Strike Back: Cinemax Season One Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
A high-octane, globe-spanning thriller with storylines ripped from today’s headlines, Strike Back is a one-hour drama series that focuses on two members of a top-secret anti-terrorist organization known as Section 20: Michael Stonebridge, a British sergeant in the ultra secret Section 20 anti-terrorist team, and Damien Scott, a Delta Forces operative who was disgraced and discharged on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Strike Back is the kind of blazin' guns-n-guys series the '80s would have given us if its action heavys -- Stallone, Willis and Ah-nuld -- had small-screen ambitions, British accents and a penchant for sinewy special ops missions. Never mind the show's history. Its first season was originally broadcast in the UK and this, its second season, is a joint relaunch of sorts courtesy of Sky and Cinemax (think Torchwood: Miracle Day but with better actors from this side of the pond). Never mind the fact that you probably haven't seen the first season either. The only returning cast member is Richard Armitage, and he only appears in the opening minutes of the first episode. Apparently a little known movie called The Hobbit came and stole him away. (Andrew Lincoln doesn't appear at all. Blame The Walking Dead.) All you need know is that MI6 has a top-secret division of highly trained specialists dubbed Section 20 and... um... they shoot lots of stuff, save lots of people, take out lots of terrorists, save lots of hostages, pull off a whole lot just in the knick of time, and generally fill all your post-24, post-Unit needs.
"I think we have trouble..."
In a not-so-inspired bit of cross-culture pollination, Section 20 pairs semi-straight-laced British sergeant Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester, Flyboys, In Your Sleep) with womanizing American hothead Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton, Animal Kingdom, The Darkness). Both men have the necessary skill sets to dismantle entire terrorist organizations from the inside out (or outside in), and Scott, who loves to hop in bed with anything wearing a dress, is so tough he punches STDs in the face. In the face. After a veteran Section 20 agent is captured and killed, Stonebridge and Scott tackle their first mission together: to thwart a Pakistani terrorist known only as Latif and stop something called "Project Dawn," whatever that might be. But when bodies start dropping and Latif pulls a fast one, the unlikely duo -- backed by Section 20 head, Colonel Eleanor Grant (Amanda Mealing), girl with a gun Captain Kate Marshall (Eva Birthistle), intelligence wiz Major Oliver Sinclair (Rhashan Stone), and multilingual brain Sergeant Julia Richmond (Michelle Lukes) -- take to the world streets to stop the latest enemy of Western Civilization before his master plan comes to fruition.
Don't worry, Strike Force isn't Big Dumb Fun. Oh, it's big, with blaring machine guns, roaring explosions and high-octane chaos aplenty. It's kinda dumb, relying on complete and utter suspension of disbelief to even function. And it offers ten summer-blockbustery episodes of undeniably blistering blokes-and-bullets fun. But the series is smarter than your typical slice of Big Dumb Fun, and it uses its brain almost as much as it flexes its muscles and gets its gun off. Not in its plotting or perpetual down-to-the-wire pacing, mind you, but in its devotion to its characters (Stonebridge, Scott and company are an exceedingly likable bunch), its willingness to sacrifice anyone and everyone to maintain its credibility and tension (even main characters and major players), and in its frequent twists and turns.
Speaking of twists, the surprise betrayals, shocking deaths and sucker-punch developments that litter Strike Back, while rooted in 24's geopolitical hyper-reality and barely plausible formula, add extra kick to an already feisty series. Not every shakeup is as well thought out as the next -- one minute your jaw will drop, the next minute you'll be glancing at your watch, waiting for Stonebridge and Scott to catch on to what you've already figured out -- but showrunners Daniel Perciva, Andy Harries and Elaine Pyke certainly know how to spice things up. It isn't all boys with RPG-slingin' toys either. The girls get plenty of screentime. Winchester and Stapleton may be front and center, but with three strong female leads, Harries, Pyke and their writers strike a nice balance between testosterone and, uh, lady testosterone (byyyy Mennen!)
Casting is crucial to the sustainability of any action series, of course, and Strike Back has it down to a lit-fuse science. Winchester and Stapleton are pitch-perfect, whether they're covering each other's sixes or coming at a baddie from two different directions. Mealing and Birthistle try a little too hard to look like women who can go toe to toe with their gentlemanly co-stars (when they, in fact, look a bit too much like pampered actresses playing dress-up), but the order-spouting, skull-cracking femmes hold their own, taking Winchester and Stapleton to task on more than one occasion. Lukes and Stone are good too (at least when they aren't being shoved into the background or tossed behind a computer), and their soft-spoken presence provides a welcome counterweight to the rampaging egos in the room.
The villains are all villain, though, without much in the way of complex motivations or emotional turmoil. All well and good, except that, early in the season, the series' writers feel the need to shoehorn reasonable Muslim civilians into almost every scene involving a Muslim terrorist, regardless of whether it actually benefits the story or contributes to the episode. (As if the bigots sun-bathing in today's heated political climate could ever be miraculously swayed from their prejudices by watching a show about a team of military men racing to protect Joe America and Betty Brit from a frighteningly organized radical Muslim leader.) Other terrorists of other religions and nationalities aren't afforded the same PC kindness, which is both a blessing and a curse, as it isn't missed in the slightest but also draws more attention to those moments in which it does happen. Random sex and gratuitous nudity are crammed into many an episode as well, making for an interesting game of Please Don't Be Offended By Our Potential Insensitivity to Other Faiths, Just Enjoy this Wholly Unnecessary and Wildly Improbable Sex Scene!
