Marked for Death Blu-ray Review

If you are a fan of Steven Seagal, then this blu-ray will be right up your alley. If you are not, then you might want to skip this. After the jump, you can decide for yourself when you read my review.





Release Date: May 11th, 2010
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1, 1080p
Runtime: 1hr 33min
Discs: 1

The Package: Marked for Death comes to us in the dreaded "eco-case" that certain companies seem to like. I, amongst others, hate these cases. The copy that I got had a hole in it on the front. Why must we get these stupid cases? Anyway, the cover art is ugly. It shows Seagal holding a sword. It wouldn't be so bad if the picture was so big. There is no insert.

The Picture: Framed at 2.35:1, this 1080p transfer is average. While it is a welcome upgrade from the non-anamorphic dvd, the transfer seems weak. There is little detail to found and the picture seems a little dark. There is no excess edge enhancement or DNR, but the transfer is lacking in all the important areas.

The Sound: The 5.1 DTS-HD track supplied here is lacking as well. Most of the sound comes from the front, which does not bode well for an action movie. Sure, the surrounds are used (bullet hits being the most frequent), but I was expecting a little more bang for my buck.

The Goodies: Fox has given Marked for Death zero extras, so I have to give the goodies zero stars. Seems like a fair trade.

The Film: Marked for Death marked the third outing for Seagal and is amongst his weirdest movies. This movie, like Predator 2 (released the same year), is steeped heavily in voodoo. I have no idea what the fascination with voodoo was at the time.

The movie is you typical Seagal movie. He is "marked for death" by a voodoo gang and spends the whole movie trying to get the "mark" taken off. The action scenes are pretty good here, but Seagal's martial art of choice, Akido, isn't very impressive cinematically.

Marked for Death is strictly for Seagal fans. I can not recommend the movie to non-fans because it is slow and kind of boring. This movie will probably be in the bargain bin soon, so you might want to wait to pick it up.

The Scores:

The Picture: **
The Sound **
The Goodies zero stars
The Film **1/2

Overall Score ** (not an average)