Bullet Train - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Bullet Train



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


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Movie
I’m going to warn you straight out of the gate. Bullet Train is not going to be a serious action movie. In fact, it’s completely insane, ridiculous, inane, bizarre, and just a neon drenched Tokyo anime action scene brought to life in a 2 hour blood soaked version of Crash meets Murder on the Orient Express. Just with a lot more guns, quips, and over the top cameos and performances by the same director who brought us some “sane” fare as Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

Starting off innocently enough, we’re introduced to “Ladybug” (Brad Pitt), an unlucky assassin who is trying to get his life on the right track thanks to some Zen Buddhism and a therapist named Barry before being whisked away on a last minute snatch and grab assignment by his handler Maria (Sandra Bullock). However, getting on the bullet train to Kyoto and snatching a silver briefcase with a sticker of a train on it is jjuuuuuuust a bit more than he anticipated. Not only does he have to grab a brief case from an unnamed target, but Ladybug ends up dodging twin assassins named Tangerine and Lemon (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry respectively), a venomous snake roaming the train, a Mexican Assassin known as “The wolf” (Bad Bunny) who has mistaken Ladybug for someone else, a few more assassins that no one knows about yet, and general mayhem when he realizes that the briefcase belongs to the biggest mob boss in all of Japan (ironically played by Michael Shannon), known as “The White Death”). All in a day’s work.

Bullet Train is pure gonzo stupidity. It starts out with just a few quick witticisms, but as the plot unfolds and we find out that it’s a giant setup, everything goes haywire. The movie doesn’t shy away from just going full on crazy with the action, making it very clear that this is not just a scenario of style over substance, but rather style BEING the substance. The plot of who is trying to kill who, and who is trustworthy (at least enough to survive on) or not, and who has set everything up for a final confrontation is almost irrelevant. IN fact, I’d say that they pretty much wink and nod at the audience right from the beginning, using a sort of Guy Ritchie style of narrative structure that fills in the details as the movie goes along through a series of flash backs and stylistic side trails in the story. What’s really the focus of the movie is the pure gonzo action that is beyond nuts.

I actually had way more fun with Bullet Train than I expected going in. I had heard some pretty mediocre reviews from its theatrical run, but once I realized that it was best to just turn my brain off at the door and let the insanity flow over the viewer, those trepidations and fears washed away, leaving me with a big sloppy grin on my face as we watched a live action anime unfold. Everyone was obviously having a blast, with Michael Shannon hamming it up as a Russian (turned Japanense) Yakuza boss, Brad Pitt Channeling his character from The Lost City, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson just basking in the glorious spotlight of being an over the top assassin. Not to mention the clever use of flash backs, bloody fights and general style being the substance level of winking at the camera that we get to enjoy. And of course, we actually get to see Channing Tatum make a cameo ore two in the film as well.




Rating:

Rated R for strong and bloody violence, pervasive language, and brief sexuality.




4K Video: Video:

Shot with Arri Alexa mini and SXT 35mm, Bullet Train is a magenta and neon infused demo disc with some INCREDIBLE cinematography. Shot using a variety of different techniques to make full use of the train’s length, the entire image is bright, shiny, full of neon infused Tokyo colorings, and some AMAZING detail levels. Facial details tend to be vivid and sharp, but I noticed a weird habit for the film to have razor sharp focus on the center of the screen, but get progressively softer and more out of focus the closer to the edge of the screen you get. Kind of like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but on a more subtle stage of use. The HDR and Dolby Vision are simply incredible though, making everything pop simply because every color on the train is hyper aggressive and stylized. The Blu-ray tended to look a bit muted and soft in comparison, but the blacks, the white hair of Lemon, or the neon infused outfit for Hornet literally almost blind you. Simply put, this is a MASSIVELY colored film that is spot on perfect for showing off to friends as a demo disc as it really makes use of the 4K format and the added color gradings.





Audio:

Like usual, Sony upgrades the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track from the Blu-ray to a full on Dolby Atmos track for the 4K UHD disc. And while the mix isn’t WILDLY different from the 5.1 track, it is distinctly enhanced with the overhead usage and the deft way sound positioning shifts during all of the chaotic action going on. Bass is powerful and punchy with gunshots rattling off, or the pounding of the train going over the tracks. Surrounds are used incredibly well, literally sucking the listener into the center of the action and throwing things at them from literally every angle. Overheads get some nice workout with bullets popping up from below to the top of the train, or the rushing winds that whip overhead as Yakuza try and walk their way on top of the train (I got a good cackle out of that). Dialog is crisp and clean in the front as expected, and overall this is pure auditory candy for the ears.











Extras:

• Outtakes & Bloopers
• Catch What You Missed: Easter Eggs
• All Aboard the Pain Train: Stunts
• Mission Accomplished: Making of Bullet Train
• Trained Professionals: The Cast
• Select Stunt Previs
• Audio Commentary with David Leitch, Kelly McCormick & Zak Olkewicz

Final Score:
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Is Bullet Train a good movie? Absolutely not. It’s a terrible piece of throwaway fluff garbage. But it’s a very tasty piece of garbage that is pure unadulterated mindless fun if you have the foresight to not really niptick the film to death. It’s gory, violent, silly, and as I said before, pretty much a live action anime movie without actually TRYING to be an Anime adaptation. I had an absolute blast and was grinning from ear to ear knowing this was Guy Ritchie lite action with just enough flair and style to be a cheesy popcorn movie. The 4K UHD disc is just stunning, with killer audio and great video, making this one of those “big dumb demo discs” that us home theater nerds love so much. Stupidly fun watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King, Biran Tyree-Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Channing Tatum, Sandra Bullock
Directed by: David Leitch
Written by: Zak Olkewicz
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French (Canada) DD 5.1, Portugeuse, Thai, Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Runtime: 126 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 18th, 2022

Recommendation: Stupidly Fun Watch

 

[Epoxy1]

I gave it 4/5 due to the unexpected humor. It's definitely something I could watch again.

BTW...Bullock looks horrible. Her plastic surgeon should lose his medical license.

 

[Michael Scott]

I gave it 4/5 due to the unexpected humor. It's definitely something I could watch again.

BTW...Bullock looks horrible. Her plastic surgeon should lose his medical license.

lol, I noticed that right off the bat. that was some serious surgery mess ups. she didn't even look that bad in that blind bird movie lol