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Blu-ray Review A Few Words About A few words about…™ Violent Night – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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Robert Harris
From this day forth, let it be known that whenever Christmas-based motion pictures are discussed, David Harbour will be at the top of the discussion.

Never before in the history of motion pictures, which actually goes back before the 1970s - al the way to the 1890s - has there been a more incisive, entertaining, or historically accurate tale of Christmas and St. Nicholas and his place at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.

When the general public thinks of Christmas films, it's the usual suspects --

It's a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th street
Die Hard
Home Alone
A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Bishop's Wife
Christmas in Connecticut

But not one of these films makes any attempt to tell the history of the man behind the legend.

Violent Night, directed by Tommy Wirkola is a bit akin to Home Alone, as seen through the eyes of those behind the John Wick films.

Low on seasonal sentimentality, high on educational factors and action, Violent Night is a film for the ages.

Shot digitally, and viewed in projection, the imagery appeared much like 4k, with superb colors and rich blacks. No aged-related artifacts printed in from earlier dupes noted.

As to packaging, something special for the slip
cover. Beautifully rendered imagery of St. Nick himself, hammer in hand, and below - embossing of the title in two different types. ViOLENT in glossy white in an attractive sans-serif, and below Night in possible an olde English style, properly bloodied. Very nicely done, and as is the norm, presumably for the first edition only.

Collectors take heed!


Finally, a true Christmas film for the entire family.

Image – 5

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 7.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Works up-rezzed to 4k - Yes

Recommended

RAH


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Capt D McMars

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So...Not Sweet and Fluffy?
that was a pretty violent gathering in Nicia with Emperor Constantine "the Great". they brought weapons, LOL!!!
 

bujaki

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To RAH's list I would add the Finnish film from 2010, Rare Exports. A delightful Christmas film for the whole family (over 13) wherein an archeological dig discover Santa's body deep in Arctic ice. And then, children start disappearing. So the hunt for Santa begins in order to send him back whence he came. But those pesky elves get in the way.
I love Christmas stories like this one. Recommended with great cheer.
 

Robert Harris

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To RAH's list I would add the Finnish film from 2010, Rare Exports. A delightful Christmas film for the whole family (over 13) wherein an archeological dig discover Santa's body deep in Arctic ice. And then, children start disappearing. So the hunt for Santa begins in order to send him back whence he came. But those pesky elves get in the way.
I love Christmas stories like this one. Recommended with great cheer.
Need to find that one
 

sbjork

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Rare Exports is a riot.

I would add The Ref to my own list of essential Christmas movies, but that's just me. In any event. I've been lurking around the margins of Violent Night since I first saw the posters for it, and I think that I finally need to give it a chance.
 

Jeffrey D

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Rare Exports is a riot.

I would add The Ref to my own list of essential Christmas movies, but that's just me. In any event. I've been lurking around the margins of Violent Night since I first saw the posters for it, and I think that I finally need to give it a chance.
Yes The Ref is great. Sure wish a good BluRay would get released (all we have in the USA is a letterboxed DVD). If Disney still controls Touchstone Pictures, I think we’re SOL 🙁.
 

sbjork

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Yes The Ref is great. Sure wish a good BluRay would get released (all we have in the USA is a letterboxed DVD). If Disney still controls Touchstone Pictures, I think we’re SOL 🙁.
They do, but they have licensed Touchstone & Hollywood Pictures titles to Kino. Not that one, sadly.
 

yamato72

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+1 to Rare Exports and another +1 to The Ref. I wish they were easier to find. Those two and Home for the Holidays can be tough to track down.
 

Kaskade1309

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S
Watched this last night on Blu as a Redbox rental; the wife actually liked it more than me. While David was good as Mr. Claus, the goofiness they tried to mix in with regard to the "Christmas magic" didn't work IMO. They should have just stuck to a bitter, pissed off Santa kicking these guys' asses all over that mansion. I also didn't like Leguizamo's performance in this; far too over the top, albeit he was working with a pretty crappy script.

The visuals, as upscaled to 4K by my Panasonic DP-UB9000, exhibited that typical soft characteristic when dealing with a mostly digital source, save for a few moments when closeups of snow/ice were exhibited; in general, the transfer was something of a letdown, what with its "bathed in haze" aesthetic and dumbed-down colors (I realize this may have been a stylistic approach on behalf of the makers).

As for the other films being mentioned above, I am a DIEHARD fan of The Ref, and can't believe this title hasn't gotten any love beyond the shitty Touchstone/Disney non-anamorphic DVD we've had to suffer with for decades. This transfer looks atrocious -- almost like a dub from a VHS master, complete with aliasing and color bleeding in many shots -- and it's made even worse when we have to blow the image up on our widescreen displays to get it to the correct ratio. Further, it's infuriating when the wife and I watch it every December and, because my Panasonic disc player won't allow for any zoom control via its remote like the Oppos and other MediaTek-based decks do, I have to go into my Samsung flat panel's screen adjustment menu to use a series of customizing arrows to "guess" at where the film should be "placed" in the zoom pattern so it plays back at approximately 1.85:1.

It is absolutely enraging.

I actually reached out to Shout Factory to request that they perhaps get licensing for this and release a remastered Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray under their Shout Select line, but they informed me they were no longer considering any fan requests. This title is SCREAMING for a top-to-bottom cleanup, in at LEAST 1080p, but a big problem is the Woke Mouse House, which is probably holding on to the rights tighter than Dua Lipa's dress during a performance.

Maybe Kino Lorber at some point will give this unabashed, criminally underrated holiday gem the love it deserves?

* I see that someone above mentioned that this Touchstone/Buena Vista title wasn't licensed to Kino, even though they have gotten permission for others. That sucks beyond words.
 

cadavra

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mike schlesinger
I almost didn't go, as it looked like just another slasher film, but the good reviews convinced me to give it a shot. And I just loved it. A marvelous blend of bloody violence and zany comedy in the David Leitch mold, and I was not at all surprised when it turned out he was one of the producers. Bring on that sequel!
 

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