Street Kings Blu-ray

Street Kings

 (2008)

Crime | Drama | Thriller



Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is a veteran LAPD Vice Detective who sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington (Terry Crews). Forest Whitaker plays Captain Wander, Ludlow's supervisor, whose duties include keeping him within the confines of the law and out of the clutches of Internal Affairs Captain Biggs (Hugh Laurie). Ludlow teams up with a young Robbery Homicide Detective (Chris Evans) to track Washington's killers through the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Their determination pays off when the two Detectives track down Washington's murderers and confront them in an attempt to bring them to justice.

For more details about Street Kings on Blu-ray, see the Street Kings Blu-ray Review

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Cedric the Entertainer
Director: David Ayer

Street Kings Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Street Kings is yet another solid effort from Fox. Framed in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and presented in 1080p high definition, the title is not one that will sparkle and pop off your screen thanks to a myriad of colors and HD-friendly source material, but the transfer does retain a very pleasing cinematic look and feel that solidifies it as an upper-echelon Blu-ray title. There are times when there is a soft edge to the movie, but such segments are dwarfed by a generally sharp, clear, and well-defined transfer that revels in an excellent level of fine detail in everything from faces to the barrel shroud of a carbine seen later in the movie. Color reproduction is fine (the scene where Ludlow and Disco first speak with Scribble truly shines), and black levels are perfect. Exterior scenes are bright and crisp with natural color reproduction and solid depth. My favorite scene came in chapter ten during a funeral at twilight. That time of day makes for a great setting (ask Michael Bay) and it offered a breathtaking image that is so natural and cinematic that it blew me away and had me yearning to be watching this one on a larger screen. A subtle layer of grain is to be found atop Street Kings. It's generally noticeable in most scenes, but as noted earlier in this review, the filmmakers did not use it in abundance to drive home the grittiness of the film, but what is here is intact on this disc. Overall, Street Kings is fine high definition material that looks great on a large screen, and while I did not see the film theatrically, its style lends itself well to large screens and this quality transfer should hold up well on even the largest of home theater systems.

Street Kings Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


As always, Fox brings Street Kings to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, and it's another winner. Music, by composer Graeme Revell, plays an important part in the movie; the film's score is bass-heavy with deep, penetrating lows that get inside your skin and add to the tension, grittiness, and despair of the movie. These lows are impeccably reproduced on this lossless soundtrack and home theater systems will be put through their paces from beginning to end. A solid surround presence is also apparent almost from the get-go. Not only does the track use atmospherics, the lifeblood of the surround speakers, to great effect, but loud, discreet effects are in abundance, too. Whether we hear a helicopter hovering behind the on-screen action, or the the sounds of the environment, something is generally happening in the back. Both indoor and outdoor ambience is great. Outside, the sounds of traffic permeate the listening area, while interior shots, for example in the police station, feature bustling office noises, like the sound of telephones ringing or computer keyboards at work. The convenience store shooting felt and sounded so real it literally scared me (partially because of the brutality of the scene and not just its audio presentation, to be fair), which is rare anymore. Like 3:10 to Yuma, Street Kings features realistic-sounding gunfire, be it the heavy shotgun and automatic fire heard throughout, or the cracks of single shots one after the other from pistols near the end of the film. The sonic realism of such scenes is a subtle yet important factor in driving home the gritty realism in the movie, and the sound designers did a superb job. On the downside, I noted an odd hissing sound on occasion over the soundtrack, and there were a few instances of booming, rough dialogue that seems to reverberate unnaturally. All in all, though, this soundtrack is a winner, and despite two minor quibbles, it's definitely the highlight of the disc.

Street Kings Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Street Kings Coming to Blu-ray this August - June 24, 2008

Street Kings Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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