Unleashed: Unrated Studio: Universal Studios Home Video Year: 2005 (2005 Release) Rated: Unrated Aspect Ratio: 2.35x1, enhanced for 16x9 displays Audio: English DD 5.1; English DTS .1 Captions/Subtitles: English SDH; French and Spanish Subtitles Time: 1:42:40; extended scenes untimed Disc Format: SS/DL (DVD-9) Layer Switch: Approx. 1:08 Case Style: Keep Case The Feature: In Unleashed, Bob Hoskins is Bart, a Glasgow mobster who makes his collections with the assistance of Danny the Dog (Jet Li), a leashed martial arts killing machine that Bart has "raised" since childhood. Take off the leash and Danny kicks butt like a pit bull. Put the leash back on, throw him in his pit, and he is as helpless as a little child. When master Bart is unceremoniously taken out of the picture, Danny the Dog is taken in by a kindly blind man and his step daughter, Sam and Victoria (Morgan Freeman / Kerry Condon). Sam tunes pianos for a living, and Victoria is about to finish secondary school. Her goal is to become a concert pianist. A familial bond develops, despite the unanswered questions of Danny's past. Of course, Danny's past comes back to catch up with him. Violence, mayhem, and death ensue. This is, after all, a martial arts action movie. But Unleashed actually has a bit of a plot. There is some A-list talent (especially with Morgan Freeman), and although he chews the scenery a tad much, Bob Hoskins plays the part of the gangster quite well. And Jet Li as Danny is very sensitive--a sympathetic character that you hope will win. Oh sure, it is formulaic. Oh sure, some of the situations are unlikely. This is one of those movies where I found myself just turning the brain off and enjoying. I'll get back to Hitchcock tomorrow. The Unleashed DVD comes in two flavors, Unrated and R-Rated. The Unrated version (reviewed here) has an additional bonus feature and extended scenes that are not integrated into the movie very well. When you select "Play" from the main menu, you are given the option for the unrated or the extended version, and if you select the extended version you are told: Well, the change in picture quality is quite obvious: the feature switches from 16x9-enhanced widescreen to 4x3 widescreen. The extended footage also loses the 5.1 track and many of the foley effects. To me, this was distracting enough to render the extended scenes useless. That's a shame, because I liked this movie. The Feature: 4 / 5 
Video: Unleashed is very stylized at times, and there are color schemes that appear to predominate--the darkened gray of Danny's pit, the warm interior of Sam and Victoria's apartment, the colorful new world that Danny discovers. The colors appear to be accurate. My gripe with this transfer is the edge enhancement. I'm learning to notice this from a mile away. There are too many scenes with EE, from buildings in the distance, to piano lid uprights, to Morgan Freeman's glasses, to Bob Hoskin's head. Why? Why? Video: 2.5 / 5 
Sound: There are two English 5.1 soundtracks available on Unleashed, one in Dolby Digital the other in DTS. They pack a punch, with a deep, extended low-end, lots of sound effects, good and easy-to-understand dialogue, and a great music soundtrack. This is what I expect from an action movie. Sound: 4 / 5 Extras: In Conclusion: This is a good little movie that has a really mixed presentation on DVD. The martial arts action was great, the stars are great, the story is pretty good. If that's all you are looking for in a movie, you will probably enjoy it. Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5 Release Date: October 11, 2005 Display calibrated by Steve Martin at http://www.lionav.com/
), makes it an easy purchase.
