25th November 2009

CRANK 2 HIGH VOLTAGE Lionsgate Available now

So, following the fast, fun, tripped out craziness of the first Jason Statham starrer CRANK comes the ubiquitous follow up CRANK 2.

This time the directing duo of Neveldine and Taylor pull out all the stops to try and ramp up the excitement and audacity displayed in the original but to decidedly mixed results. Statham as the fabulously named Chev Chelios needs electricity to keep his heart racing and the plot follows every contrivance to deliver him the required juice he needs.

Whilst the film fails to achieve the level of left field comic book caricature energy of the first the Blu Ray is a solid showcase for the film.

Featuring disposable blooper and gag reels the real meat of the release are a 50 minute making of and a very cleverly put together on screen commentary track by the directors which features behind the scenes footage alongside the feature and various other commentators. In some ways this is more fun to watch than the film itself.

It does feel that with CRANK 2 this particular film franchise has already run out of steam and it requires an injection of electricity that even Statham would find difficult to find.

NEAR DARK Optimum Available now

The usually reliable Optimum label really drop the ball with this release. Sporting a TWILIGHTesque cash-in cover and not a single extra of any description, the 1988 Kathryn Bigelow tale of modern vampires in the American southwest arrives on Blu Ray.

Featuring a dream genre cast including Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton and with a score by Tangerine Dream this is a great slice of 80’s horror.

The picture and sound quality on this release are solid but it really is a shame that the extras on the previous multi disc dvd release of the title could not have been replicated.

Already available on-line at heavily discounted prices this is worth a cheap pick up purely based on the quality of the film itself.

Interestingly the US BR release is exactly the same – the same cover and zero extras.

Keep watching.

Paul.

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