BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (Giorgio Serafini/Shawn Sourgose, 2013)

[Moltisanti]

I feel your pain. The budget for this can't be much different from THE PACKAGE, but it's amazing how much better that film was.

Good Lord, I think I may prefer RETROGRADE to this.

[Jox]

Some reviews aren't so bad
http://moviebuzzers.com/movie-reviews/d ... redemption

http://www.the-other-view.com/blood-redemption.html

[DRC2013]

I had a chance to see this one, and it wasn't quite as bad as I had feared, but rest assured it is bad, there are no two ways around it.

One of the things that really didn't work for me, that there really wasn't a one main character who to root for. I know it is an ensemble character piece, but they should always have one lead character who you follow.

This one had two, I guess Billy Zane was the lead guy, but on the other hand, Dolph is narrating it, and they make it seem like we see the story through Dolph's character's eyes, but they all have about the same amount of screentime, and I guess Dolph's narration was their way to make it seem like Dolph wash there longer than he really was.

There isn't really a lot of action here, a couple of short fight scenes, a couple of shoot-outs and that's about it.

The fight scenes are awful, they are slow, badly coreographed, badly filmed, badly edited, it didn't work for me. For awhile I thought I was watching an episode of the old Adam West Batman show, all that was missing were those "WHAM!" "BLAMMO!" graphics.

And speaking of graphics, they actually do the thing where they freeze the frame and show the character's name who is on screen. Not only is it completely overused at this point, but it is lazy filmmaking, and it looks very amateurish.

Vinnie Jones plays the same character he always does, and I suppose he does a fine job.

Robert Davi for some unexplained reason plays a biritish character with an accent, and, well, I'll give him an A for effort, but he should stick with his American accent in future movies.

I have to say that all of the actors seem to be doing a good job, I didn't sense that anyone of them were sleepwalking or anything, I guess they did their best with the material that they were given.

As for other positive things, I did like Dolph's look in some scenes, jeans, black leather jacket, black hoodie, that was a cool look.

It's also less than 90 minutes long, so it'll go by fairly quick.

I would say this one is only for Dolph completists. It is utterly boring and forgettable. A paycheck for all parties involved, nothing more.

Retrograde is IMO much more enjoyable, so bad that it's almost good, Blood of Redemption is just bad.

[Jox]

Thai edition

[Jox]

Entertainment One’s Blu-ray looks and sounds fine, with a serviceable, crisp 1080p presentation and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Obviously the mix doesn’t pack the punch of a bigger budgeted film, but I doubt anyone will be left unsatisfied. As for special features, there’s a short EPK “making of” featurette. With all the other action movies out there, I’m not sure why anyone would choose this. But if you just can’t get enough Dolph Lundgren, maybe it’ll be worth a spin. Otherwise, avoid Blood of Redemption.

http://www.themortonreport.com/entertai ... edemption/

[Jox]

http://www.psnation.org/2013/09/23/revi ... lu-raydvd/

The movie is obviously working with a smaller budget, but the Directors Giorgio Serafini and Shawn Sourgose really do a great job disguising that fact. Helped by a surprisingly good script, nice locations and clever camera angles, they manage to elevate Blood Of Redemption above the B-movie fodder it could have been.

The action is good throughout and the fight scenes are really well staged considering the lower budget nature of the film. Lundgren even has a fight scene with a very angry and surprisingly strong woman at one point which ends up being a fun break from the stereotypical fight scenes in movies.

That’s not to say this is a great movie, it’s a good movie, with a mystery that twists and turns keeping the viewer guessing right up to the surprising conclusion. There are a few problems with the script, most notably in how the big heist is pulled off in the middle of the film, but overall, it holds up pretty well. Lundgren and Jones really work to make the movie as good as it can be. Davi is excellent (as always) though his accent could use some work, and Zane gives an understated performance which may seem like he’s just going through the motions, but underneath, it really speaks to who his character is. There are, of course, a few smaller parts which aren’t played all that well by some of the other actors, but overall it’s really good.

