- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A
- Rating: R
- Discs: 1
- Studio: Lionsgate
- Blu-ray Release Date: July 13, 2010
- List Price: $29.99
[amazon-product align=”right”]B003KM4CHW[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Caught in the Crossfire on Blu-ray at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:2/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Can you say run-of-the-mill crime drama? Okay, well add “direct-to-video” to that phrase and you have this well below average movie. Somehow, some decent and well known actors like Adam Rodriguez (CSI: Miami), Chris Klein (American Pie) and Richard T. Jones (Why Did I Get Married Too?) got roped into starring in Caught in the Crossfire, which also boasts rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson amongst its cast members. So, with all these names, how did such a dull film develop?
Caught in the Crossfire taps into practically every police drama/mystery film you’ve ever seen before. Starting off with a standoff between the two partners Briggs (Klein) and Shepherd (Rodriquez) and a suspect who claims knowledge of corrupt cops before being gunned down by a group of police officers, the two detectives must backtrack and investigate the shooting to clear their names. This of course leads to the revelation that everything began with the killing of a police officer and Shepherd and Briggs must rake through the muck of Michigan’s “gangland” with both cops and gang members on their trail to solve the mystery.
Caught in the Crossfire is all scowl’s, epithets, good cop/bad cop clichés, telegraphed revelations and a good dose of violent outbursts thrown in for good measure. What would any typical crime drama be without them?
Video Quality
[Rating:2/5]
With an image swarming in video noise, soft details, black levels that should just be called grey levels, the AVC/MPEG-4 encoding of Caught in the Crossfire barely registers as quality high definition entertainment. Put this one at the bottom of the pile when you really want to show off your display’s capabilities.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack isn’t much better than its video counterpart. After starting off with some almost exciting gunfire effects, things settle into to a very dry, front-heavy mix with barely any ambient effects in the surround channels. Adding to the problem is that dialogue sounds a bit muffled and sometimes gets just a tad lost. Lost in what? I don’t know, because there’s not much going on in the mix.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Even the supplements are a throwaway on this release, consisting of one ten-minute Outtake reel and a trailer. This is hardly added value.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Outtakes (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:10.33)
- Caught in the Crossfire Trailer (1.78:1; 480i/60)
- Also from Lionsgate
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2/5]
With a lame script, poor picture quality, and sound that’s not much to mention, Caught in the Crossfire needs to be tossed in the fire. My recommendation is to skip this entirely and watch something like A Prophet instead.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B003KM4CHW[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Caught in the Crossfire on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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