Kandahar - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Kandahar



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
It’s pretty common knowledge that unless you establish yourself as one of the “legends” of Hollywood, pretty much every popular actor has an unset shelf life for their “in the spotlight” career. Gerard Butler was a blast during the action heydays of the early and mid 2010s, with films like 300, Law Abiding Citizen and his Die Hard clone trilogy Angel Has Fallen, but over the years his time in the sun has come and gun. Leaving us with generic action movies that are either boring as all get out, or simply just middle of the road. Luckily for us today, Kandahar is the latter and not the former, meaning that while it may not be a blockbuster mega hit, is certainly entertaining enough as a popcorn flick knockoff of The Covenant.

Tom Harris (Gerard Butler) is an undercover agency man who is finishing up a cover operation and coming home to see what little of a family he has left, only for one last job to push him into dangerous territory once more. This time the job itself is compromised when a top secret NOC list of all agents in the field falls into Iranian hands, leaving Harris exposed in enemy territory, and other countries other than Iran hunting for him in an effort to make a martyr out of the CIA operative. With time running out and enemies closing in, Harris has to use the help of only his CIA translator to get to his extraction point in Kandahar while avoiding the soldiers coming his way.

Yeah, you’re not going to get a super deep and emotional story like The Covenant was last month. This is your typical run of the mill action movie, with Butler player the quippy and hard nosed tough guy agent who has to basically slip, dodge, punch, and shoot his way through an army of men to get out in one piece. Simple, effective, but not exactly ground breaking. The film has a lot going for it with some solid action and Butler chewing his way through the scenery, but the film struggles with a ponderous front half that spends way too much time setting up the story to come, that by the time the real action gets here the film has sort of lost steam..

There’s also a heavy layer of complexity to the different factions and groups after Harris, which is both a good and bad thing. Good in the sense that it adds some depth and nuance to the story, but bad in the sense that things can get a little too bogged down in side stories and side motivations rather than pushing ahead with the action oriented narrative of Harris getting out alive. Personally I felt that the flick could have used 20 or so minutes of trimming down and it would have been a much leaner and more smoothly flowing bit, but as is, the film is cumbersome and meandering, despite having a really good lead and a solid enough (if not a bit well worn and rote) premise.




Rating:

Rated R for Violence and Language




Video:

Universal’s 2.39:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray is going to satisfy just about everybody with a rock solid transfer that hits all of the major points without problem. The film is crisp and digitally clean, with strong ambers and golden shading to stylize the film’s aesthetics, as well as spot on detail levels in daylight shots. Night time shots show black crush and a little bit of digital noise, but not enough to truly every become bothersome. Red blood, green grass, honey colored sunlight pouring through a window. All really pop off the screen with a deeply saturated color palette that really impresses all around.









Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is probably the single best piece of the entire package. Powerful and aggressive, the film uses in your face action sequences, and some really awesome explosions hear and there (the bomb going off after Harris completes their first mission is chest rattling and the highlight of the bass portion of the track) to make a very exciting action mix. Dialog is crisp and well placed in the center of the room, and surrounds get quite a lot of use with gunfire, helicopter blades, and general action ambiance bleeding through from the side channels. Bass is deep and powerful (as mentioned with the explosions), but also knows when to fade in to the background with the more talky “spy heavy” portions of the movie. All around great mix.












Extras:

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Final Score: ​

Kandahar is a solid lower to mid end action for Gerard Butler, but certainly a lot better than some of the boring drek he’s been doing recently. The movie is a bit cumbersome and bloated, but still entertaining enough to be a fun rental on a Friday night. Universal’s Blu-ray looks and sounds really good, though there is a dearth of extras on the disc which makes it a once and done experience for most. All in all, solid enough fun, but firmly in the rental category.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Rhys Harries, Farhad Bagheri, Nina Toussaint-White, Fazard Asadi
Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh
Written by: Mitchell LaFortune
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime:120 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: July 18th, 2023

Recommendation: Decent Rental