Blunt Force Trauma (DVD) : Review

Film

Blunt Force Trauma, defined as a non-penetrating trauma. It refers to trauma of a body part by impact. In the film Blunt Force Trauma, this is referring to a small calibre bullet striking body armour, when worn by a person, inflicting a contusion, and possible internal injury.

With that in mind, we follow John (Ryan Kwanten –Kidnapping Mr. Heineken) and Colt (Freida Pinto) on a journey. Sometimes they’re lovers, sometimes they’re gunfighters, each on their own quest, travelling together while taking part in underground duels, where two persons face off, shooting each other with handguns, until one is knocked out of a ring or gives up, after being struck too often by said bullet on the vest they wear.

And while this synopsis may sound like a simple, basic action story, the truth of the matter is, it’s even less. They two talk, they argue, they discuss, and they even jump into bed together. Interspersed between bouts of shooting people wearing body armour, and winning money. The entire film is devoid of action, comedy, thrills or intrigue. We are literally just waiting to see who or what is shot next, in a rather unimaginative style, and all the while trying to guess what they actual point of the entire plot might actually be.

There is a point though. It is for them to reach a certain spot, to fight a certain guy, Zorringer (Mickey Rourke). There is a feeble attempt at a show of strength and honour here, and then a slightly unanswered question (wait out the credits, if you have lasted this far in the story).

Blunt Force Trauma likely has it’s audience. Hopefully that audience won’t try and imitate the games they witness show on-screen. Watch this if you don’t want to use any brain power and are very bored, else maybe just give it a miss.

Disc

Technically, the disc is of a decent quality, easy enough to navigate. A pity about the dull main feature. The disc does take a little longer than most to begin.

Blunt Force Trauma is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Video is encoded at a decent bitrate. There are no visible artefacts on screen. While colours are not vibrant, likely due to creative choice, there is no colour bleed.

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

Audio

Audio is encoded at a high average bitrate. Dialogue is relatively clear via the centre speaker. The default audio soundtrack is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, with a stereo 2.0 mix available via the set-top box or software menus.

There is some use of the surrounds in some scenes, to expand and enhance the on-screen action, but this is not a huge, on-going mix. Volume is a little quiet in some areas.

Navigation

Navigation is very basic, and easy to follow. The main menu presents the viewer with options to play the main feature, and to go to a sub-menu to select a scene. Each of these sub-menus has four colour, motion thumbnails, numbered, for you to choose a spot in the film.

There is no menu option to select language, subtitles or audio track.

Bonus Features

There are no bonus features on the disc, other than a trailers for Genius, The Keeping Room and Collide

 

 

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