Vengeance

Released by: BCI
Released on: 07/09/08
Director: Preaw Sirisuwan
Cast: Andy Tungkaprasert, Chalad Na Songkhla, Chirapat Wongpaisanlux, Nuttanan Juntarawet
Year: 2006

The Movie:

A nutty mix of Thai culture and good ol' American monster movie making, Vengeance is a pretty nifty blend of live action and low quality CGI that's infectious in its obvious enthusiasm and willingness to go off in strange directions for no apparent reason other than that it looks cool.

The movie follows young police officer named Wut and a few co-workers who team up with local man who works as a guide in a remote area of Thailand and his daughter to track down a man named Naso and his gang who have just escaped from prison and are hiding out in the nearby forest. What neither Naso nor the cop on his trail realize is that there's more to this forest than just trees, dirt, and squirrels - here there be monsters and magical curses and all manner of related oddball plot devices.

Complicating matters further is the fact that Nasar's father was killed by the cops father years ago, meaning these two really don't like one another very much. The further everyone heads into the woods the stranger things get as the physical realm gives way to the mystical and spirits and monsters begin to wreak havoc for them, killing everyone off one at a time while the two opposing sides try to outdo one another…

Killer wasps, freaky lizard creatures, a really hokey looking CGI snake mix well with a few exciting knife fights, a couple of decent gore scenes and some intense jungle chase action to make for a movie that maybe won't stimulate your brain so much but that'll certainly work as a fun time killer. The cast all look great and play their parts well and the movie moves along at a very quick pace, never wasting a minute. In fact, you could easily make the argument that the movie moves too quickly as there isn't much in the way of character development and the story is pretty thin, but regardless, there's enough magical monster silliness and good guy versus bad guy tension to make it work. The character development that we do get is pretty ham-fisted and more than a little melodramatic but in the context of the world where all of this takes place, it doesn't hurt the picture much.

That CGI snake though… wow. We're talking first generation Playstation graphics here, it looks so bad and considering that it's supposed to be one of the focal points of the film, well, it does hurt things a bit. That said, if you don't have a problem with the goofy serpent and can dig a fun jungle based cops and robbers action fest, Vengeance is a good time. Suck back a few cold Coors 16oz'rs and chow down on some pizza and soak this one in properly.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Aside from some murkiness to the black levels in a couple of scenes, this is a clean and colorful transfer with strong sharpness and a great level of detail. There are moments where the CGI looks weak but this isn't a flaw in the encoding, rather, it's the fault of bad CGI. Regardless, the colors really pop in some scenes and the skin tones look nice and realistic throughout. There aren't any obvious problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement and all in all, the movie looks pretty good here.

The primary audio mix is a Thai language uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround Sound mix which offers optional subtitles in English, though an optional English 2.0 Surround dubbed track is also included. The mix is pretty strong overall and it makes good use of the rear surround channels during the action scenes. Bass is strong but could have been stronger in spots while dialogue stays clean and clear. The levels are fine and the subtitles are easy to read and free of any obvious typos.

The extras on the release, all of which are presented in standard definition, are in Thai with English subtitles. The supplements start off with a brief interview with the film's producer who speaks about what the filmmaker's were after with their attempts here and why he likes the film. Aside from that, there's a really bad music video, a trailer for the feature, some animated menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Vengeance may be sappy and melodramatic as all get out but that doesn't make it any less entertaining. It intentionally pulls on your heart strings in spots and at times it's a little on the corny side but it's also ripe with some really enjoyable scenes of action, adventure and horror which makes for good entertainment. BCI's disc falls short in the extra features department but it looks and sounds quite good and you can't argue with the price point.