- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 108op/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Surround (Dolby 2.0) French Dolby Surround (Dolby 2.0), Spanish Mono (Dolby 2.0)
- Subtitles: Spanish
- Region: A
- Rating: R
- Discs: 1
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Release Date: May 11, 2010
- List Price: $24.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Marked for Death on Blu-ray at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
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:3/5]
I think just about everyone knows what to expect from an early period Steven Seagal movie. You’re not going to get Shakespeare, that’s for certain, and don’t expect the best acting in the world either. What you’ll be served up is a heavy dose of bone crushing action at a breakneck pace and by the end of the 90-minutes hopefully you’ll have gotten your money’s worth.
Marked for Death is classic Seagal. It’s filled with late-80’s/early-90’s Bush Sr. U.S. drug war paranoia. Seagal plays retired D.E.A. agent John Hatcher back home in Chicago with his family for some much needed relaxation. He turns a blind eye to the turf war between Jamaican posses and Columbian drug lords battling to rule the local drug trade until he intercedes in a bar shootout between the gangs and the Jamaican’s leader, Screwface (Basil Wallace) marks him and his family for death. When Hatcher’s house is shot at in a drive by and his niece wounded, he enlists his longtime pal and army buddy Max (Keith David) to help him take down Screwface and the Jamaican posse.
From that point on, Marked for Death becomes a violent, bloody action-packed tear through the backstreets and highways of Chicago involving black magic, high-powered weapons and car chases all leading up to an intense showdown in Jamaica. It’s exactly the kind of stuff Seagal fans live for.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
For a film from 1990 Marked for Death looks quite good in this AVC/MPEG-4 encoding from Fox. Source damage is minimal, film grain is preserved nicely and foreground detail is pretty strong. Backgrounds are a bit soft and in some areas grain looks a little harsh, almost like video noise. Black levels are deep if not completely inky and flesh tones are natural.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
There’s an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack provided on Marked for Death, but it sounds more like a reprocessed stereo mix than anything else. The surrounds are filled with an abundance of ambience and there is wide panning across the front channels. Low frequencies are deep enough to give the sub a decent workout and dialogue is clear, but there’s nothing particularly special about this audio mix.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
Fox has provided zilch in the area of supplements for Marked for Death, not even so much as a trailer, so move on along, there’s nothing here to see or hear.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
Either you love Steven Seagal movies or you hate them. If you fall on the love side, then Marked for Death will be a must have. It’s Seagal in his prime and one of the last halfway decent films he made. This Fox Blu-ray, however, is not much of a value, with no extras, no Digital Copy and only a passable video transfer and audio mix.
Additional Screen Captures:
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Marked for Death on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