Video:
Well shot, and that can make all the difference between a bad low budget movie and a good one (for comparison, see Zombie Massacre). With limited time and resources, the Production Team really made good use of their locations with great lighting and choice of camera angles.

9-20-2013_269-20-2013_27

The Blu-ray looks excellent, as expected, with colors consistent throughout. The big surprise though is the DVD which actually looks almost as good. It’s a great transfer on both discs.

Audio:
The sound design is actually better than I expected it to be. With a number of fight scenes, explosions and gun fights, the sound can mean the difference between a good experience and just another B-movie. It’s all pretty excellent with the odd standout being the sound bullets make when they hit people. Not that I’ve ever heard that in real life, but it seems more real to me than most movies I’ve seen.

The music is really good throughout as well, adding tension when necessary and never drowning out the dialogue. This all helps elevate the proceedings above other B-movie fare.

Bonus Features:
There’s not a whole lot here, but I would guess that’s due to the budget the film had more than anything else.

“Making Of” Featurette (11:49) – A short promo video for the film featuring some of the stars discussing their roles and favorite scenes
Trailer (1:40) – Standard trailer for the film

[Jox]

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/9576/bl ... ption.html

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

Dolph Lundgren dispenses his vengeance with a surprisingly good and highly-detailed 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode. Taken directly from an HD source, the picture displays mostly razor-sharp definition and clarity from beginning to end. Both Lundgren and Billy Zane really show their age, especially the Swedish-born actor, revealing every wrinkle and pore during close-ups. Contrast is spot-on with bright, clean whites, and black levels are rich and punchy, providing the 1.78:1 image with appreciable dimensionality. The plenty of great visibility in low-lit interiors, and facial complexions appear healthy and accurate with excellent lifelike textures. The color palette is very well-saturated with bold, vibrant primaries and warm, dynamic secondary hues.

Unfortunately, and as is typical of digital photography, the high-def transfer largely feels sterile and ultra-smooth, giving several scenes an unattractive look with unrealistic movement. There is also some minor banding and posterization worth mentioning. All in all, the presentation is rather excellent, but a couple small gripes shy of greatness.

The Audio: Rating the Sound

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, on the other hand, is a mixed bag of the good and the dull, but ultimately, the average. It's fairly clear engineers made every attempt to make the design grander and more exciting with the addition of subtle activity in the rears. It does provide some amusing ambience, especially the sounds of people chatting in another room or the echo of gunfire inside an empty warehouse, but the effects are also noticeably static and localized. Basically, it's obviously fake and forced.

In the front soundstage, imaging displays good warmth and feels decently expansive, but this is largely due to the generic musical score spilling across all three channels with excellent balance and fidelity. Dialogue is well-prioritized and intelligible in the center, and low bass is surprisingly responsive with a good amount of weight though it's not really enough to impress. The mid-range is clean with better than expected clarity, but it also seems limited and narrow, creating a rather flat lossless presentation, even during the many action sequences.

The Supplements: Digging Into the Good Stuff

Making of (HD, 12 min) — Typical piece on the production, plot and characters, with cast interviews and BTS footage.

Trailer (HD)

Final Thoughts

Starring Dolph Lundgren as a walking corpse on a mission of vengeance, 'Blood of Redemption' is your standard DTV actioner where the ambitious filmmakers aspire for greatness but a limited budget and low production values hinder any such possibility. The movie is ultimately a dull imitation of everything else and will likely fall through the cracks unnoticed. The Blu-ray arrives with excellent picture quality but a mostly average audio presentation and one very forgettable bonus feature. In the end, the overall package will attract only the most devoted of Lundgren fans, but everyone else will be safe skipping it entirely.

[shooby]

"Both Lundgren and Billy Zane really show their age, especially the Swedish-born actor, revealing every wrinkle and pore during close-ups" :

I want to see M. Enois Duarte when he got 55

[Jox]

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/61685/bl ... edemption/

On paper, Blood Of Redemption looks like a B-movie action fan's dream come true. Seriously, look at the cast: Dolph Lundgren, Billy Zane, Vinnie Jones and Robert Davi? That's kind of awesome, right? If nothing else, this should be a lot of fun. It's probably not going to win an Oscar but hey, eighty-five minutes of action with a fun cast is nothing to sneeze at. Unfortunately director's Giorgio Serafini and Shawn Sourgose screw up pretty much everything that they possibly can.

