Snitch - 4K Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

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Snitch



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Movie: :4stars:
Video: :4.5stars:
Audio: :4.5stars:
Extras: :3stars:
Final Score: :4stars:



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Movie

It’s always fascinating to go back to the beginning of an actor’s career and look at their early works. Back in 2013 Dwayne Johnson was just coming off of being known only as “The Rock”, a hulking beast of a WWE wrestling star who starred in dumb action movies and whose most known physical feature (besides his enormous muscles) was the singular eyebrow raise known as “The People’s eyebrow” from his wrestling. It was around this time that Dwayne was trying to revamp his image into one of a SERIOUS actor, and even though Snitch was a real low budget (almost DTV) film, it was a chance for him to stretch his acting wings and try something different for a change. He had already been trying with such bombs as the remake of Get Smart and his rebranding into a children’s movie star in The Tooth Fairy (which is actually not that bad in comparison to Vin Diesel’s attempt at the same genre), but now he wanted to become a dramatic actor, and the subject of a father protecting his son from prison was the perfect opportunity.

Ric Roman Waugh says in the commentary that Dwayne (or The Rock to me, as that will forever how he will be known in my mind) was a shoe-in for the part of a distraught and determined father who was trying to get his son out of a bind. He wanted someone who looked and talked the part of a rock star, but also had the humility and desire to learn that Dwayne has so obviously demonstrated with his roles. One of the biggest appeals to me personally was the touchy subject matter of minimum sentencing in the war on drugs. Something that even I as a staunch conservative have issues with. For those of you not in the know, minimum sentencing in the war on drugs was an effort to make sure that there was FEAR in the hearts of every drug dealer. If they’re convicted there is no namby pamby judge letting off a drug dealer with a slap on the wrist. If you’re caught, and you’re in trouble you get a MANDATORY minimum sentence that usually had years of prison time. The only downside to this is little minor offenses and people with no violent crimes getting hammered with years of jail time even if all they did was handle a package for a buddy for a few bucks extra cash.

This is exactly what happens here in Snitch. Johnson is playing John Matthews, a salt of the earth man who owns his own construction company and is making a good living at doing so. He’s a family man and even though he’s estranged from his ex wife Sylvie (Melina Kanakaredes), he dearly loves his high school son Jason (Rafi Gavron). Things hit the fan when Jason gets mixed up in a deal gone south. Unbeknownst to John and Sylvie, Jason’s best friend deals drugs. When Jason innocently accepts a package from his buddy his world comes crashing down. The DEA has been tracking his buddy for ages and the package Jason accepts is actually full of drugs and they are waiting to pounce. Even though Jason had NO prior history or criminal record the mandatory minimum sentencing comes into play and the young kid is looking at SERIOUS jail time.
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With his son’s LITERAL future on the line, John steps in and offers to go undercover for the DEA and trades his own “service” for them dropping the charges against Jason. Now the father has to use his trucking company to ingratiate himself with the Mexican drug dealers and use them to slip drugs across the border, all the while giving information to the feds. A ploy that will put his own life at risk if the dealers find out that he’s betraying them.

Snitch is a very different sort of film for Dwayne Johnson. It’s no big blustery action film, but it’s still solid enough to have me tip my hat to it. The drama is intense and the minimal action is quite a blast to watch, but there is decidedly angry undertone to the film itself. You can tell that the writing staff was very obviously trying to give a message to the dangers of mandatory minimum sentencing and, while good intentioned, has a bad habit of scorched earthing quite a few people in the process who many not need the whole weight of the gavel down on their neck (something I myself struggle with as well). It’s tightly wound, completely compelling, AND based off a true story making it one of those films that I never saw coming. A good, solid, low budget thriller that hits most of the right check boxes for a great watch.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for drug content and sequences of violence




Video: :4.5stars:
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Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate pictures gave a near FLAWLESS encode to the Blu-ray about 4 years back, and I was really curious how the film would look on 4K UHD with that being said. The shoot was decidedly digital and unless Lionsgate/Summit re did the master, it was done with a 2K DI for the 4K film. Still, even without a full 4K master,
Snitch looks REALLY REALLY good on 4K. the uptick in quality is very apparent with even more textural detail than the 1080p disc, and the real upgrade comes from the HDR. The colors just pop off the screen with those cool blue/greens dominating the landscape. Clarity and sharpness enjoy a nice boost and the minimal banding that was present on the Summit disc is pretty much gone. It’s not a 100% perfect image as there is some mild softness (probably due to the 2K master), but it is a very impressive looking image in 4K.






