Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Silent Trigger (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Silent Trigger (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)
Released by: Subkultur Entertainment
Released on: November 28th, 2014.
Director: Russel Mulcahy
Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Gina Bellan, Conrad Dunn, Christopher Heyerdahl
Year: 1996
Purchase From Diabolik DVD
The Movie:
Director Russel Mulcahy's Silent Trigger begins with a tense scene in which a shooter (Dolph Lundgren) and his spotter (Gina Bellan), are to assassinate a politician from their perch atop a tower. Waxman hesitates as the target holds up a child and this causes the powers that be to question his loyalty. Clegg is ordered to take him out but she too hesitates and before you know it an army of machine gun toting thugs are chasing them across an unnamed part of Eastern Europe.
This all happened in the past. In the present, the spotter makes her way into a partially constructed tower to 'work on the computers.' After fending off the unwanted advances of a dirtbag security guard named O'Hara (Christopher Heyerdahl), much to the amusement of his co-worker (Conrad Dunn), she finds she's not alone up there in the penthouse. Her reunion with the shooter will take some interesting twists and turns as they try to figure out who they can trust.
A nice mix of suspense and action where both plot lines twist and turn throughout the duration of the film, Silent Trigger is slick and exciting. Lundgren is well cast here in a role that plays to his strengths. He doesn't always have a great amount of range so making him play the strong silent type as he does in this picture makes perfect sense. He also handles himself very well in the action scenes, highlighted by an absolutely brutal brawl with O'Hara. Lundgren and Bellan manage to create an interesting dynamic together in the film and there's no shortage of sexual tension during the scenes that take place in the penthouse. She's a very attractive woman but in addition to being easy on the eyes has the right sort of tough screen presence to pull off her role in this film.
Conrad Dunn is interesting as the 'new guy' at the security guard desk but it's Heyerdahl who really steals the show as O'Hara. If he's not trying to rape Bellan's character he's cracking open beers, snorting lines or cocaine or making wisecracks at the new recruit. He plays the part perfectly and really gives his all - this makes for a wonderfully horrible white trash character that makes an interesting sparring partner for our two leads. He's also the only source of any sort of comedy in the movie, though it is comedy of a particularly dark bent.
Australian born Mulcahy, no stranger to action or suspense movies having previously directed Highlander, The Shadow and Razorback, does fine work here. The movie goes at a good pace and doesn't overstay its welcome while the cinematography is interesting in how it creates a contrast. The scenes that take place in the early part of the story are largely shot outdoors or in a war zone while the scenes that take place during the reunion are take place inside a dimly light industrial building ripe with shadows and stairwells and dripping water, all lit by the night sky by massive windows. The script from Sergio Altieri occasionally drifts into clichés when our two leads start talking but otherwise keeps things well grounded.
As far as the action sequences are concerned, aside from a few bits showcasing some horribly dated CGI work, they're really well done. The violence here hits hard and when the guns go off, things get very bloody very quickly. Lots of great squib work and pyrotechnics compliment some great fight choreography and solid stunts in big ways. Silent Trigger may not be the movie Dolph is best known for but it's one of his better pictures, an action movie done right.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Silent Trigger makes its Blu-ray debut from Subkulture in a strong AVC encoded 1080p high definition widescreen transfer. There's some minor speckling here and there but no serious print damage, and while some shots look a bit grainier than others that's never really a problem. There's zero evidence of any digital filtering, so common problems like edge enhancement and noise reduction never factor into the equation. Detail is considerably improved over the previous Sony DVD release and colors are more natural looking and better defined. Add to that nice shadow detail and very solid black levels and this transfer comes out looking very good.
DTS-HD Master Audio options are provided in English and German in both 2.0 and 5.1 flavors with subtitles provided in German and in English (the film was shot in English). Clarity on the English 5.1 track is rock solid, with nicely balanced levels and strong bass - your subwoofer will really feel it when that helicopter shows up in the opening sequence and pretty much anytime a gun goes off. Dialogue stays clean, clear and very easy to understand and the film's genuinely evocative soundtrack is spread around nicely. No problems with any hiss or any distortion.
