Marauders (DVD) : Review

Film

A string of brutal heists at a series of banks all have evidence that point to the banking line’s owner Hubert (Bruce Willis – Red 2, G.I. Joe Retaliation) and his high-powered clients. A team of FBI agent begin to dig deeper into the various robberies as they continue and become more deadly, uncovering a larger conspiracy and some dark secrets.

Marauders alternates between action and intrigue as the investigation continues. Throwing out several subtle red-herrings that continually shift the viewer’s focus from one suspect to another, surprising them with several revelations at pretty much the same time as the various FBI agents and police realise each suspect and victim’s role. There are times where the film can become rather cerebral and times where one can get caught up in the well executed action scenes.

Seeing Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy)as an FBI agent brings a slight dose of humour to the role, with his character, Stockwell, realising his huge physicality, and introducing some levity to an otherwise rather serious story.

An engrossing story, with a well rounded cast and characters, Marauders does feel as if it is dwelling on the moment at times, with the ensemble of persons to keep track of. And yet the moment one thinks the story has slowed, the action kicks off yet again, propelling everyone and everything in yet another direction, and once again catching the viewers attention.

A fun, well rounded film for those who like a bit more story to their action.

Disc

Over all, and technically, the disc is of a good quality. Due to the limited storage on a DVD disc it is better to utilise that space for a main feature that is less compressed, and therefore of a better visual quality.

Marauders is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

The main feature video is encoded at a high average bitrate. There are no visible artefacts on screen, no colour bleed, and sufficient detail in the several low-light scenes.

Viewers with the necessary hardware or software could scale up to a larger or higher resolution screen, should they so wish.

Audio

Audio is encoded at a high average bitrate. Viewers have an option between a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a stereo 2.0 downmix. Dialogue is clear via the centre speaker on the surround mix, with ample use of the surround channels to further enhance the on-screen action and draw the viewer in to the story.

Navigation

Navigation on the disc is simple, and easy to follow. The main menu background is comprised of a few short video moments from the film, but these contain no spoilers.

There is a setup sub-menu allowing viewers to choose between the Dolby surround soundtrack, or a stereo downmix.

Another sub-menu is available for scene selections, but this comprises merely of ten small black and white image thumbnails per page that are numbered. There is almost no way to tell where exactly these will take you in the actual film.

Bonus Features

There are no bonus features on the disc, other than trailers for Collide, Hell Or High Water and Kidnap. While there is no facility to skip between these trailers, viewers can fast forward them or skip directly to the main menu.

By Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB | Actor | Armourer | Tech Enthusiast With over two decades in the film industry, I'm a seasoned actor and skilled armourer. I hold numerous certifications in acting and filmmaking, complemented by degrees and diplomas in IT and technology, giving me a unique blend of creative and technical expertise. When I'm not on set or in the workshop, you'll find me immersed in the world of gaming and VR, fuelling my passion for cutting-edge technology. Connect with me: X / Twitter Facebook Instagram Mastodon Threads Explore my work on SAMDB IMDb