This entertaining and quite dark
Mel Gibson movie finally arrives on
Blu-ray but gives the viewer a unique twist to the original 1967 novel
called "The Hunter" by offering both the original theatrical release and
the director's cut which was quite interesting to watch and there are
some huge noticeable differences.
The story revolves around a professional
thief called Porter (Mel Gibson) who is double crossed by his wife
(Deborah Kara Unger) and his "friend" Val (Gregg Henry). Although his
wife and friend believe that Porter is dead, he miraculously recovers
and his revenge fuels his fire for recovery plus the money they stole from him.
Starting from the bottom of the rung in the criminal world, Porter
eventually gets back on his feet and as the old saying goes, revenge is
a dish best served cold in this interesting action drama.
In relation to
the two different interpretations of the movie, the theatrical version
features more black comedy, whereas the director's version is a much
darker interpretation and interestingly enough the characters are a
little less likeable with a higher amount of violence as opposed to the
theatrical version. It's a great parallel and obviously Hollywood
decided that the director's vision was a little too dark for mainstream
viewers which seems a little true but it's definitely worth watching.
The video quality on Blu-ray supports 1080p, however due to the age of
the movie, it's a little grainy but nonetheless, the images are sharp
and the colour palette, although muted at times suits the story quite
well. The sound quality is quite decent with Dolby Digital 5.1 and there
are a few impressive surround sound moments in the movie.
When it comes to extras the movie contains some interesting
featurettes regarding the behind the scenes of the movies, interviews and
some fun blooper scenes which is always entertaining to watch. At the
end of the day, Payback is a fun movie that contains some strong
performances by Mel Gibson, Maria Bello, Lucy Liu and James Coburn who
really get into their characters.
A Gibson classic!
