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The Marine 4: Moving Target
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Abraham Phillips (18th May 2015). |
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The Film
 Once again, wrestler turned actor, Mike ‘The MIZ’ Mizanin, reprises the role of Jake Carter, a Marine who seems to get into all kinds of action and mayhem. I saw the first one, starring John Cena in the movie theater and all the subsequent other sequels on Disc. Part 2 starred wrester Ted DiBiase Jr., The third starred Mike ‘The MIZ’ Mizanin in what seems like a revolving door of marine characters. 'The MIZ' is the only actor to return to the series a second time. I feel 'The MIZ' has the potential to be one of WWE's iconic action stars if he continues to go in this direction. As expected, "The Marine 4" also stars a collection of professional wrestler, mostly of the Diva variety, Danielle Moinet AKA Summer Rae. This time around, Jake is hired to protect a package. Not just any package, but a real life, living and breathing package (Think "The Transporter" (2002)). The package is, Olivia Tanis, played by the beautiful and stunning Melissa Roxburgh. Olivia is a whistleblower, who is going to expose a corrupt military contractor. As you would guess the sh*t hits the fan and Jake has to stop everything that comes his way and her way. As Olivia gears to testify and meets Jake, a group of trained mercenaries attack. This group is led by Andrew Vogel, played wonderfully by Josh Blacker. The group boats a killer, a bad a** sniper, yes played by wrestling DIVA Danielle Moinet. Jake must fight off a countless group of hard killing, gun carrying brutes that want nothing but to kill him. That is the story in a nut shell, lots of running, explosions and gun fights. Directed by William Kaufman. Kaufman has become a regular in the direct-to-video action film market. He started with the 2005 film "The Prodigy" (which I highly recommend, it’s one of my favorite direct-to-video action films) and since has directed four other DTV titles including this one with three more on the way. Despite the limitations (script, acting, etc.) he manages to put a lot onscreen in terms of production value and lets you experience the action first hand. He directs a tight, fast film. You can look at this time in two ways: It's a film with a cult following made for a specific audience or it's a ridiculous waste of time. I feel this series of films has developed that cult following (after all there are four films in this series so someone is watching them). Diehard fans of action film will be thoroughly entertained. This reminds me of the early 90's, when action movies with a lower budget or of the B-grade variety dominated the video stores. You could find a new action film just about every week, and that's what this is like, WWE just keep churning these out. I dare say, I was surprisingly entertained. I enjoyed it for what it is. Lovers of old-school action films starring the likes of Olivier Gruner, Gary Daniels, Michael Dudikoff, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Steven Seagal will probably eat this up. Simply put, I was entertained and that’s all I ask for in a film like this. WWE knows how to create fan-based simple entertainment, from direct-to-video action, to horror films. WWE produces and makes these films for their diehard fans and fans of the various wrestlers that star in them. You don’t go into these films expecting amazing, Oscar worthy screenwriting or acting, you go into these films to be entertained. It's brainless popcorn nonsense.
Video
Presented in a widescreen 1.78:1 ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4 compression. The film displays vibrant colors. The image is crisp and there is no fault that I could find. It's a fairly solid HD transfer.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround (48kHz/24-bit), French DTS 5.1 surround, and German DTS 5.1 surround. The DTS-HD audio displays amazing sound quality. It fits perfectly with the subject matter through all the action displayed. The sound effects and the crystal clear audio is virtually ear candy. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French, Spanish, German, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
Extras
Fox has included three featurettes and a collection of theatrical trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. "Firepower" is a featurette with a running time of 10 minutes 12 seconds. This is a program on all the weapons used in the film. The stars of the movie discuss all the action taking place with weapons and explosions. "The Franchise" is a featurette with a running time of 5 minutes 48 seconds. This is a program that discusses the four films of the series. It talks about the continuing franchise. "Beauty is Dangerous" is a featurette with a running time of 4 minutes 14 seconds. This is a program that covers the strong females in the movie. This film takes a different approach and adds that bad a** females can hold their own during fights and the action taking place. Bonus trailers are included for: - "FOX Digital HD" spot which runs for 1 minute 8 seconds. - "Taken 3" which runs for 2 minutes 15 seconds. - "Bad Ass 3: Bad Asses on the Bayou" which runs for 1 minute 35 seconds. - "Kingsman: The Secret Service" which runs for 2 minutes 22 seconds. - "Unfinished Business" which runs for 2 minutes 22 seconds. - "The November Man" which runs for 1 minute 14 seconds. - "Homeland: Season 4" which runs for 1 minute 2 seconds. The package also comes with an insert with a promo code to download a digital copy version of the film.
Overall
The Blu-ray quality is top notch with solid sound and vibrant colors. The film is fun filled with popcorn action.
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