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Mean Guns
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - 101 Films Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (11th July 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** 100 Assassins. 1,000 Weapons. 10,000,000 Dollars. Only One Can Survive. Through corruption, a crime syndicate has won a contract to build a high-tech prison. Before the building is turned over to the authorities, charismatic crime lord Vincent Moon (Ice-T) uses it for an operation to get rid of various people who have betrayed or inconvenienced the organisation. Rather than killing them individually, Vincent brings together 100 people, provides them with weapons and gives them a choice: fight or die. The assassins are given six hours to eliminate the competition, and told that the last three will walk away with 10 million dollars. Christopher Lambert plays Lou, a highly skilled killer attempting to eliminate all the others and make off with a prize. Various agreements and alliances are made as the killers battle for survival and the money.
Video
Independent British distributor 101 Films have released nineties action b-movie "Mean Guns" as part of their rapidly expanding Cult Movie Collection. The transfer is 1080p and receives an AVC MPEG-4 encode. The feature is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and unfortunately, there is not a lot to shout about. First things first, let us talk about the aspect ratio. I'm not sure why the decision was to release this at 1.78:1 when the original aspect ratio is 2.35:1, but it is a bit of a mis-step. Some scenes seem as though they have been vertically stretched and at times, characters that are around the edge of the frame suffer from a strange warping effect. Rather than being open matte, it seems to have been cropped due to the way characters are sometimes chopped at the top of the head and even removed from the frame completely (one of the women as three characters walk down a corridor). The next issue is another big one unfortunately. At an educated guess, it seems as though 101 Films have licensed the master from the upcoming DigiDreams release in Germany, which has been overseen by Oliver Krekel. For those that don't know, Krekel, is a big advocate of digital noise reduction. This gives the transfer a very clean look, but has all but eradicated the expected natural film grain, and with it, a lot of the more minute details. External locations look waxy, and whilst facial close-ups do show some small details, many that should be there have vanished. Blacks are not as deep as they should be, but when they are, crush becomes a bit of an issue (Ice T's clothing for example). There is some pretty bad blooming from light at times (68:30 one of the more obvious moments), and although the shine appears to be a stylistic choice, it is a bit overbearing. My previous experience with this title is the Canadian DVD from Lions Gate, which was of VHS quality. This Blu-ray is admittedly better than that, but considerable improvements could still be made as this is rather disappointing. The feature is uncut and runs 110:20. EDIT: It appears DigiDreams are releasing the title in the correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1, so I may be incorrect about the source.
Audio
"Mean Guns" features a single English LPCM 2.0 Stereo track, and despite crying out for a 5.1 experience, it was never originally mixed for 5.1. What we have here is an acceptable track that is rather underwhelming. Channel separation is minimal and the track sounds surprisingly flat, despite all the action. Dialogue lacks punch, and although easy to understand at all times, is quite tinny. The score never overpowers the dialogue, and the effects are average. There are a lot of gun shots and thuds from people being wellied with baseball bats, but the effects lack any real depth and don't have the power required to make an impact on just how brutal the violence can be. There are no major issues to be had with scratches of pops, and there was little background hiss. No subtitles are included.
Extras
None.
Overall
"Mean Guns" is a ridiculous film that happens to be damn good fun, even though you'll never want to admit you enjoyed it. This is the perfect type of title for this range, and I hope this release encourages more people to discover it. Unfortunately though, the A/V leaves a lot to be desired.
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