Blu-Ray Review:
RocknRolla
By Jason Gillard
*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
I haven't seen any of Guy Ritchie's work before, which is weird because I like crime films. I keep meaning to see Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels but I have never gotten around to it. I remember seeing the trailer for RocknRolla in the theaters and thought it looked like a fun film. I never did get to see it in theaters though. So with it coming out on Blu-ray I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to view it. After watching the movie I thought it was one of those films that would definitely benefit from a second viewing. I found myself sligthly confused in certain parts of the movie. Here is what the movie is about. When a rich Russian named Uri decides to do a shady real estate deal with Lenny Cole, a well known London crime boss, 7 million euros is about to change hands. This has every thug and criminal trying to get a piece of the money. The Wild Bunch is one such group led by One Two (Gerard Butler). One Two has the inside track and scores the cash before it can reach Lenny. The missing 7 million euros is going to be trouble for the Wild Bunch because a missing prized painting and a crackhead rock star will make life difficult for this gang. This movie has humour and action going for it. I liked it but it certainly wasn't one of my favorites. Maybe it will fare better on another viewing.
6 out of 10
Video
For Rocknrolla we get a 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. This transfer is a hard transfer to judge, because Guy Ritchie and his cinematographer had a specific look that they were trying to achieve. The colours are sepia tone in nature and tend to look washed out in various scenes. But you have to remember that this is the look they were going for. Grain and edge enhancement were virtually non existent. Black levels were also good. Luckily there are scenes in the film that break up the colour monotony and you do get some vibrant colours. Going by the fact that this is the way they wanted the film to look I am still going to give it a good score. But don't expect to be pulling this one out as demo material even though it was shot with high definition cameras.
7 out of 10
Audio
Rocknrolla comes with a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. The movie has a lot of dialogue so most of the sound comes from the front sound stage. There is the occasional gunshot and scenes that have music in them which sound good, but like I said, dialogue takes the major role here. Also remember that everyone talks with an English accent, so if you have trouble with that, be prepared to have your remote ready to go back and listen to things. There isn't a lot of surround sound action either. The track does an adequate job and is again I am sure how the director intended it.
7 out of 10
Extras
Here is what is included for the extras:
- Feature Commentary with Director Guy Ritchie and Actor Mark Strong
- "Blokes, Birds and Backhanders: Inside Rock-n-Rolla"
- "Guy’s Town"
- Deleted Scene
- Digital Copy
There isn't really anything here to recommend. The cometary track is boring and both the features are just really promotional fluff and don't really add much. There is one deleted scene and I am surprised they even included it. If you like the movie and have an Ipod you will be happy to know that a digital copy of the film is included.
5 out of 10
Overall
If you like Guy Ritchie's previous films I am sure you will probably like this one. There is a decent transfer and decent audio. But I would suggest you rent it first.
7 out of 10
RocknRolla Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com