. As the hot, long, arduous, and deadly trip across 16 city blocks progresses, we become privy to the accumulated beads of sweat, dirt, and other tell-tale signs of despair and exhaustion on actor's faces, clothing, and the like. Flesh tones appear a bit darker than expected, but this is likely, once again, due to the stylized and obscure look to the film. I noted a random white speckle here and there on the print but no other discernible flaws of that nature. Film grain is not visible over every frame, but it's there, mostly visible in the film's darkest of scenes. Speaking of dark scenes, black levels fare well here, too. 16 Blocks is certainly no reference-grade disc, but it does make the grade as a decent, but definitely underwhelming, high definition experience, especially compared to the best of the best visual Blu-ray discs available today, like Saawariya and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

16 Blocks Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Just as understated and dull as the picture is the film's soundtrack, presented here with no lossless or uncompressed audio option, offering listeners only a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Not much of a rear channel presence is to be heard during the more mundane scenes where just a hint of atmospherics are only occasionally heard. The action sequences, obviously, pick up in intensity and offer some discrete sound effects scattered here and there in the back left and right channels and across the front soundstage. Gun shots ring out surprisingly true with an excellent presence that is neither too loud nor unrealistic nor phony nor trumped up for some slick movie sound effects. Shots in tight, close-quarters fare especially well with ricochets, impacts, bangs, and the thuds of 9mm rounds, as well as the sound of brass dropping to the ground, sounding absolutely first-rate on this mix. Unfortunately, other than the movie's few shootout scenes, there is very little going on in this track that involves much more than the center channel speaker. Music bleeds through to the back on occasion, but it's a strain to hear it. Sometimes I felt like I had to get my ear to within inches of one of the back speakers to even realize it was there. Dialogue sounded a bit harsh in a few spots as well. This lossy mix is certainly not going to convert anyone to Blu-ray, but fans of the movie and established format adopters and supporters probably won't find too much to complain about when it comes to this track in the grand scheme of things.

16 Blocks Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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