Silent Night (2023) (Walmart Exclusive Steelbook) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: John Woo

Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Catalina Sandino Moreno

Release Date: January 30, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

From legendary director John Woo and the producer of John Wick comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death. Full of Woo’s signature style, Silent Night redefines the action genre with visceral, thrill-a-minute storytelling.

Please Note: Lionsgate 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 MOVIE / REVIEW:

‘Silent Night’ follows a devastated father who after losing his son to crossfire during a shootout between rival gangs also loses his ability to speak when his drastic actions result in him being shot by those involved. After recovering and building his strength back up, he becomes obsessed with making those responsible for his son’s death pay. Slowing losing his wife due to his obsession and actions along the way, he begins to prepare, plan and train for the course of a year in order to execute a Christmas Eve plan the next year to kill them all, but doing so may just be more difficult than he imagined or prepared for.

Directed by iconic action director John Woo (Face/Off, Hard Boiled) from a screenplay written by Robert Archer Lynn (Deadbox), Woo does a solid job at the helm of ‘Silent Night’ guiding along the dialogue-free action flick with heart and style throughout. The film’s cast includes Joel Kinnaman (The Suicide Squad), Scott Mescudi (X), Harold Torres (Memory) and Catalina Sandino Moreno (TV’s From) who each offer capable and quite impressive performances for the most part in their respective roles, especially considering the absence of any real dialogue within.

‘Silent Night’  is a unique, thrilling and at times fairly brutal look at one struggling man’s inability to look past the revenge he sees as a necessity and the course of events that lead him from being a calm, loving family man to an individual with no thought or intention aside from simple vengeance against those who took his child. Featuring no actual spoken dialogue between the characters aside from a brief word or two (although there is some radio dialogue and a few text interactions), it’s a curious way in which to approach the tale, yet one that is accomplished more satisfyingly than you might imagine, especially for a film that largely deals with grief and struggle. It does a commendable job of accomplishing this task without it becoming overly daunting or silly and relies on Kinnaman and the other cast members within to perform without the assistance of lines which is surely no easy task but one that they impressively make work remarkably well altogether, even if there are a handful of moments and sequences that feel slightly forced or unnatural as a result.

One element of ‘Silent Night’ that stands out is the fact that our lead doesn’t simply just jump into action out of nowhere with the ability to take down countless violent baddies without any issue and that it actually bothers to take its time getting to the full blown action while showcasing all of the preparation and training he undertakes in order to better prepare himself for this situation. Also notable is the fact that once he does set out on his violent mission for vengeance he doesn’t simply go through it all unscathed at any point which is a refreshingly realistic change from many similar films, although one that will surely annoy some viewers who want nothing but nonstop action out of the film regardless of whether it actually works from a logical standpoint. At least a number of others should appreciate this unique touch in addition to the film’s intention of staying largely grounded along its course.

OVERALL:

‘Silent Night’ serves up a violent, explosive and often emotional ride guided along by legendary action director John Woo that gives emphasis to the word Silent in its title as this action/revenge thriller contains no real spoken dialogue between characters throughout its duration. While it does occasionally feel forced, it does a remarkably capable job of making the gimmick work overall. ‘Silent Night’ is definitely recommended for anyone that’s a fan of filmmaker John Woo or actor Joel Kinnaman, as well as anyone that typically appreciates a well-constructed action film that actually offers something different in its approach, both for better and worse at times (although typically leaning more toward the positive). If you’re already even remotely excited for this one but haven’t yet had the pleasure, it should certainly be worth the time and money to rent one evening when you have the opportunity.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Silent Night’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.00:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks marvelous and offers a clean, sharp and altogether gorgeous video presentation from start to finish that’s never affected by any unexpected troubles or encoding issues along the way. It shows stunning detail and clarity throughout and everything from character faces, clothing and other distinct features to the city streets and various interiors look sharp, clean and downright impressive. The Dolby Vision HDR only complements it all by contributing a sharp and accurate color palette that’s noticeable on clothing, vehicles and various other objects throughout and further boosted by deep and crush-free black levels. Overall, this is a wonderful Ultra High Definition video presentation that dazzles every step of the way and never falters or disappoints.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is quite the treat itself and it delivers a clean, crisp and hard-hitting audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send gunshots, debris and other action effects throughout the various speakers, along with vehicle activity, nature effects and music, plus more whenever fitting and never resulting in any two audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously with one another becoming distorted or negatively affected. Overall, this is a tremendous Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that delivers marvelously throughout and should thrill first time viewers as well as fans.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Silent Night’ includes one nice extra in the way of the Behind the Scenes Featurette ‘Actions Speak Louder Than Words’ (running approximately 17 minutes in length) which features interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. Also included is the film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (running approximately 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 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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Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Silent Night’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook (exclusively at Walmart) & on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Lionsgate

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The ‘Silent Night’ 4K UHD Steelbook is available exclusively at Walmart HERE!*

*as of the time of this writing the 4K UHD Steelbook release is unfortunately Out of Stock.