CRANK - Blu-ray review

The writer/directing duo of "Crank" is Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. If you haven't heard of them before, that is to be expected since their previous credits include Cinematography and working as camera operators. "Crank" is their first directorial effort and the pair who are credited as Neveldine/Taylor decided to write a story that was driven by a desire to create cool camera effects and try some things visually that haven't been tried before. They decided that the coolest thing would be to make a film based upon a character who is on a massive adrenaline rush for the entire film. After sitting down for a few days and discussing their ideas, they came up with the screenplay and concept for "Crank." After shopping around, they attracted Lionsgate and British actor Jason Statham. What was conceived based upon camera shots made more than twice its budget in theatrical receipts, so they apparently were onto something.

The real reason to watch "Crank" is not for the unusual camera tricks, angles and techniques. The real reason is to see Jason Statham kicking some tail end. The actor rose to fame with roles in the cult classics "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrles" and "Snatch." He then went on to star in two "Transporter," "Revolver" and the "Italian Job" films. The British actor plays a great tough guy and any time he gets to shoot people or rough somebody up, it could be considered a good time and fortunately, "Crank" is a good time. The film moves quickly. It is a fast paced action film that combines comedic elements, original storytelling and great acting. With Amy Smart (Road Trip), Efren Ramirez (Napolean Dynamite) and country singer Dwight Yoakam (Swing Blade) taking supporting roles, the first time directors pulled together a good cast and got good performances from them.

The story is about a professional hitman, Chevy Chelios (Statham) who is injected with a deadly poison by a rival professional named Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo). Chev contacts his doctor, Doctor Miles (Yoakam) and discovers that by keeping his heartrate and adrenaline up he can avoid the certain death that confronts him and live long enough to seek revenge against Verona. Part of his final moments are to confront his girlfriend Eve (Smart) and tell her that he is not a video game programmer, but that he kills people for a living. Chev will do anything possible to stay alive longer. He will randomly beat up thugs, consume massive amounts of Red Bull and force his girlfriend into sex in the middle of a large public area. In the end, Chev discovers that his girlfriend still loves him, regardless of his profession and he gets revenge on both Verona and a few double-crossing friends.

"Crank" is full of action and comedy. The dialogue is surprisingly witty for the first time screenwriters and Stathan, who enjoyed working on the film, is unhinged and allowed to be as vulgar and brutal as he wants to be. Efren Ramirez is great in a role that goes against the typecast he had previously seen in "Napolean Dynamite" and "Employee of the Month." As the movie speeds through its relatively short running time of 87 minutes, the two directors successfully bring their visual dreams to life and it greatly benefits the action seen on the screen. The film's creators were influenced by video games and certain elements such as overhead maps and images of Chev's heart are infused into the film and do give it an MTV generation feel. I'm not always impressed with overly fast cutting and trick visuals that make a film feel more like a music video than a cinematic production, but with "Crank," it is done in a manner befitting the film. With Statham at the top of his game, this is a very enjoyable and violent film that is perhaps the actors best work yet.

Video:
The first time filmmakers had fully intended "Crank" to be a showcase for camera angles and techniques that are either not very commonly used or have never before been seen. They wanted it to be a visually frenetic film and you really could say that "Crank" is a cinematographer's dream – as it truly was. Filmed with Sony High Definition cameras, "Crank" translates wonderfully to Blu-ray and 1080p high definition with a good MPEG-2 1.85:1 transfer. With the dynamic directing duo trying to make the film visually different, "Crank" finds itself displaying a plethora of visual styles. Colors and contract are intentionally altered to give certain scenes different looks. Filters are used and I imagine if the filmmakers had an idea of how to distort a scene visually, they just went with it. Many split screen shots are used and when Chev starts to fall to the poison, the lens goes insane. However, when they are allowed to be, colors are magnificent and the level of detail is amazing. Every weathered mark in Statham's face can be seen. Every hair of his scruff can be seen in fine detail. This high definition picture is clean and quite stunning and this may be Lionsgate's best effort thus far.

Sound:
Lionsgate has turned up the heat with its soundtracks for "Crank." Featuring Uncompressed PCM 6.1 channel sound and a Dolby Digital Surround EX 5.1, I was ecstatic that the boys over at Lionsgate added Uncompressed sound. I enjoyed it greatly. Bass is deep and booming. Surrounds are very acting and used throughout the film. Imaging across all channels was excellent. I found myself looking around the room a couple times in response to sounds that occurred on screen. The soundtrack was very well done and featured a nice mix of classic rock songs and newer metal. The only back selection was "Achey-Breaky Heart," but one bad egg isn't bad. As fast and frenzied as the visuals are, "Crank" is a loud film with action coming out of all channels at all times. Dialogue holds up well and each spoken word is easily heard. The Dolby mix is not bad either, with very powerful sequences throughout. However, the Uncompressed PCM is clearly the superior track and quite enjoyable.

Extras:
Early Lionsgate releases did not feature any great number of supplements. The tables have changed and their recent "Employee of the Month" and now "Crank" both contain a nice array of extras. First and foremost with "Crank" is the Crank'd Out Mode! video commentary that features user selectable vignettes that are selectable when a large square icon of a old-school video game heart appears on screen. The video commentary is very good and features the two directors, Jason Statham, Efren Ramirez, Amy Smart and many others. I wasn't sure of what the icon would look like, as the menu didn't really let me know what I needed to do, but when it appeared, it was fairly apparent. The only problem I had with the video commentary was that if you simply clicked on the menu selection, it was turned on. Turning it off was not easy to figure out. I ended up ejecting the disc and putting it back in. Another commentary-like feature is provided. The Family-Friendly Audio is an alternate audio track in Dolby Digital 2.0 and features all of the curse words removed. There are still naked breasts and blood, but at least the swearing is removed for those seeking to use this feature.

Next up are a number of smaller features that detail the making of the film and its marketing. Shooting Crank discusses the decisions made in shooting the film with high definition cameras. The Stunts of Crank is over fifteen minutes in length and looks at the films stunts and shows very good footage of the stars doing some death-defying stunts. This was a very interesting feature. Pushing Crank takes a look at the marketing. It is short, but you would be amazed at what all goes into marketing a movie these days. Not listed on the box, but contained within is Crank @ ComicCon. This ten minute feature shows footage from a panel at a ComicCon convention featuring the filmmakers. The largest of the supplements is also not listed on the rear facing of the packaging. More Stories From Crank is just a collection of moments with the cast and crew and offers great tid-bits of their involvement in the film and what REALLY went on. Good stuff.

Closing Comments:
"Crank" was a highly entertaining film starring the affable and action-packed Jason Statham. The film's concept is far from typical, as two cinematographers decided to write a screenplay that could include as many cool camera angles and tricks as possible. This fast paced and violent action film packs as many chuckles as it does knuckles and never fails to keep the viewers interest in the film glued to the screen. Lionsgate has delivered their absolute best Blu-ray film to date and I must say I'm very impressed. The video quality is extremely good and easily their best effort and one of the best looking MPEG-2 transfers to date. Sound is impeccably good and I was pleased to see the studio supporting Uncompressed PCM. The features are plentiful and nicely done. The video commentary doesn't quite match up to the U-Control features provided by Universal on HD-DVD, but this is one of the few times you will see Blu-ray doing some of its new tricks that DVD can't do. The film is good. The disc is great. There may be a few better choices available on Blu-ray, but I can't think of too many.