The Raid: Redemption (Limited Edition Steelbook) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Gareth Evans

Cast: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah

Release Date: January 16, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

Deep in the heart of Jakarta’s slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world’s most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the rundown apartment block has been considered untouchable. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite SWAT team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, they find themselves stranded on the 6th floor with no way out. The unit must fight their way through the city’s worst to survive their mission.

Please Note: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘The Raid: Redemption’ accompanies a SWAT team attempting to infiltrate a dangerous safe house in the slums of Jakarta that’s controlled by a deadly drug lord and his henchmen. As the team of police begins to try and force their way to the top floor by any means necessary, they soon find themselves stranded on the sixth floor and suffering massive casualties with no way out in sight. With the talented fighting skills of one bright young rookie and the desperation of the other survivors and a hope of escape fueling them, the remainder of the team must fight their way through the countless attackers and reach the top if they hope to stand any chance at success, let alone getting out alive.

‘The Raid: Redemption’ was written and directed by Gareth Evans who does a spectacular job at the helm of the action extravaganza guiding along the thrilling ride with care and style every step of the way, and Evans also returned for the acclaimed sequel a few years later. The film’s cast includes Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Tegar Satrya and Ray Sahetapy and helped pave the way to some bigger roles in domestic films for the massively talented Uwais who also served as one of the film’s fight choreographers.

‘The Raid: Redemption’ is a thrilling, brutal and lightning-paced ride into chaos that featured some of the most impressive fight scenes in quite some time upon its initial release and it still delivers all of the excitement and heart-skipping action today that it did over ten years ago, in addition to serving as a clear inspiration to numerous other notable action films today. A nonstop adrenaline rush that picks up speed early on and rarely relents throughout its course in a way that almost mimics the experience of the cops within. The intense gun and knife fights are anything but dull and lacking as the film repeatedly serves up breathtaking fight sequences that are each choreographed beautifully down to every step.

If you’re a fan of well-crafted action movies with unforgettable fight sequences and no shortage of thrilling fun to serve up but haven’t had the pleasure of ‘The Raid: Redemption’ then I can’t urge you strongly enough to rectify that whenever possible; while fans of the film that are fully 4K capable likely won’t want to miss out on this spectacular new 4K UHD upgrade that’s worthy of the action masterpiece.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings ‘The Raid: Redemption’ home for the first time on 4K Ultra HD in a new Limited Edition Steelbook release and diehard fans of this epic action movie should not be disappointed by what it has to offer. The 4K UHD release offers a gorgeous new Ultra High Definition video presentation of the film’s Unrated Version with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, plus a new color grade, supervised/approved by Gareth Evans that dazzles and impresses at nearly every turn. The impressive new video presentation is only perfectly complemented by an immersive and hard-hitting Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack featuring the film’s original Indonesia/Bahasa language track with the choice of both the Original Indonesian Score and the International Score by Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese included. The release also features a fittingly rough steelbook package design that fans should appreciate, along with a copy of the film on Blu-ray that includes plenty of previously released extras. The new 4K UHD presentation (and its accompanying soundtrack) is nothing short of phenomenal and any dedicated fans of the film who are fully 4K capable and already considering a purchase shouldn’t have any regrets whatsoever about upgrading this one which is definitely highly recommended!

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Steelbook release of ‘The Raid: Redemption’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio with a new color grade supervised by director Gareth Evans. You can view the quote from the press release regarding the new transfer below.

“THE RAID: REDEMPTION is presented on 4K Ultra HD disc with a completely new color grade under director Gareth Evans’s supervision. This new edition of the film is presented by XYZ Films and Merantau Films.”

The video presentation looks outstanding as a whole and it serves up a sharp, clean and impeccably detailed presentation from start to finish that dazzles throughout and never suffers from any unexpected troubles along the way. It shows impressive detail and clarity across the board, noticeable on everything from character specifics to the grimy hallways of the building and the exteriors, rooms, etc. which all look better than ever before. The Dolby Vision addition also contributes a stellar color palette that’s noticeable throughout and is consistently complemented by deep, problem-free black levels. Overall, this is a wonderful Ultra High Definition video presentation from Sony that should have fans of this phenomenal action flick thrilled.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack with its original Indonesia/Bahasa language; available to view with the option of the Original Indonesian Score and the International Score by Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese (other soundtracks including the English Dubbed Version are also included in DTS-HD MA 5.1). Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This new multichannel soundtrack sounds marvelous and provides a crisp, clean and hard hitting audio presentation throughout that never disappoints. It constantly utilizes all seven available channels in order to send the music, along with various action effects, debris, bits of chatter and plenty more regularly whipping throughout the various speakers, while never allowing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously with one another to become distorted or negatively affected in the process. Overall, this is a magnificent Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that delivers splendidly throughout and should have fans quite excited.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Steelbook release of ‘The Raid: Redemption’ features a nice helping of previously released bonus content, the entirety of which can be found on the included Blu-ray disc which seems to be identical to Sony’s previously released BD edition of the film. Included on the disc is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Gareth Evans’, in addition to a collection of ‘Behind the Scenes Video Blogs’ (running approximately 39 minutes in length altogether) and ‘An Evening with Gareth Evans, Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese’ (running approximately 41 minutes). Also included is ‘Behind the Music with Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese’ (approximately 11 minutes), ‘Anatomy of a Scene with Gareth Evans’ (2 minutes), ‘In Conversation with Gareth Evans and Mike Shinoda’ (11 minutes), ‘Inside the Score’ (1 minute), ‘ClayCat’s The Raid’ (3 minutes), ‘The Raid TV Show Ad (Circa 1994)’ (1 minute) and the film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (2 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself (nor do they feature the new Transfer/Color Grade of the Film included on the 4K disc) and will additionally 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 the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 8.5/10

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‘The Raid: Redemption’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD as A Limited Edition Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

You can purchase your copy of ‘The Raid: Redemption’ 4K UHD Steelbook on Amazon Right Here!