[REVIEW] John Wick On Blu-Ray: A Must Own!
Runtime: 151 Mins (Total)
Rated: R
What To Expect: The return of Keanu Reeves in a movie with balls of absolute steel
John Wick was the manliest movie of 2014. C’mon, little question about that. Keanu Reeves established himself as an action man over 20 years ago with Point Break and Speed. And with the recent Man of Tai Chi, the upcoming ‘Rain’ and of course this, it’s a welcome return for one of the 1990’s originals. If you didn’t see this movie when it came out, there is no excuse now. Get it on Blu-Ray.
The plot is tried and tested manly movie subject matter. A man sets out to seek revenge against gangsters who slayed his dog and stole his wheels. That’s just two things you don’t do, man. You don’t touch a man’s dog and you don’t touch a man’s wheels. Anyone who does deserves all they get. Reeves then digs a set of guns out of his basement and goes on the most satisfying shooting rampage I’ve seen in a long time. Pissants get struck down upon with great vengeance and furious anger, simply because they refuse to give up the scumbag who beat Reeves’ pup to death with a baseball bat. I’m not talking about violent beatings either, rather, wanton executions. The body count probably actually exceeds that of the invasion of Grenada (no, really, that was about 40-50).
Of course, all of this would be near pointless if the action was captured using shaking cameras and completely unintuitive editing. Well rejoice, because John Wick is a devastating kidney shot to the scourge of shaking-cam hyper-edit syndrome. This movie has become highly popular because of its action, which is brilliantly filmed. The camera and cut will remain on Reeves until he has completed whichever move, kill or act of violence it is. Utterly satisfying yet natural choreography can be savored in the moment, instead of figuring it out in seconds later in your bewildered head, like some Bourne movie. The gunfights and executions are some of the best I’ve ever seen. And I just wouldn’t say that willy nilly – I hate poorly choreographed and edited gunfights.
Let’s talk Blu-Ray shop. There’s not much you can say about Blu-Ray picture these days unless it’s an old movie (like Thief), that is aged and requires particular care, unless you’re a hardcore AV-phile they kinda all look the same, as in the now normalized pretty 1080p transfer. Even so John Wick looks beautiful on Blu-Ray and for the quality of the movie and picture alone it should be a top priority purchase this year. There are around 50 minutes of extras, around a half dozen YouTube-sized features, but the best and longest one detailing the stunning choreography found in this film.
Directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch have also given us a good commentary track. The fact that this was their first feature but also blew the world away means, as you’d expect, they don’t half ass us. Good humour, good trivia, such as Reeves’ training regimen (i.e. training with Los Angeles S.W.A.T) and in particular I like their commentary on the gold coins seen throughout the film.
“I’ll say this, John, you sure as fuck broke the mould, didn’t you?” Good line, kinda sums up how I feel about this movie – I love it.
Goro
February 4, 2015 at 9:47 pm
I still don’t get what’s so special about this movie. I wasn’t impressed at all. Dumb and very unrealistic story, poor Keanu acting as always; dark so you can’t follow action; inconsistent when it comes to blood – some people are shot with huge amount of blood, others with no blood at all.
Mucho Macho
February 5, 2015 at 4:59 am
Goro you are entitled to your opinion but the reason so many of us liked it, was the movie was an adult action movie. After the 2000’$ Hollywood changed a bit. Became too radical, too onesided some might say. Action movies became more & more directed at children. It’s okay to have movies for everyone..the problem is that they have made almost every movie for everyone. Not everything needs to be for teenagers.
John Wick was a traditional old school action drama. No shaky cam, blood & kick ass fights.
1 of the complaints i have read regarding the movie was Wick’s motivation. That a dog was not worth it. I think people missed the point of it all. Wick was a heartless,cold blooded, quick to pull the trigger, assasin & man. But when he fell in love, it brought humanity to his dark heart. Once the wife dies, She leaves him the dog, so he would not be alone. Once the dog is killed, The Rage of his wife passing, & the killing of his wife’s last departing gift, the dog; Made Wick’s inner demons resurface & he goes back to the killing machine he once was. Goes out to get those who killed his dog, beat him up & stole his car. Again you are entitled to your opinion but John Wick was awesome for those who love old school action movies. Thats 1 of the reasons it came out of nowhere & word of mouth got around. Im sure it will become more popular on the home video market.u might not agree with what i just wrote, thats okay..im just telling u some of the reasons people like it
Goro
February 5, 2015 at 5:45 am
I love old school movies and dislike all the modern crap. That’s why I visit this website every day. I’ve seen many one against army/gang movies, but john wick goes overboard. It’s way too unreal. I don’t know, but I don’t see it being old school movie. Looks like decent dtv, that’s pretty much it.
Mucho Macho
February 5, 2015 at 6:31 am
That’s cool bro.
I’m sure we’ll agree on other stuff.
Boatman_90
February 5, 2015 at 1:03 pm
Yeah I agree… That john wicks a fucking boss!
Mucho Macho
February 5, 2015 at 2:33 pm
John Wick is:
⤵⤵⤵
The Night Rider
February 5, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Well its success is good for the genre though right?
Goro
February 5, 2015 at 6:08 pm
True
Jay Beezy
February 5, 2015 at 2:46 am
Already have the Blu-Ray. Am watching the Red Circle sequence as we speak.
Mucho Macho
February 5, 2015 at 5:04 am
Shit.i gots to get mine!😕
Mucho Macho
February 5, 2015 at 5:06 am
⤵⤵⤵⤵
CyrusTheVirus85
February 5, 2015 at 3:40 pm
Not really a big kind of collecting guy but I will be picking this up. How could you not
Jimmy Smith
February 6, 2015 at 6:13 am
Just bought it and watched it for the 3rd time. Will definitely go down as one of the best action films from this era and definitely a must own on blu ray for all the action fans who want there own personal collection of favorites (Like me and im sure many of you). Loaded with special features, great sound / picture and great movie!