• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
• Audio Codec: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48 kHz/24-bit), Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD)
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Subtitles Color: White
• Region: A (Region-Locked)
  
• Rating: R
  
• Run Time: 88 Mins
• Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray, 1 x DVD)
• Digital Copies: None
• Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
  
• Blu-ray Release Date: April 23, 2013
• List Price: $29.98

Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(The below TheaterByte screen captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray Discs and losslessly compressed in the PNG format. There should be no loss of picture quality with this format. All screen captures should be regarded only as an approximation of the full capabilities of the Blu-ray format.)

The Film

[Rating:3.5/5]

Pawn tells the story of a small town diner being invaded by a group of criminals led by Derrick aka “The Brit” (Michael Chiklis.) His goal? To grab the money out of owner Charlie’s (Stephen Lang) safe. Turns out that the initial safe only contains a few documents and the ‘real’ safe is on a timer, one that can’t be opened until midnight. Deciding to wait around, Derrick soon finds himself in a hostage situation after Will (Forrest Whitaker), a local cop, wanders into the diner. To make matters worse, a recently released convict, Nick (Sean Faris), finds himself in the diner’s bathroom at the beginning of the robbery. What turned out to be just a simple robbery, may be more than Derrick realized. What results is not the finest example of a hostage based film, but one that has  a smooth pace along with a few solid action moments.

Hostage films have been around for decades, with no end in sight. One of the best, in my humble opinion, is The Negotiator. Swift, tense and with excellent performances by Spacey and Jackson, The Negotiator ranks up their with the best hostage films. While not as impressive a film, Pawn works for similar reasons. Initially the movie seems like it may not be anything special, with its standard robbery sequence. Without revealing any real spoilers, once the twist is introduced, we’re thrown into first gear. So far, I’ll rank Pawn as one of the unnoticed pleasant surprises of 2013. 

Video Quality

[Rating:3.5/5]

Pawn arrives with a 2:40:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer, one of which is mostly solid.  Shot digitally, Pawn features a clean looking image, with a rather strong detail level. Take a look at facial close ups, which result in accurate flesh tones. Equally strong is texture detail as we can make out each and every little fabric detail. Colors can tend to fluctuate, mostly some of the brighter sequences. These moments do look a bit washed out at times; however, black levels are strong. All in all, this is a mostly solid effort from Anchor Bay.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4/5]

Audio wise, Pawn shows up with a proficient Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix, one of which is better than the aforementioned video presentation. Dialogue is clean and intelligible throughout, while atmosphere helps to make the film better than it probably ever could be. Whether it be simple background dialogue, or little discrete effects like that of a car, a telephone ringing or the wind rustling, these tiny effects help to add a bit of chills to the mix.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:1/5]

All included features are presented in High Definition:

• Pawn : Behind the Scenes – This one runs 23:09 and serves as a look into the making of the film via cast and crew interviews, as well as a look into the direction of the film by David A. Armstrong.
• DVD – A DVD of the film has been included on a separate disc.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3.5/5]

Had Pawn not shown up on my doorstep for review, I probably would’ve never seen this one, which is a shame. With solid acting on nearly all fronts, and a faithful V/A presentation from Anchor Bay, Pawn comes recommended as a very strong rental.

Additional Screen Captures

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Best Buy:

Purchase Pawn on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

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Best Buy:

Purchase Pawn on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]