The Substitute - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Substitute



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Ahhh, The Substitute. For those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s, we lived in a veritable treasure trove of action movies (both good and bad). Die Hard 3, Under Siege, Rush Hour, The Last Action Hero, Patriot Games, etc., etc., etc. But then there were those films like The Substitute. C- grade movies that lived in the bargain bin at Walmart and were basically a part of every “4 pack of movies on 2 double-sided DVDs” out there on the end caps. It was a movie so bad that even Tom Berenger never returned for the sequels (which were even more terrible, although Treat Williams actually played a better action star due to actually knowing martial arts). But hey, Vestron Video in 4K? Tom Berenger giving us horrible lines? Is Ernie Hudson giving the only reasonable performance out of the bunch? Yeah, I’m in.

Basically, 21 Jump Street meets Sniper, we have Tom Berenger playing an ex-mercenary coming home to his girlfriend Jane (Diane Venora) after his entire special ops unit was retired by the upper brass. There, he finds that she’s teaching at a rundown urban school, where even the nice kids abuse her. After barely escaping with her life and getting a broken kneecap for her troubles, Shale (Berenger’s super duper tough guy name) decides to go undercover at the school to find out who did it to her. But after getting in (without papers or ID, I might add), Shale finds out the school thugs are doing more than just beat up their teachers. It seems the place is an obvious front for dealing drugs (kids driving around in Mercedes and Bentleys), and it’s up to him to figure out who is running the ring and put a stop to them in the only way he knows how. Fists and bullets.

The Substitute may be a TV movie, but it’s bad even for a 90s TV movie. The plot meanders into every cliché known at the time, with Berenger basically playing his character from Sniper, just with 30-year-old “high school kids” acting as his foils. The action is downright hilarious (man, Berenger needed to stick to using guns. His hand-to-hand combat skills are painful to watch), and it's not helped any by the completely predictable screenplay. Shale gets to turn the “kids” around through tough love and devotion, and in the process, he gets to beat up drug dealers and corrupt officials.

Berenger’s acting is lazy, Diane’s isn’t much better, but what’s weird is the fact that some decent character actors get to show up as his mercenary squad mates. Luis Guzman, William Forsythe, and Raymond Cruz all make brief appearances (mostly at the end) to help him out and wildly overact in their roles. Heck, William Forsythe even outdoes the craziness of his Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo role. But what stands out the most is watching Ernie Hudson play his role as school principal completely straight-faced, despite all of the absurdity surrounding him. And frankly, he’s the only one who gives a believable and down-to-earth performance. Maybe not Oscar-winning, but certainly very reasonable for a 90s action flick.

All the ragging and tearing down of the film aside, I guiltily like The Substitute. It’s not nearly as unwatchable as the sequels (which need copious amounts of booze to finish), and the over-the-top bad dialogue and poor action sequences make it almost endearing. Sure, you can see the ending coming a mile away. But The Substitute is pure Vestron Video trash fun for the action genre. In much the same way they did with their horror offerings.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence, language, and brief nudity




4K Video: Video:

Well, I can tell you for a fact that having The Substitute come out in 4K UHD was NOT on my bingo card for 2026. But frankly, I’m here for it. The more 4K, the merrier! Presented in 4K UHD via their online store, the 1.85:1 HEVC encoded transfer looks rather good for what it is. The Substitute has always had a very grungy look to it, with heavy grain, a flat and monochromatic gray/brown look to it, and low color saturation. But all that aside, this is a solid-looking transfer taking that all into account. Fine details are really good all the way around, with only small moments of softness and black crush to break up the image. According to the package, this was given a newer 4K remaster (no details on the process), and the lo-fi image may not look amazing by modern standards. But given the aesthetics of how it was shot, I doubt we’ll ever see it in any better manner. The HDR grading is OK, but as I have repeated above, the grungy and monochromatic visuals don’t give it much to work with. It certainly polishes things up a bit (especially the black levels), but there is no way to really get it any better.









Audio:

Just like having a 4K UHD release of this film wasn’t on my bingo card, neither was the film getting the Atmos treatment either (on both the 4K UHD and the Blu-ray disc, I might add). This is not exactly a film I was expecting that sort of treatment, but I’ll take the surprises and be happy. Sure, the mix is not going to blow your socks off, but it’s a perfectly functional audio track that was typical of late 90s DTV films. Dialog is strong with good channel separation up front. But the surrounds are a bit anemic (same with the overheads). Bass isn’t overly intense for most of the film, but the last 20 minutes utilize that super hot “gunshots sound like howitzer” motif, which adds some flavor to things. Overall, solid enough for sure.












Extras:

• Power is Achieved is Power Perceived: Director Robert Mandel on The Substitute
• Color Grade is in Session
• Bullet Points: Storyboard to Film Exploration
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

The Substitute is pure, unadulterated, 90s trash cinema. It tried to rip off 21 Jump Street, Dangerous Minds, and add in some of Sniper to the mix. It’s objectively a terrible movie, but the grunge aesthetic, horrible 1990s fashion (there was good fashion and bad fashion in the 90s, but the costume department chose ALLLLL of the bad fashion from the 90s to use for this gem), make it almost endearing. Lionsgate did an admirable job with the remaster here, and the addition of an Atmos track was pleasantly surprising. Extras are a tad mediocre, but I’ll forgive them as I doubt there is a ton of material out there for them. Skip this movie if you’re sane. But if you’re sort of mentally unbalanced, or a glutton for punishment who likes bad C- tier action movies (like me), then you will want to at least test this out and be happy with Lionsgate’s physical package.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Berenger, Raymond Cruz, William Forsythe, Luis Guzman
Directed by: Robert Mandrel
Written by: Roy Frumkes, Rocco Simonelli, Alan Ormsby
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core)
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 114 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 17th, 2026

Recommendation: For the Fans of schlock action movies