Audio: :4.5stars:
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As with all of the new Lionsgate films (well, except for
Ex Machina, which sported a DTS:X track from the Blu-ray), Snitch is given a nice new shiny Dolby Atmos upgrade. An upgrade which is quite a nice track to listen to. Being that the movie really isn’t a blow-em up action movie the track is more subtle and refined, but there is quite a bit of activity to the mix. The simple action shots near the 2nd half of the movie take the brunt of the excitement, but the sounds of the rumbling trucks over pavement and the ambient noise from John’s construction company all come through with pinpoint preicison. The overheads are used very mildly, but the one aspect of the Atmos track that really shines is the ability to use the directional shifts to make ambient noises from seemingly random corners of the room. It’s a GOOD track, but it is a subtle upgrade over the 7.1 DTS-HD MA track that Summit put on the Blu-ray a few years back.






Extras: :3stars:
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Privileged Information: The Making of Snitch" Featurette
Audio Commentary with Co-Writer/Director Ric Roman Waugh and Editor Jonathan Chibnall
Deleted Scenes




Final Score: :4stars:


I really enjoyed Snitch more than I expected I would, and it was a fun entry for Dwayne Johnson to make more of himself than just the hulking beast or the cute kiddie comedian. The disc itself is a healthy upgrade over the Blu-ray (although all the extras are ON the Blu-ray), and the uptick in video quality is the most substantial reason to upgrade. I’m one to be hesitant over double dipping, but I’d have no qualms about grabbing this for the low teen price that Lionsgate is offering Snitch for. Good watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal
Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh
Written by: Ric Roman Waugh, Justin Haythe
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DD 2.0 (enhanced for Night Listening), French, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 112 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 6th, 2017






Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

Todd Anderson

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I think I reviewed this flick on its original release!

The Blu-ray was a gorgeous looking film... nice story too. This isn't one that should ignored on 4K. As Mike points out: Solid Film with great audio and video!
 

Michael Scott

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yes you did. I remember that. Your review inspired me to buy the Blu-ray because the trailer was underwhelming.
 

Todd Anderson

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Back in the day ;-)

I guess you'd consider this a sleeper... because it certainly didn't make many waves in the commercial setting.

Was this original released as a TrueHD track? It seems like just about everything worth its salt was released as DTS-HD MA back in the heyday of Blu-ray. I'm guessing that the rapid push toward Atmos is purely marketing?
 

Michael Scott

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Back in the day ;-)

I guess you'd consider this a sleeper... because it certainly didn't make many waves in the commercial setting.

Was this original released as a TrueHD track? It seems like just about everything worth its salt was released as DTS-HD MA back in the heyday of Blu-ray. I'm guessing that the rapid push toward Atmos is purely marketing?

DTS-HD MA 7.1.... Lionsgate/Summit almost ALWAYS had DTS for their tracks. Atmos is most likely because it's the dominant audio format for next gen while DTS was for Blu-ray (there were lots of TrueHD tracks, but it was very much second fiddle to DTS in numbers)
 

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Call me crazy... but I always felt like DTS-HD MA sounded better than TrueHD tracks. TrueHD (on my system) just seemed to be a tad abrasive and less refined. Did you find that to be the case?

I've been hoping that DTS:X would pick up steam... but Atmos captured the branding aspect. I'm not sure anyone is going to catch Dolby at this point.
 

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I remember picking this one up after reading your review, Todd! It looks like this maybe a good upgrade. Thanks for the review, Mike!
 

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Glory days, my friend! Glory days! :T

I still have a copy in my collection...waiting for a rainy day.
 

Michael Scott

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It's def worth the upgrade if you enjoy the film
 

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Hmmm... trailer is still underwhelming, but you guys are talking me right into the 4K version... bad boys!

I am a huge Dewayne Johnson fan... he is a great actor to be a big time wrestler (who are so well know for their fake style and lack of being able to act).

Headed to Amazon!
 

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Wow! Not a bad price at all for 4K at only $16.77
 

Michael Scott

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yup, the three Lionsgate 4K UHD discs that have been released this coming up Tuesday (Ex Machina, Dredd and Snitch) have all been priced that way.


and yeah, it's a VERY different movie than Dwayne's normal fare. It's got some action, but is more a brooding thriller/drama than anything
 

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Total under the radar material...

In about a month a lot of these titles are going to be floating around the used market for $10 or less...
 
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