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Released by: New Concorde
Released on: 3/11/2003
Director: Sam Firstenberg
Cast: Michael Dudikoff
Year: 2001
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The Movie:
Michael Dudikoff (the American Ninja himself) puts away his black suit and ninja booties and puts on a three-piece military uniform as he plays Bill Turner, a military psychiatrist, who has been treating Randi Stewart (Brooke Thesis of Beverly Hills 90210), the daughter of the commanding officer on the base. Politics run in the family bloodstream it would seem, as her brother Gordon also happens to be running for office.
When Randi's father ends up dead, she's the number one suspect and it's up to Bill to clear her. As he delves deeper into the details surrounding the case, he also gets to know Randi a little better and of course, he starts falling for her.
The more her gets to know her, the more he doesn't want to uncover the truth and he gets pulled deeper into the conspiracy surrounding the mysterious death of the general.
Fans of Dudikoff's earlier 'ass kicker' roles will be sad to find that he doesn't really do anything even remotely related to ninjas in this movie. The film plays fairly straight on the surface but a few inconsistencies are likely to not go unnoticed if you pay attention, which makes things a little too far fetched to be truly effective.
It's not bad as far as straight to video thrillers go, but I'd much rather see Dudikoff back in his ninja suit fighting evil, no matter how type cast and cliché it may be.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Just like almost every other New Concorde release, this baby is full frame. I don't think that this ever played theatrically though and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was composed for home viewing and the transfer here suggests that as well. Colors are solid, compression evidence isn't too problematic and with the exception of some edge enhancement and a few minor blemishes here and there, Quicksand doesn't look too bad.
The Dolby Digital stereo track is average. There is a small amount of hiss in a few scenes but that's really it. There's not much to complain about. There's also not much to really praise either. The track is average. It gets the job done with clear dialogue and minimal distortion.
The usual New Concorde extras can be found on this disc - a few trailers for other unrelated titles, and some brief cast and crew biographies.
The Final Word:
If you're a Dudikoff fan, you can do a lot worse but it's not going to win any awards.