S.W.A.T.: Under Siege - Blu-Ray Review

[Michael Scott]

S.W.A.T.: Under Siege




Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
The original S.W.A.T. in 2003 with Samuel L. Jackson, L.L. Cool J, and Jeremy Renner was a decent enough hit. I still enjoy the cheesy action film to this day and have both the Sony and the Mill Creek Blu-rays (I own the Mill Creek one just to have Basic) and give them a spin every once in a while. It’s the epitome of a name brand guilty pleasure from Sony, but the sequels are the poster child for DTV sequels. The subsequent films like S.W.A.T. Firefight and SWAT: Unit 887 have no resemblance to the original film except in name only (there’s no real ties to ANY of the films in fact), and Under Siege carries that torch proudly. Barely holding any resemblance to any of the films prior, Under Siege is the very definition of a capable DTV movie. It stars a decently big name action star who is on the decline for his career, plenty of solid action, and a plot that is taken right out of the “how to do a Direct to Video action movie” playback. It doesn’t embarrass itself with horrible action and poor editing, but it doesn’t wildly impress either. It just happens to be a solid mid level film that does everything well enough without calling attention to itself.

Travis Hall (Sam Jaeger) and his S.W.A.T. team is called into action on the 4th of July to foil the plot of a master criminal. After a raid with DEA goes bad, the team take into custody a mysterious man with no identity and bring the apocalypse (so to speak) down on top of themselves. This man, code named “Scorpion” (Michael Jai White), seems to a be person of interest, but soon becomes a hot potatoes when international crime lord named Lars Cohagen (Matthew Marsden) makes it clear that he will stop at nothing to take custody of their mysterious criminal. Soon it becomes clear that “Scorpion” is more than who he seems to be, and Lars Cohagen will stop at NOTHING to get him back. This means Travis and his team of elite S.W.A.T. agents are in for a rough day as they are forced to protect Scorpion and get out alive, all the while searching out a hidden mole who is feeding Lars information about their situation.

S.W.A.T.: Under Siege is the epitome of a capable DTV movie. It does everything decently enough. Good action, decent story, and doesn’t embarrass itself in the process like your typical Stephen Seagal movie. There’s nothing inventive or great about the plot, but it works. It really feels like they replicated 12 Rounds 3 with the plot of being under siege from criminals, but then again, most modern action movies are nothing but a retread of films that have come before it. Under Siege has our heroes hunkering down in their training building and defeating wave after wave of bad guys who are hired by the maniacal drug lord. Rinse, repeat and giggle as Michael Jai White kicks and punches his way through the bad guys, and Sam Jaeger shoots the rest.

I was actually really impressed with Under Siege, but not for being a good movie. I was impressed that it could walk the tight rope of “middle of the road” so very well, never falling into the doldrums of pure garbage, but never rising above that level either. Everyone does their job appropriately, and the action is actually pretty well done. There’s some quick cuts, but it’s not laden down with copious amounts of stunt doubles and 15 million cuts. Michael Jai White is an incredible martial artist, and while there isn’t a whole lot that he can do to really shine, his hand to hand combat scenes are easily the best of the movie. Adrianne Palicki and Sam Jaeger are capable enough as the stoic leads, but the film really doesn’t have that many surprises. We all all know who the mole is from the minute the movie starts, and we’re really in this just to see things blow up and people get their teeth kicked in.




Rating:

Rated R for violence and language throughout




Video:

The 1.78:1 encode Blu-ray is more than capable of pulling off a DTV film, as the disc really entails mostly close up shots of the actors with some mild CGI thrown in for the battle shots. Usually I’m wincing at this point as the cheap CGI blood splatter looks horrific, but the action is motly close quarters and the blood spray CGI debacle is kept to a minimum. Colors are decently accurate and the grey interior of the S.W.A.T. compound shows pretty solid details all around. There’s some mild banding at the beginning and during the darkest shots, but it’s a fairly clean looking encode that really doesn’t have a whole lot of technical flaws to go along with it’s cheap budget.





Audio:

Just like the video encode, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix does exactly what it sets out to be. A solid, middle of the road, action flick with bangs, booms and enough immersion to have me give a nod to the creators. Dialog is strong and well placed, and the action oriented film crams enough surround usage and LFE into the track to make it loud and aggressive. Surrounds get filled with fits flying, bullets impacting walls behind you, and the LFE channel is alive and well with gunshots sounding impressively weighty. It’s not a highly nuanced rack, but there is enough rousing activity to keep it powerful and exciting.

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Extras:

• Previews

Final Score: ​

S.W.A.T.: Under Siege doesn’t put up very lofty goals, but it does manage to accomplish them pretty easily. There’s a ton of flaws in the basic plot and premise, but the resulting action and steely jawed acting fits in well with the generic action thriller. I was expecting a complete train wreck of epic proportions, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw and was actually entertained. Basically on part with your average Jean Claude Van Damme film and just about as well produced. Don’t go in expecting Die Hard and you won’t be disappointed. Audio and video are solid, although the only extras on the disc are a couple of measly trailers. Worth it as a fun DTV diversion if you like that kind of thing.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Michael Jai White, Adrianne Palicki, Sam Jaegar
Directed by: Tony Giglio
Written by: Keith Dominique, Jonas Barnes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, Hungarian, Russian DD 5.1
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Runtime: 89 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 1st, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun DTV Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will add this to the list for rentals.