{"id":14555,"date":"2017-03-11T22:36:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-12T06:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=14555"},"modified":"2017-03-11T22:36:56","modified_gmt":"2017-03-12T06:36:56","slug":"review-mandown-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2017\/03\/review-mandown-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Man Down BD + Screen Caps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Man Down<\/em><\/strong> does shine light on the important subject of PTSD for returning soldiers and as commendable as that is, it\u2019s unfortunate the screenplay does it little justice but I will say Shia LaBeouf\u2019s performance is amazing and it does feature a respectable supporting cast.<\/p>\n

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Man Down<\/span>
\n(2017)<\/span>
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Drama, War
\nLionsgate | R \u2013 90 min. \u2013 $24.99 | March 7, 2017<\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 03\/11\/2017 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n

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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Dito Montiel
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Adam G. Simon (story), Adam G. Simon and Dito Montiel (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Shia LaBeouf, Jai Courtney, Gary Oldman, Kate Mara, Clifton Collins Jr.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>Commentary
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>Yes
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.40
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, English, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>NA
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 2.75\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Note: <\/strong>This review contains SPOILERS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>Man Down<\/em><\/strong> centers on U.S. Marine Gabriel Drummer (SHIA LABEOUF) and takes place in the past, present and future during his tough training, aided by best friend Devin Roberts (JAI COURTNEY); showing the perfect family with wife Natalie (KATE MARA) and son Johnathan (CHARLIE SHOTWELL); shipping off to battle in Afghanistan where he and his fellow soldiers become involved in a gun battle; back on base where he meets with military counselor Peyton (GARY OLDMAN) where he lays out the events; and finally back home to an apparent dystopian-riddled America searching for his family along with homeless man Charles (CLIFTON COLLINS JR.) whom Gabriel believes knows where they are.<\/p>\n

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Quick Hit Review: <\/strong>I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any doubt Shia LaBeouf is a talented actor and by god, he does give one hell of a performance, showcasing how his talents were utterly wasted in the Transformers<\/em> films. But despite an earnest performance, and some fine ones with a respectable supporting cast that includes Gary Oldman \u2014 who clearly had one day of filming as he\u2019s stuck behind a desk for the entire film \u2014 and yet the story is a bit too predictable (I saw the \u201ctwist\u201d coming from minute one and honestly, it\u2019s usually easy to pull one over on me).<\/p>\n

It was a bit hard knowing how to even rate the film as it does tell a forgotten or untold story of military officers coming home dealing with a variety of issues, mainly PTSD. I think it is a story that should be told more, unfortunately I didn\u2019t feel Adam G. Simon\u2019s screenplay, co-scripted by director Dito Montiel, does it justice as at times it was a bit too overwrought and yet at the same time, not exactly as emotionally draining as it could or should have been. As I said, once you know the \u201ctwist\u201d, it comes down to when it is ultimately revealed and it just didn\u2019t have the impact the filmmakers probably intended.<\/p>\n

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In the end, Man Down<\/em><\/strong> is hardly terrible and at the very least does shed light on an important issue generally ignored by the public and, especially, politicians (just look at the state of the VA which still is in disarray). It is, however, a shame the film was hamstrung by a bad script though propelled with Shia LaBeouf\u2019s intense performance.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 1.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This release comes with a matted slip cover<\/strong>. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD<\/u><\/strong> copy.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the only feature included is an Audio Commentary<\/u><\/strong> with Co-Writer\/Director Dito Montiel and Military Consultant Nick Jones Jr.<\/p>\n

Previews<\/strong> \u2013 Hacksaw Ridge<\/em>, Imperium<\/em>, U.S. Indianapolis: Men of Courage<\/em>, Criminal<\/em>, Hell or High Water<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Man Down<\/em><\/strong> comes to Blu-ray presented with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and an AVC-encoded 1080p high-definition transfer. At first, I was impressed with the video as it did offer crisp and clear detail throughout, however I did tend to notice numerous instances of banding from the opening to other scenes where color transition, even in the background, were hardly smooth. One or two instances is forgivable, more than that and it does become distracting.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track isn\u2019t anything amazing but it is effective enough. Probably 85% of the movie is dialogue driven and on that, the levels do sound crisp and clear but the depth really shows off during the war sequences, especially a key scene as explosions go off and gunfire is exchanged between soldiers and terrorists.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 3.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Overall, Man Down<\/em><\/strong> does shine light on the important subject of PTSD for returning soldiers and as commendable as that is, it\u2019s unfortunate the screenplay does it little justice but I will say Shia LaBeouf\u2019s performance is amazing and it does feature a respectable supporting cast even if they aren\u2019t exactly utilized, most notably Gary Oldman. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate offers flawed video but good audio transfers while bonus material is limited.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Man Down<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Man Down does shine light on the important subject of PTSD for returning soldiers and as commendable as that is, it\u2019s unfortunate the screenplay does it little justice but I will say Shia LaBeouf\u2019s performance is amazing and it does feature a respectable supporting cast.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[3026,222,1962,892,166],"class_list":["post-14555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-clifton-collins-jr","tag-gary-oldman","tag-jai-courtney","tag-kate-mara","tag-shia-labeouf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14557,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14555\/revisions\/14557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}