The main extra on the disc is a twenty-minute interview, in English with optional German subtitles, with writer Sergio Altieri. He speaks about shooting the film in Montreal, the performances from the cast and some of the original ideas he had for the story that changed and/or evolved along the way.
Aside from that we get two trailers for the feature, a still gallery, a Dolph Lundgren filmography (with some nice bonus trailers scattered throughout), menus and chapter selection. As this is a combo pack release you also get a DVD version of the movie with the same extras. Both discs are put inside a slick digipack package alongside a booklet of liner notes (in German only). Menus and chapter selection are also included. Note that if you have a Blu-ray Drive on your PC you can put the disc in and access the liner notes via an English language PDF where you'll find an insanely detailed essay by Jérémie Damoiseau that covers pretty much every aspect of the history of this movie.
The Final Word:
Silent Trigger is a sorely underrated film in the filmographies of both its director and its leading man. It's tight and suspenseful, well made and it features not only some impressive action set pieces but some top notch performances too. Though the film hasn't been given anything more than a barebones DVD release domestically, this Blu-ray release from Germany's Subkultur is definitely worth importing if you're a fan of the film. You get some fun extras and a really nice HD upgrade as well.
-
#4Alison JaneGirl Boss JaneFind all postsView Profile04-07-2015, 03:15 PMEditing a commentA year or two ago when I was watching all of Dolph's stuff for the first time, this one stood out amongst a lot of the same old same old. I enjoyed it and am happy it made it to Blu-ray!
-
#5Paul LScholar of SleazeFind all postsView Profile04-07-2015, 04:47 PMEditing a commentNot one of Dolph's absolute best, imo, but I'm very happy to own it on BD after all the shonky DVD transfers of this film.And Gina Bellman... hubba, hubba I always thought she was lovely.
-
#6NabongaSenior MemberFind all postsView Profile04-07-2015, 06:32 PMEditing a commentOriginally posted by Paul L
Posting comments is disabled. -
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (271)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2512)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (298)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Andrew Legge
Cast: Emma Appleton, Stefanie Martini, Rory Fleck Byrne
Year: 2022
Purchase From Amazon
Lola – Movie Review:
Irish filmmakers Andrew Legge’s 2022 movie, ‘Lola’, which was made during Covid-19 lockdowns, is a wildly creative movie made in the found footage style that defies expectations, provides plenty of food for thought and manages to make...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:09 PM -
-
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jess Franco, Jorge Grau, Pedro L. Ramírez
Cast: Alberto Dalbés, Evelyne Scott, Fernando Rey, Marisa Mell, Wal Davis, Norma Kastel
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Spanish Blood Bath – Movie Review:
Vinegar Syndrome brings a triple feature of Spanish horror films of the in this new three-disc Blu-ray boxed set. Here’s what lies inside…
Night Of The...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:02 PM -
-
Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Zelda Williams
Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Carla Gugino, Joe Chrest, Henry Eikenberry
Year: 2024
Purchase From Amazon
Lisa Frankenstein – Movie Review:
The feature-length directorial debut of Zelda Williams, 20214’s Lisa Frankenstein takes place in 1989 and follows a teenaged girl named Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) who, two years ago, lost her mother...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:40 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Gianfranco Giagni
Cast: Roland Wybenga, William Berger, Stéphane Audran
Year: 1988
Purchase From Amazon
Spider Labyrinth – Movie Review:
Professor Alan Whitmore (Roland Wybenga) is an American who works as a Professor of languages studies and has a fascination bordering on obsession with translating pre-Christian religious texts. He was also locked in a closet...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:37 PM -
-
Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Arizal
Cast: Barry Prima, Eva Arnaz, W.D. Mochtar
Year: 1982
Purchase From Amazon
Special Silencers – Movie Review:
When director Arizal’s 1982 epic begins, we meet a man named Gumilar (W.D. Mochtar), a sinister dude who has constantly bloodshot eyes. He’s meeting with a man about some sort of business deal, but a flashback shows us how some time ago he killed...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:35 PM -