Sisu - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Sisu



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


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Movie
I almost thought we weren’t going to be reviewing this one (and so did a lot of other reviewers judging by how late we got copies), but Lionsgate came through with a late delivered review copy, and I actually get to opine about what I consider to one of the best surprises this year outside of Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. I won’t bore you with a multi-paragraph synopsis on why I’ve considered Hollywood to be in creative freefall recently, with more and more product, but less and less entertainment coming out of it. However, I have been pleasantly surprised the last 12 months with old school films like Top Gun: Maverick, John Wick 4, The Covenant and now Sisu just blasting through expectations and actually giving me hope that the movie industry can thrive once more.

Kind of like John Wick, I consider Sisu to be a great action flick. Maybe not a great movie in general, but a truly great, old fashioned, action movie that has those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s grinning ear from ear. Sisu tells a bare bones tale with just the right amount of heart, and TONS of gory, over the top, action that makes the audience want to scream “oh yeah!” at the screen with every body part dismembered, and every time the main character dices up another Nazi. Kind of like Indiana Jones (the originals of course), there’s not an insane amount of plot going on. There’s a dog, a tough as nails super commando who just wants to be left alone, and there is Nazis. Nazis which our protagonist gets to punch, kick, shoot, explode, and generally use as chew toys on his adventure. Simple, effective, and just what the doctor ordered.

The second World War is coming to a close, and the Nazis are losing badly. However, one Finnish soldier decides that he’s just done with all the killing, and sets off into the Finnish country to pan for gold with his dog, just wanting to be left ALONE. In that simple solitude said soldier (later known as Aatami, played by Jorma Tommila) actually strikes a vein of gold. And I’m not talking about a thin vein. This is a full on fat vein that weighs down his horse and is going to make Aatami rich. Heading to the nearest settlement to cash out and live the good life, the lone wanderer comes across Colonel Bruno (Aksel Hennie) and his retreating Nazi forces who have been ordered to leave Finland and come home.

Bruno’s men decide to get frisky and steal his gold, shoot at his dog (oooooo, they obviously did NOT watch John Wick) and execute him just out of cruelty, and well...you guessed it. Aatami turns around and goes full on super commando on the troops, killing the squad that stayed to do the dirty work, grabbing his gold, and heading back into the wilderness in hopes of escaping. Sadly said hopes were a bit premature, as Bruno and the rest of his men turn back around and leave him for dead with a noose around his neck, and his gold in their coffers. As they always say, double tap and make sure your man is dead before you leave! Cuz Aatami isn’t exactly dead yet, but he’s going to make dang sure that every one who took is gold ends up that way.

You can tell that Inglorious Basterds and John Wick were huge influences in director/writer Jalmari Helander’s film. It plays out simply, exactly how you would expect, and that is NOT a negative against the film. There’s no massive CGI, there’s no overly bloated story. This is a simplistic revenge style movie that made John Wick an overnight success. And it WORKS! That simple plot just WORKS. Aatami isn’t really a good guy (he’s a brutal ex Finnish super commando with blood lust), it’s just that the evil Nazis are that much worse, and we want to see him survive and win. Plus, it’s not a bad thing when you have a cute dog around that Germans are taking pot shots at (spoiler, yes, the dog does survive, don’t worry) to get the audience in line with Aatami’s views and actions.

To top it all off, not only is Sisu a rather large success among audiences and film festivals, the slap in the face to Hollywood is that it was done on a budget of 6 million Euros. Yes, in a world where a big name film is hundreds of millions with marketing, and a low budget film like The Covenant was over 50 million, coming in at 6 Million Euros (around 6.7 million USD) and garnering such popularity is a feat in and of it self.




Rating:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore and language




4K Video: Video:

Sisu looks great in 2160p, with a beautiful landscape that boasts fiery red and brown tinges against blue and gray backdrops to create a very unique visual appearance. Fine details are spectacular throughout, showing every crag and dirty brown fox hole that Aatami dives into, or the lines and creases on his rough hewn face, splattered with grime, mud and blood residue. The green grasses stand out as steeply contrasted to the dirt and grime of the world, as does the bright blue sky as well. HDR/Dolby Vision applications add a sense of depth and deepness to the colors, especially in the darker bits. I didn’t even notice any banding in the underwater scene in the 4K disc (which did show up on the Blu-ray), which is a feat in and of itself. Droplets of blood show sparkling clarity, and every time I looked in a shadow, I could make out every outline and nuance. Except for some black crush here and there, and a few soft long distance shots, this is a near perfect looking encode.









Audio:

The ONLY complaint I’m going to make about this release is the fact that it comes with a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track, when the film debuted with Atmos, and the Kaleidoscope digital format comes with an Atmos track. Especially since the sheer brutality and explosiveness of the track screams for it. That being said, this is still a fantastic audience experience in “simple” 5.1. The action is boisterous and full of life, with great use of the surrounds and LFE channel to create a very encompassing and engulfing sonic experience. Bass isn’t overly intrusive either, but rather adds plenty of weight when needed, and doesn’t sound one notish or boomy. Dialog is crisp and clear where you would expect it (although it was a Finnish movie it was recorded in native English) and all in all this is a very impressive sounding track.







Extras:

• Indestructable
• Pushing the Boundaries of Reality

Final Score: ​

Simply put, Sisu is pretty awesome. It has a fairly well done story that balances the 80s style simplicity of the story telling with great use of practical effects, and audiences have simply been STARVING for content like this. No matter how much we have become used to tentpole films, there is a HUGE desire for basic storytelling and content that the audience can actually connect with, so it seems that films like Sisu, The Covenant and even the John Wick series are actually more appealing than pop culture films and Super hero flicks. (Now I’m off to see it for the 3rd time in the last 48 hours). The 4K UHD disc looks and sounds great, but has some fairly anemic extras. But don’t let that dissuade you from picking up one of my favorite watches of the year.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, Onni Tommila
Directed by: Jalmari Helander
Written by: Jalmari Helander
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish, French DD 5.1, English DVS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, English
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 91 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 11th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check this out.

 

[MusicManLen]

Best Buy has the Steelbook 4K version and they are the only one that does so you better get one quick before they are gone.