Unleashed (HD DVD)

Plot: What’s it about?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never really been too much of a fan of martial arts movies. While I’ll agree that they’re not all alike, it’s just never really been a genre that I’ve found too interesting. But I do like to watch anything and everything in High Definition (just the other day I was watching poker in HD, if that tells you anything) and when “Unleashed” showed up, I decided to give it a shot. Right off the bat, this isn’t your typical martial arts movie. Yes, it stars world renown Jet Li in the lead role of Danny (“Unleashed” is also known as “Danny the Dog”) and the movie was written by none other than Luc Besson (“The Professional” and “The Fifth Element”). And the more I think of it, the movie has Besson’s stamp all over it – it’s part of what makes the movie work. The movie has a rather obscure cast with Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman in the leads as well. So…I’m intrigued. A rather good, eclectic cast with a martial arts superstar in a movie that’s more about healing than fighting? Ok!

Danny (Jet Li) was orphaned at a young age and “found” by Bart (Bob Hoskins). Bart’s a small time gangster, who makes his living by going around London collecting debts owed to him. In order to persuade people to pay, he brings along Danny. If they refuse to pay, Bart removes Danny’s collar and once “unleashed” (pun intended), he becomes a relentless killing machine. This system has worked and keeps everyone involved seemingly happy. We see that Danny is literally treated like a dog – leash and all. He’s given scraps of food, lives in a cage and is deprived of everything that anyone could have. So we don’t feel too sorry when Bart and his crew are gunned down and Danny manages to escape. Danny had bonded with a blind piano tuner named Sam (Morgan Freeman) and manages to find him again. Sam is a nice person and with his step-daughter, Victoria (Kerry Condon) the three form an unusual bond and an even more unusual family. Weeks pass and they manage to bring Danny out of his shell. They educate him, teach him how to cook and buy him new clothes. There’s even talk of bringing him back to New York when Danny runs into Bart and his crew. Will Danny show loyalty to the person who raised him to be a killer or his new family?

I really found “Unleashed” to be a much better movie than I had expected. Freeman plays his parts with such sincerity and honesty that it’s very easy to see him in most any role he plays. He speaks with such serenity that it’s nearly impossible to find the man threatening. The same goes for Jet Li who plays his part to a tee here. I’ve not seen many (if any) Jet Li movies, but I’m guessing that his English is very limited. Granted, the guy is probably one of the toughest men in the world, but you can’t help but feel sorry for him in his role here. I don’t know if it’s a credit to Besson’s script, the cast or the story or possibly a combination of all three but “Unleashed” really worked here. If you want action, you got it and if you want a great story – well…you have that too.

Video: How does it look?

“Unleashed” is one of a very few of Universal’s HD-DVD’s that is shown in a combo format. That’s to say that the standard DVD and the HD-DVD are included on one disc. Naturally I watched the HD version for this review and I flipped the disc over to compare it to the standard DVD for some key scenes. As with most DVD’s and HD-DVD’s when you compare the two side by side, the difference is very noticeable; it’s just a higher quality of picture that you’re getting. The edge enhancement is gone, detail is more defined and prevalent and there just seems to be an overall smoothness to the picture that’s not present on the standard DVD. The color palette used is so washed out and in greenish hues, that it has a very stylized look and feel to it. The very wide 2.35:1 image looks stunning no matter how you look at it, but the HD-DVD version is certainly the way to go.

Audio: How does it sound?

The Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack doesn’t disappoint either, during some of the key scenes I heard something from every channel and it does a lot to give the movie some more ambiance. A majority of the movie is dialogue-driven, though the action scenes are where this really shines. As one might imagine, the 5.1 channels light up when Jet Li gets going. Compared to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack on the standard DVD, there’s not a whole lot of difference though I felt that the Dolby Digital Plus had a bit more depth to it. Either one is fine, though the Dolby Digital Plus wins the match here.

Supplements: What are the extras?

Part of the benefit of buying an HD-DVD is that you get all of the supplements that you’d get with the Unrated cut of this DVD. Granted, the supplements aren’t that robust and we start off with “Serve No Master” which showcases the fight scenes choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping. “The Collar Comes Off” is merely a behind the scenes featurette with some interviews with the cast and crew and some additional footage. There’s a brief interview with Director Louis Leterrier and a couple of music videos. “Unleashed” isn’t your typical martial arts movie, in my opinion – it’s a bit better.