Preman: Silent Fury - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Preman: Silent Fury



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
When you think of Asian action movies the first few countries that come to mind is Hong Kong, China, Thailand, and even South Korea has been kicking butt the last decade. However, Indonesia has gained some popularity over the years, with Iko Uwais really pushing the nation into the Western Hemisphere with films like Merantau, The Raid, The Raid 2: Redemption with his Silat style of martial arts. Seeing the trailer for Preman: Silent Fury I immediately perked up as I was hoping to get another high flying Silat film, but was met with a much stranger and more raw experience than I was expecting when I sat down to watch the film.

Sandi (Paul Agusta) is a deaf Indonesian gangster known as a “Preman”. A set of gangsters known for their brutality and vigilante justice that they mete out as they see fit. Sandi runs amuck of his own masters when his son witnesses a murder and refuses to stay silent. Turning against his former employers, Sandi and his son are forced to go on the run as the Preman forces close in around him.

If my synopsis of the film is seems short there’s good reason for it. That brief paragraph pretty much highlights what happens in the film. Sandi literally spends most of the 90 minute film dodging gangsters, a gay assassin who uses his barber shears and scissors as weapons, a fat Preman who would rather do musicals than kill people, and a police officer who desperately doesn’t want to get involved before he gets killed by the Preman too.

Interestingly enough, there is elements of French cinema as well, and glimpses of spaghetti westerns. Ramon, the hair dressing assassin, enters the scenes with twangy 1960s Sergio Leone music, and twirls his scissors around like they’re six shooters. There’s even zoom ins and zoom outs ala those old films as well. The movie is also almost psychedelic and Tarantinish in parts too. Especially when Sandi is mentally dealing with his past trauma that made him the character that he is today.

The movie is rough and not nearly as chaotic and polished as Gareth Evans The Raid films. Instead it’s almost part art house, part action movie, and part drama. The acting comes across as sort of amateurish at times, and the dialog gets a bit cheesy, but the movie gets really impactful when it starts dealing with Sandi’s past. Especially when you see the flash back sequences that clue the audience in to why he’s dealing with his demons, and how he became deaf in the first place. The scene with his ex wife out in the country is also emotionally drawing, and up until Ramon shows up shows promise of being rather powerful. That being said, the movie has a hard time with pacing, and definitely feels rough around the edges. Not Thai action movie rough, but still definitely not as well polished as it could have been. It just has a very gonzo tone and texture, even when Sandi is going crazy inside and things lean artsy.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The film has very little info on it about shooting methods and resolution, but I’m going to lean heavily into the theory that it’s a digitally shot movie with a 2K master unless proven otherwise. The movie is sort of gritty and grungy looking, with lots of grays and desaturated color tones intermingled with splashes of primary colors. The black levels suffer a bit and get a tad noisy, and even the daylit scenes are not overly bright and full of details. General detail levels are solid enough, and the colors of a bright red shirt, or a green countryside do occasionally pop. Like the movie itself, the image looks very much like an exploitation film and that is just something that’s never going to be SUPER pretty.









Audio:

The audio comes in both Indonesian and English DTS-HD MA 5.1, and honestly, both tracks are super similar. Even me who always sticks to the original language tracks found both dubs to be both reasonably well done. Sound mixing is also pretty much identical. Personally I found the bass to be a bit light and the surround usage middle of the road, otherwise this is a perfectly well done track that does most things well. Action has the surrounds kicking a good bit, and when NECESSARY we do get a few pops in the bass department. Dialog is crystal clear and centered up front as well. All around good track that isn’t super powerful, but has very little wrong with it as well.












Extras:

• Well Go USA Previews
• Trailer

Final Score: ​

Preman: Silent Fury is rather interesting. On one hand it is a bit hard to follow, and a bit low budget all around, but director Zaini does a solid job at making an emotionally appealing and draining movie at the same time. He doesn’t shy away from abject brutality and death that shock the audience with how easy it is for the characters to do, and yet have an emotional heart at the same time. I was initially hoping for a standard Silat style action movie when I went in, but came out rather pleasantly surprised despite the very rough edges of the film. Decent rental if you’re a fan of non traditional Asian action movies.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Paul Agusta, Putri Ayudya, Khiva Iskak
Directed by: Randolph Zaini
Written by: Marian Bushan, Mykola Voronin
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Indonesian DTS-HD MA 5,1, English, Indonesian DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 92 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 27th, 2022

Recommendation: Decent Rental