Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: 20th Century Fox

Video: Starz / Anchor Bay

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:28:45.320

Disc Size: 23,841,417,608 bytes

Feature Size: 23,790,858,240 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.90 Mbps

Chapters: 10

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: April 10th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1997 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1997 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)

 

Subtitles:

English, none

 

Extras:

• None

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: A gang of hijackers led by Ian McShane seize a British plane as it is landing in Scandinavia. Ruthless military police chief Colonel Tahlvik is assigned to rescue the plane and it's passengers. But he must also deal with the problem of the British Ambassador, whose residence has been seized by a second group of terrorists.

 

 

The Film:

Set in Scandinavia. A British ambassador is kidnapped athis residence by a group of terrorists led by Shepherd (John Quentin), and issued a ransom demand for the release of five political prisoners imprisoned in England. Norwegian security chief Colonel Tahlvik (Sean Connery) is given the task of handling the situation. Meanwhile, at a nearby airport, fellow terrorist Petrie (Ian McShane) has hijacked a passenger jet to fly out the terrorists and their hostages. The government officials wish to accede to the terrorist demands, but off-the-record Tahlvik is given permission to overpower the hijacked plane. Tahlvik’s attempts to get an agent on board the plane and to substitute the hostages en route ends in failure, but he is intent on not giving up.

Excerpt from BritMovie.co.uk located HERE

****

A group of political terrorists seize a British ambassador in Scandinavia and demand the release of their comrades from a British prison, something which the country's head of security (Sean Connery) sets out to thwart. Directed by Caspar Wrede, the suspense and excitement are well maintained, though in a chilly, abstract manner, that makes the ironic ending arbitrary and disappointing. Some violence and much threatened violence.

Excerpt from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Terrorists (aka Ransom) is unremarkable on Blu-ray from Anchor Bay / Starz.  The image quality shows frequent speckles and overall looks soft. Colors are perky but there is no depth. This is only single-layered although the bitrate is reasonably high since nothing shares the disc with the 1.5 hour film. There are moments where the thickness is appealing and a couple of scenes show a higher level of sharpness. Mostly though there are inconsistencies with noise although this is less of a distraction. On the positive the cinematography shows a few nicely framed shots. But overall this Blu-ray offers very little to those anticipating a stellar image.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Although a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround at 1997 kbps there isn't a lot of deft separation. Bass appears potent when called upon but overall the track gives the impression of being flat. The infrequent intensity does come as a surprise - which can be considered a bonus. There is no menu system and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

Nothing at all. To be honest there isn't much to say about this flawed production.

 

BOTTOM LINE:
The weakness of the Blu-ray transfer is matched by the ineffectual film. Connery is wasted in this blasé thriller that seems to rely on the concept and the location to prop up the plot. Even at this reasonable price we suggest a pass. 

Gary Tooze

April 3rd, 2012

Network Blu-ray coming out in August 2014: