S.W.A.T.: Under Siege is better than what I thought this would and while I might be rating on a scale considering expectations and budget, there are far worse ways to spend 90-minutes.
S.W.A.T.: Under Siege
(2017)
Genre(s): Action
Sony Pictures | R – 89 min. – $25.99 | August 1, 2017
Date Published: 07/27/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: When a D.E.A. and S.W.A.T. cartel takedown ends in a shootout, S.W.A.T. Agent Travis Hall (SAM JAEGER) seizes a mysterious prisoner and takes him into custody. Before long, the S.W.A.T. compound is under siege by wave after wave of assault teams attempting to recover the prisoner known as “The Scorpion” (MICHAEL JAI WHITE) for the tattoo blazed on his back. When Travis discovers that his prisoner is a Secret Ops double agent planted within the cartel, it’s up to him and his expert S.W.A.T. team to keep “The Scorpion” and his billion-dollar secrets safe.
Quick Hit Review: S.W.A.T.: Under Siege is the second sequel loosely connected to the film adaptation which itself was based upon the hit 1970s television series (and getting a TV reboot this year). I honestly don’t remember a whole lot about S.W.A.T.: Firefight and only bits and pieces of the 2003 film, but these are stand alone movies and probably could’ve been called anything since we don’t even get to hear the sweet SWAT theme. So, this entry actually fared slightly better than I expected. Is it technically good? Not at all, but I felt the performances were satisfactory enough and plot-wise, even if “borrows” from Assault on Precinct 13, still had some decent twists. Also when you consider a budget that probably was in the $5 million range, if not less, the fights were well choreographed and some kills rather gnarly, only to be negated with some bad VFX blood splatter.
All in all, though, S.W.A.T.: Under Siege is a perfectly fine time-waster, not much more than that. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5 |
| This release comes with a slip cover but not much else. No features were included. |
VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| Sony calls in S.W.A.T.: Under Siege onto Blu-ray and is presented with a 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec) and 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio. Although the cheaper production values are on display in HD, this still doesn’t look half bad with bright colors and natural looking skin tones. Detail is relatively sharp throughout and I didn’t notice any apparent instances of artifacts, pixilation or banding. |
AUDIO – 3.75/5 |
| The disc is equipped with a standard but efficient DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is fine though the depth is on the iffy side. When the bullets fly, the range really varies and not based on the position of the fire, but from shot to shot from the same angle. Otherwise, dialogue does come through the center channel well enough and there is some decent ambient noise from the front and rear speakers. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
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Overall, S.W.A.T.: Under Siege is better than what I thought this would and while I might be rating on a scale considering expectations and budget, there are far worse ways to spend 90-minutes as there was okay fight scenes and a fine plot, even if heavily borrows from Assault on Precinct 13. This Blu-ray released through Sony offers good video/audio transfers but lacks any bonus features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.