Just know the usual action extravaganza warnings apply. One: don't think too hard. Strike Back's gaping plot holes may as well be land mines. Two: don't try to connect any dots the writers haven't yet connected. You will be wrong, sometimes just so the writers can sneer, "see, you were wrong all along!" Three: don't try to figure out if Stonebridge or Scott could actually survive any of the stunts they pull off. They couldn't, you wouldn't, no one could. Move on. Four: don't wonder aloud how a secret department like Section 20 could operate so freely. Without such leaps in logic there would be no show. Five: don't mull over the laws of physics, the particulars of international law, the diplomatic ramifications of any given mission, the actual specs or mechanics of any weapon or equipment, or the many, many ways in which any given Stonebridge and Scott plan would go horribly, horribly wrong. Extensive research and training are great, but don't produce much realism here. Finally, and perhaps most importantly: don't ask any follow-up questions. Accept any and every plot twist, character development and big reveal as is. Digging any deeper will only lead to disappointment, thanks to more plot holes and more contrivances.
Simply put: Strike Back doesn't hold up under close scrutiny. Then again, it doesn't try to. Its primary objective? Delivering the same male-fantasy payload action movies have been dropping on bloodthirsty audiences for decades. Be thankful it does so with style, swagger and genuine intensity; just don't let the refinement of its genre trappings fool you. Strike Back is ten episodes of pure, unadulterated action, high-fiving thrills, and pulse-pounding international intrigue. Treat it as such and you'll love it as much as the next guy.
Strike Back: Cinemax Season One comes to Blu-ray guns blazing. HBO's hot, heavy, hard-edged 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is a stunner, even if its contrast is cranked up, its black levels bottom out, and its noise is a touch unruly. It's all part of the fun. Colors are bold and blistering, with virile reds, sun-baked oranges and browns, stark blues, and deep, inky shadows. Skintones are oversaturated but only insofar as the image is oversaturated. The palette is par for the course when it comes to modern actioners, and Strike Back is nothing less than a bullet-riddled, testosterone-juicing modern actioner. Detail is excellent as well. Crisp, clean edges are bested only by terrificly resolved fine textures, and every bit of stubble, shard of shrapnel, flying bullet casing and spattered speck of blood is present and accounted for. Close-ups are both revealing and rewarding, delineation is on point (all things considered), and there aren't many scenes -- whether they take place in a dark operations room, a seedy Malaysian whore house, a balmy New Delhi hotel, a dingy terrorist target, a sweltering desert, a chilly European rendezvous, an ornate palace, or in the midst of a Khartoum shootout -- that could look much better than they do here. Low lighting is greeted by an increase in source noise, sure, and some minor banding sneaks past the encode's front lines of defense. But the rest of the presentation doesn't deviate from the course. Artifacting, aliasing, ringing and other such issues are nowhere to be found, and significant crush and outright distractions are either a part of the source or MIA. Strike Back fans will be ecstatic.
HBO's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track hits hard, hits fast, and doesn't let up. Dialogue is somehow crystal clear, believably grounded and perfectly prioritized at all times, even when Stonebridge and Scott dispense with the pleasantries and do what they do best: take the fight to the terrorists. The LFE channel throws the full force of its fury behind every shotgun blast, deafening explosion, crashing vehicle, dust-up and beatdown the series has to offer, and often does so with pure sonic shock and awe. The rear speakers, not to be outdone, barrel into battle with aggressive activity, neck-snapping pans, laser-guided directional effects and a wholly enveloping soundfield, all of which combine to create an exciting, sternum-thumping action-oriented experience, no matter each episode's field or fog of war. Bullets whiz past, chunks of debris scatter, blood gushes and spatters, walls buckle, ceilings collapse, shouts and cries echo in the distance, smoke billows, crowds pour down busy streets, Section 20 command posts bristle with the tapping of keyboard keys and the hum of state of the art computers... it all sounds fantastic and, more importantly, convincing. Yes, the series' score gets buried in the mix every now and then, even when no one is speaking, but, for the most part, the music is as integral a part of the show as any other element, relying on the same exacting dynamics and excellent separation as the rest of the soundscape. Ultimately, Strike Back's lossless track is every bit as impressive as its video presentation.
On the supplemental front, Strike Back: Cinemax Season One includes five audio commentaries -- "Episode Two" with executive producer Daniel Perciva and series stars Philip Winchester (Stonebridge) and Sullivan Stapleton (Scott); "Episode Four" with Winchester and actor Liam Cunningham (Daniel Connelly); "Episode Six" with Winchester and actress Amanda Mealing (Colonel Eleanor Grant); "Episode Eight" with Stapleton and Perciva; and "Episode Ten," the season finale, with Perciva, Winchester, Stapleton and Mealing. Each commentary is (for the most part) informative and entertaining, even when it devolves into production anecdotes, training regiment stories and bumps-n-bruises comparisons. Fans will enjoy the lot of them, though, and that's really all that matters. A documentary or a few featurettes would have been nice, but this'll do. Just don't expect anything in the way of behind-the-scenes footage and you'll be fine.
Strike Back laughs in the face of broadcast network actioners and, serious as it still takes itself, wears its ultraviolence, F-bombs and rampant sex on its chest like badges of honor. It only helps that Stonebridge, Scott and their compatriots make it all immensely watchable and, yes, immensely entertaining. HBO's Blu-ray release is the real showstopper, though, with a slick video presentation and a hard-hitting DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The supplemental package amounts to five audio commentaries, but who's counting? Strike Back: Cinemax Season One is perfect for that action junkie in your life. If you're that action junkie, get ready to add a new series to your list of shows to watch this August when Strike Back returns to Cinemax, this time with Boston Legal's Rhona Mitra and Game of Thrones' Charles Dance in tow. It's pure action fantasy and it knows it, tossing caution to the wind and charging into the thick of it; the very things that has inspired so many to declare the series one of their must-see shows of the year.
