Kill ’em All (DVD) : Review

Film

Philip (Jean-Claude Van Damme, The Muscles from Brussels himself) arrives at a local hospital, after some sort of big shootout, with a bunch of dudes, who are meant to look mean and skilled. They are meant to look this, but fail in this regard. More on that later.

A bunch of foreign guys show up, hunting him. There is more shooting, and Philip’s nurse, Suzanne (Autumn Reeser – Sully), is now the sole surviving witness.

From here, the story jumps between the FBI interrogation of Suzanne by agents Mark Holman (Peter Stormare – John Wick: Chapter 2, 22 Jump Street) and Linda Sanders (Maria Conchita Alonso), in present day, and the recent events at the hospital. This is one of the most appalling interrogation scenes ever. It is as if the filmmakers tried to check all the boxes on the cliché list. One wonders of the cast realised how terrible some of their dialogue was.

The synopsis on the DVD packaging alludes at some international incident. It even tells one that you’ll be guessing right until the last bullet is fired. Well, if you last that long. There is not much action in this action movie. The fights are pathetically weak, the dialogue is awkwardly cliché’d and forced. What is seems like, is that this is just an excuse for Jean-Claude van Damme and son Kris Van Damme to work together. Son Kris certainly does not have the fight flair his father had when at the height of his career in the more memorable martial arts films of his, such as Hard Target and Universal Soldier.

As far as plot goes, well, there are some bad guys that try look and talk mean, and there is a guy and a girl who we are meant to focus on.

Kill ‘me all is painful. So at least something was able to land a punch right. Even for fans of B grade action films, who could care less about story, cinematography, or character development, this one is bound to be disappointing. Daddy Van Damme is past his sell by date, and son Kris is a mere shadow if what his father used to be. Don’t bother with this one. At all.

Disc

Overall, the disc for Kill ’em All, is of a good technical quality, even if the sound design does not push for much discrete surround, but this does not make up for a lack of any bonus material, or a terrible main feature.

Kill ’em All is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Video is encoded at a high average bitrate, with no visible artefacts on-screen. There is also no visible colour bleed. Detail is maintained in the few darker scenes.

The main feature has a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, so there is some letterboxing.

Viewers with the necessary 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, and delivered in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Dialogue is clear via the centre channel, with the weight of the soundtrack carried via the front channels.

There is not very good use made of the surround channels, making this feel more like a Pro Logic than a Digital soundtrack. Surprising for an action film, where the use of the discreet channels is usually welcomed.

Navigation

Navigation is basic, with a static main menu, and accompanying background music. There are text links to play the main feature, languages, and scene selections.

The languages sub-menu provides a list of audio languages to choose from, as well as having English subtitles on or off. Further sub-menus provide for subtitles for hearing impaired, as well as many more languages.

The scene selections sub-menus each contain four large, still, colour thumbnails, for a total of sixteen chapters.

Bonus Features

There are no bonus features on the disc, at all. Not even the trailers that often autoplay at the beginning of other discs.

Packaging

The DVD packaging is pretty standard, with a plastic jewel cast. The front has a poster, naming Jean-Claude Van Damme as the star, as well as the film’s title.

The back of the case has a brief synopsis, some stills from the film showing character headshots, and the usual technical labels one would expect on a DVD.

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