The story, such as it is, is a mess.

That leaves Dolph. Though top billed, his role here is more of a supporting effort even if he is the character that bridges all of this together. Dolph is fun in almost everything he does, he's got a goofy charm and some legitimate charisma and while this is very far removed from his best work, he's enjoyable enough in the picture. He's just not used enough to save it.

The Blu-ray
Video:
Blood Of Redemption is framed at 1.78.1 widescreen and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. The transfer is fine. Shot on digital video there are no print damage issues to note and the image is crisp and clean. Some of the darker scenes don't show the greatest shadow detail but there are no problems with compression artifacts to note nor is there any obvious edge enhancement. Detail is generally pretty good, close up shots showing off Davi's craggy looking face rather well whenever he's on screen and the image is strong enough that if you're bored and need something to do you could probably count Dolph's stubble. Skin looks nice and natural, colors are well produced and all in all the movie looks pretty good.

Sound:
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is decent enough. There are scenes where there isn't quite as much surround activity as you might expect but the rears are used well in a few of the action sequences to spread out the sound effects. Dialogue stays clear throughout and the levels are nicely balanced. There are no issues with any hiss or distortion, nor should there be with such a recent movie. Bass response is strong enough to make you take notice even if it won't blow your doors off and the score sounds alright. Optional English closed captioning is provided.

Extras:
Extras are slim, limited to a trailer and an eleven minute behind the scenes featurette. We get a few brief interview snippets with Dolph and a few of the other cast members and some footage shot on set, but this isn't particularly deep. Menus and chapter stops are also included and as this is a combo pack release, we get a DVD version of the movie with the same extras as well. Both discs fit inside a Blu-ray case that in turn fits inside a slip case.

Final Thoughts:
While the Blu-ray release of Blood Of Redemption looks and sounds just fine, the movie itself just isn't very good. Dolph's likeable enough in his role but the storyline is really just a series of one bad action movie cliché after the next. Add to that Davi's horrible accent, CGI muzzle flashes, horrible editing and a plot that fails to stand out. There are a couple of good fights in here and a few moderately amusing action scenes, but this one amounts to a whole lot of wasted potential. Rent it if you're a fan of any of the main cast members and need to see it for yourself, otherwise, as hard as it is to write this, you can skip it.

[Ivan, Jr.]

I just watched Blood Of Redemption. It's not too bad. It's about the same production value as One In The Chamber. I think the best scene is Dolph's fight with his real life girlfriend Jenny wearing a sexy leather dominatrix outfit (Jenny, NOT Dolph ). Damn, she has a spinning heel kick that would take your head clean off! I understand they meet through karate. Correct me if I'm wrong (as I'm sure you will Jox), but I believe she was a member of the Swedish Olympic Karate team. If they ever decide to reboot Xena: Warrior Princess, Jenny would be perfect for it

[Jox]

Correct me if I'm wrong (as I'm sure you will Jox), but I believe she was a member of the Swedish Olympic Karate team.

Hahaha well karate has never been approved to be part of the Olympics (for some weird political reason)

[Sasha]

I have seen it yesterday. It's really not bad (even looks sometimes like neo-noir), but poor CGI and very low budget make it worse, than it is. Dolph's narration was cool and a thought about how cool would be for him to make a reall noir, something like Angel's Heart...

[Ivan, Jr.]

After watching it for the 2nd time, I just realized what the movie reminds me of! With Dolph's voice over narrative,the freeze frame for the characters names and the double crosses. It looks like they borrowed heavily from the USA Network's spy series "Burn Notice". Dolph would have been a good guest star on that show, but he would have kicked Michael Weston's ass and made him look bad!

[Jox]

Weirdly, BOR has been released in the U.S. without a rating.

[Jox]

http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/blood ... bluray.php