Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"Lucky # Slevin" is a thriller that twists and turns its way through an underworld of crime and revenge. Set in New York City, a case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses; The Rabbi and The Boss. Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them... before they get him.

I saw this on a whim in theaters and ended up really enjoying it. Reminds me a bit of Tarantino's work, but has enough going for it that it doesn't come off as a rehash of something else. The twists are good, and the cast is excellent. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen it yet.

This was released early on by Genius as an HD DVD and it held up pretty well compared to the market at the time. This new Blu-ray looks largely the same leading me to believe this is probably the same transfer. This is a nicely detailed HD presentation that has plenty of things going for it. Dimension is excellent, and contrast is dead on. Film grain is apparent at times, and there were a few moments that I thought the image could have been a bit sharper, but overall this is an excellent transfer.

Unlike the previous HD DVD release, this Blu-ray gets a full lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. The previous release had great dynamics and surround presence but this new mix has a bit more spatial resolution and sense of balance within the main soundstage. Dialogue always sounds very natural and the sense of ambiance is preserved nicely both in the rear and front stage. Low bass extension is there when you need it and dynamics overall are impressive.

Extras appear to be identical to the previous HD DVD release and include a pair of feature commentaries, deleted scenes and a few production features. There is also an interesting interview with Hartnett and Liu.

This is a fun caper film that was largely ignored during its theatrical run. The cast is great and the story is a nice mix of dark humor and action. The Blu-ray presentation is strong making this one an easy recommendation.