Enemies Closer [Blu-Ray]

Director: Peter Hyams

Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tom Everett Scott, Orlando Jones

Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6/10

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Plot Summary:

Deep within a forest on the US-Canadian border, two sworn enemies must work together to escape a ruthless drug cartel hell-bent on retrieving a drug shipment which went missing there.

‘Enemies Closer’ takes the hard hitting action of the old school Van Damme films, along with the basic plot that focuses on the action without needlessly trying to impress with clichéd twists and turns. These I mean as very positive aspects, as it is very nice to see a movie know exactly what it is and concentrate on being just that. The film brings some intense action and the fight sequences are pretty fun overall. You’ll be able to tell just what type of movie this is at the moment where Van Damme steps into a room and starts tearing some folks up in hand to hand combat. It is up to you to decide whether or not this is the kind of film you might enjoy, but for fellow 80’s and 90’s action enthusiasts, this one should very likely be right up your alley, just don’t go in expecting an Oscar contender.

The film is directed by Peter Hyams, who many may not know by name, but surely will recognize by some of the films he has directed over the years, such as (one of my personal favorites as a kid) ‘Stay Tuned’, in addition to ‘End of Days’ and ‘Timecop’ (in which he also worked with Van Damme). The cast is composed mostly of three notable names and characters, the rest are unfortunately highly minimal, trivial and easily interchangeable for the most part. The lead cast includes Jean-Claude Van Damme, who this time around plays the lead villain in the film instead of the hero. His lead adversary and do-gooder in this one is Tom Everett Scott. While I do enjoy seeing Scott land a lead role in a film these days, I did sadly find it quite hard to believe he of all people would be able to go up against Van Damme and his team of thugs and actually stand any semblance of a chance in doing so. The other main character is Orlando Jones who has a complicated relationship with Scott’s character and the two are forced to work together in order to have any hope of surviving. While all three of the leads’ performances were at least adequate, I would have to say I found Orlando Jones to be the stand out performance in this one. He really is a pretty talented actor with some impressive range and it’s a shame we don’t see him in too much as of late.

VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Enemies Closer’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation on this one actually looks quite impressive. Everything is sharp and detailed; while the large amount of night sequences remain perfectly visible without unnecessary added light added to detract from the viewing experience. For the most part everything looks pretty great on this high definition video presentation and I believe most will be quite impressed.

AUDIO:

The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack certainly utilizes those surround channels nicely, and when the numerous action oriented sequences kick into full swing the score along with minimal and large noises alike find their way throughout all five channels perfectly in order to really add some fun to the overall viewing experience. All of the dialogue in the center channel is consistently audible and everything sounds discrete and pretty great overall.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

While the Blu-Ray release of ‘Enemies Closer’ isn’t overflowing with bonus content, it does include a couple of nice and informative extras. Included on the release are ‘A Closer Look: Making Enemies Closer’, a featurette which takes a look behind the making of the film and also includes interviews/comments from those involved in the film both behind and in front of the camera. The release also includes an audio commentary track with director Peter Hyams.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of After Dark Films & Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Film Rating: 6/10

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

‘Enemies Closer’ is now available to own on Blu-Ray & DVD from After Dark Films & Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

)