Taffin had some potential to be a pretty cool crime-drama with a beautiful Irish locale, instead the plot is half-baked, acting so-so at best and not even the charismatic Pierce Brosnan couldn’t make it all that interesting.
Taffin
(1988)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Crime
KL Studio Classics| R – 96 min. – $24.95 | March 16, 2021
Date Published: 03/07/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2¾/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: When a small Irish town is terrorized by a corrupt business syndicate, a lone hero wages an all-out war. Mark Taffin (PIERCE BROSNAN) is a tough-as-nails debt collector who’s as quick with his wits as he is with his lightning-fast martial arts moves. So, when powerful Sprawley Enterprises resorts to brutal tactics to silence townspeople who oppose the company’s hazardous chemical plant, Taffin leaps to the citizens’ aid. Battling savage assassins and ruthless executives, he takes on the enemy in one blistering confrontation after another.
Quick Hit Review: Taffin is an Irish-thriller from 1988 and one I sort of heard of but never bothered to check out. With Kino Lorber releasing it on Blu-ray, decided to give it a shot especially since is stars future James Bond Pierce Brosnan (who the Bond I grew up watching) and while it’s hardly a terrible film, it’s certainly far from entertaining. Despite being only 96-minutes, the pacing felt way off, not to mention some so-so performances (including Brosnan who at least has a couple nice scenes) and poor ADR work. There’s not a whole lot to admire but at least Brosnan seemed to be giving it his all and he does possess the charm and charisma that helped him as Bond down the road. The action and fights were basic and in one instance, nonsensical (not sure how a car blew up in the finale for instance), and honestly found the story not only uninteresting but tedious as well, this goes for Taffin’s so-called character development. Directed by Francis Megahy (Freelance) and based on the novel from Lyndon Mallett – who was dissatisfied with Brosnan’s casting due to not baring any resemblance to the novel’s description – and adapted by David Ambrose (The Final Countdown), Taffin had some potential however only excels thanks to Brosnan otherwise this is one to skip.
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SPECIAL FEATURES – ½/5 |
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The only feature is the Theatrical Trailer (1:35). |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Kino Lorber, through the Studio Classics line, release Taffin onto Blu-ray and is presented in the original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. There’s no mention of where the master came from, presumable it was provided by MGM as is, and as such this looks quite good throughout. The detail is sharp and well defined, colors warm and rich, and other than some minor specs, did appear clean. In addition, the original film grain and noise is still present making for a near-theatrical experience. |
AUDIO – 3¾/5 |
| The disc comes equipped with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. It’s nothing profound nor will it give any surround system much of a workout, however dialogue does comes across with good clarity, although any of the action does sound a bit soft, never exactly giving any explosions or gunfire much of a wallop. |
OVERALL – 2½/5 |
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Overall, Taffin had some potential to be a pretty cool crime-drama with a beautiful Irish locale, instead the plot is half-baked, acting so-so at best and not even the charismatic Pierce Brosnan couldn’t make it all that interesting. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.