Blu-ray Review: Hitman (Unrated)

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

Hitman Unrated, is based on the video game of the same name. The main character is a genetically engineered assassin known only as Agent 47 (played by Tim Olyphant of Live Free or Die Hard) who is raised along with others like him in an insane asylum in Romania. All of the genetically engineered assassins have individual bar codes tattooed on the back of their shaved heads which identify them. Agent 47 is the best of the clan of “brothers” and well regarded in the criminal underworld and has assassinated people all over the world. While others are skeptical of his existence, he is being tracked by one agent at Interpol who is convinced of his existence.

In this film, Agent 47 is hired to assassinate the Russian President in St. Petersburg. After he believes he executes his assignment he is double crossed and is instead targeted for assassination by his own organization. He spends the rest of the film trying to tack down those responsible for this double cross and also trying to avoid capture or worse at the hands of Interpol. Some of the film is shot on location in St. Petersburg, Russia and Istanbul, Turkey. The film is essentially non stop violence with too many killings to keep track of. There is precious little in the way of character development. In fact, other than a few brief glimpses of his life as young man, you would have no clue at all as to who Agent 47 is and why he does what he does if you were not familiar with the video game. This is the film’s greatest weakness. If you want non stop shooting and killing, this is the film for you. Otherwise, I would rate this one as a rental only.

THE VIDEO: 4 1/3 stars of of 5

Hitman Unrated is presented an a BD 25 disc only. It is encoded at AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1. On the positive side, the film boasts fairly accurate color and skin tones and captures the feel of both St. Petersburg and Istanbul, two cities I have been fortunate enough to have visited. Black levels are deep as well. On the downside, I found the film to be rather flat, lacking the three dimensionality of the better transfers. I also found detail both in bright and dark scenes to be lacking. The film lacks the clarity of the better encodes as it does not have the “looking through the window” effect seen on the better transfers. Don’t get me wrong, there is really nothing terribly wrong with the look of the film on this Blu-Ray release. It just falls a bit short in the areas that are critical to stellar picture quality seen on the best looking encodes.

THE AUDIO: 4 3/4 stars out of 5

The audio on this release is presented in DTS HD Master Audio and is excellent. The dialogue is clear and well presented in the mix. The surrounds are active throughout the film as well, giving the film a very immersive sound mix. Considering all the violence, one would anticipate that they would get the audio on the numerous gun shots and explosions right and they did. Fidelity here is excellent and very realistic. There are scenes in which your room will feel as though it is being riddled with bullets. It is in these scenes where the audio on this release really shines. Frankly, the audio here is the highlight of this release for me.

IN CONCLUSION

Hitman Unrated is a film without much of a plot and precious little in the way of character development. However, if you like gun violence, this film has it in spades with excellent audio reproduction. If you are a fan of the video game of the same name, I can recommend this release to you. For the rest of us, I would rate it as a rental only.

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