Safe House Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review

Safe House Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Michelle Thomas
Movie Rating: 4 out of 5
Extras Rating: 5 out of 5

Overview: Tobin Frost (Oscar winner Denzel Washington), one of the CIA’s most dangerous traitors, resurfaces in South Africa after eluding capture for almost a decade. During his interrogation, the safe house he’s being held in is attacked by brutal mercenaries forcing rookie agent, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) to take the infamous Frost on the run. As the masterful manipulator toys with his reluctant prot‚g‚, shaking the young operative’s morality and idealism, the unlikely allies must fight to stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. Packed with intense action and thrilling suspense, Safe House takes you on a deadly ride through a covert world where no one and no place is ever safe.

Review: Tobin Frost (Oscarr winner Denzel Washington) is transported to a Safe House where Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) awaits his arrival. Once Tobin is water-boated, a sudden breach at the Safe House occurs where all the C.I.A. agents are killed leaving only but one to pick up the pieces– Matt Weston. He quickly then decides to make a run for it and takes Tobin as his prisoner.  But Matt is not out of the woods yet, because these same trained assassin killers are determined to kill him and Tobin. Matt tries his hardest to not let Tobin out of his sight while still running from his assailants.

Matt and Tobin form a rapport of mutual respect of one another. Although there’s an underline distrust and threat that Tobin could kill Matt and disappear with the intell that he’s carrying in a USB data storage flash drive. The encounter between the veteran Tobin and the naïve rookie agent Matt turns out to be something similar to Denzel’s Academy-Award winning movie ‘Training Day’.

(L-R) Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) & Tobin Frost (Oscar winner Denzel Washington)

Swedish director Daniel Espinosa delivers a fast paced highly entertaining action film that doesn’t slow down till the very end. The 57-year-old actor Denzel Washington did an amazing  job at still demonstrating an on screen presence that seem effortless. I always admired Denzel’s monotone voice and swagger that he exhibited on screen, especially at his age to still see him kick butt in the physical action scenes, it says a lot about his dedication and hard work to play the role of such a badass character in Tobin Frost.

 Overall, you get a nice assembled cast with a solid storyline that takes you to different locations around the world as Matt and Tobin try to survive from getting killed by one another and its mercenaries.

The Good: Never a dull moment.

The Bad: It’s not an original script that hasn’t been done before.

Memorable Quotes:
Tobin Frost: I think you need to consider how your safe house was attacked in the first place. That house was a secure location. Whoever crashed it, they were invited. Someone told them, someone you know…
Matt Weston: You’re not gonna get in my head.
Tobin Frost: I am already in your head!

The specific aspects of the Audio and visuals for the Contraband Blu-ray Disc:

The picture quality on this is Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC. Video resolution: 1080p, Aspect ratio: 2.35:1, Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and the Audio on this Blu-ray is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

Commentary: The images and sounds were top notch in my book.

Safe House – Trailer – Own it June 5th on Blu-ray & DVD

Safe House Bonus Features On Blu-ray & DVD:

• Making Safe House: This featurette is filled with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage revealing how director Daniel Espinosa, stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds and the rest of the team came together to bring this thrilling story to life.
  
• Hand-To-Hand Action: Renowned fight choreographer Olivier Schneider (Taken) puts the actors through the intense training and rehearsal required to create the film’s powerful scenes of deadly hand-to-hand combat. Schneider, along with Ryan Reynolds and Daniel Espinosa, explain how the high-intensity, character-based approach to the action informed the final film and share the brilliant raw versions of the scenes (with a special direct-to-camera set-up by Schneider).
• Building the Rooftop Chase: Filmed in hardscrabble Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township, this riveting stunt sequence required a massive amount of precision, a little bit of politics and a lot of planning. Featuring cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and a first-person perspective of Denzel Washington’s rooftop run, this piece showcases the intense preparation and focus necessary to pull off one of Safe House’s most pivotal and dangerous sequences.
• Inside The CIA: Technical advisor Luis Falcon III, a 30-year CIA veteran who has gone undercover in some of the hottest zones in the world, talks about working with the cast and collaborating with the director. He leads audiences on a walk and talk through the CIA offices and explains just how closely this film matches up to reality.
  
• Behind The Action (Blu-ray only): Legendary stunt coordinator Greg Powell, fight choreographer Olivier Schneider and tactical advisor Dan Hirst lead viewers through key action sequences involving dangerous driving stunts, heavy gun play and frenetic fight choreography.
  
• Safe Harbor: Cape Town (Blu-ray only): A popular tourist destination, Cape Town is rapidly becoming one of the most-photographed cities in cinema. The creators of Safe House reveal the reasons they set this intense action thriller in Africa’s multicultural hub.
  
• Shooting the Safe House Attack (Blu-ray only): Every detail behind the creation of the film’s epic initial attack is revealed in a featurette that includes interviews with Academy Award-winning production designer Brigitte Broch, plus the film’s cast and crew. From the initial rehearsals to the final takes, director Daniel Espinosa and his spectacular stunt team combined artistry with tactical perfection for a chillingly realistic sequence.
  
• Digital copy (Blu-ray only)

 

About the Film

• Stars: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds
  
• Language: English
• Number of discs:2
• Studio: Universal Pictures
  
• Blu-ray Release Date: June 5, 2012
  
• Run Time:115 minutes
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