{"id":19911,"date":"2018-11-18T09:50:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T17:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=19911"},"modified":"2018-11-18T19:02:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T03:02:46","slug":"review-smart-chase-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2018\/11\/review-smart-chase-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"S.M.A.R.T. Chase Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/em><\/strong> is a poorly scripted action-thriller in an otherwise competently shot film. It\u2019s also Orlando Bloom\u2019s foray into the abyss of the direct-to-video realm.<\/p>\n

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S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/span>
\n(2018)<\/span>
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Action, Suspense\/Thriller, Crime
\nUniversal Pictures | NR \u2013 94 min. \u2013 $22.98 | October 2, 2018<\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 11\/18\/2018 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Directed by: <\/strong>Charles Martin
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Terence M. O\u2019Keefe & Robby Henson (story), Kevin Bernhardt (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Orlando Bloom, Leo Wu, Simon Yam, Hannah Quinlivan, Lynn Xiong, Liang Jing<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>None
\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, French, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>23.8 GB
\nCodecs: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 1.75\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/em><\/strong>, which was originally titled The Shanghai Job<\/em>, has an ironic name considering how really dumb this movie was. This Chinese-British co-production was completed in late 2016 and finally saw release here in the States in 2018. Perhaps it should\u2019ve just remained on a dusty shelf.<\/p>\n

The plot surrounds Danny Stratton, the proprietor of a private security company titled S.M.A.R.T. (Security Management Action Recovery Team). Upon the film\u2019s opening, the team \u2014 comprised of Stratton, Mach Ren (SIMON YAM), J. Jae Anh (HANNAH QUINLIVAN) and DingDong Tang (LEO WU) \u2014 are transporting a priceless Van Gogh painting when their convoy is ambushed and the painting is stolen.<\/p>\n

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A year later, Stratton is unable to move on from the heist leading to clients drying up and a breakup with his girlfriend, Ling Mo (LYNN HUNG). With a chance for redemption, Stratton takes on a new client to transport a rare and priceless vase from Shanghai to London. But despite detailed planning, the crew that stole the Van Gogh is back. The team, with the help of their drone piloted by Tang, manages to escape and get to the airport. But instead of completing the mission, the brilliant Stratton chooses to use the vase as bait to lure the thieves in order to also recover the painting and thus get their reputation back, especially since the Shanghai police believe Stratton was in on the painting heist… for some reason.<\/p>\n

What. Utter. Nonsense.<\/p>\n

As you might predict, even with placing a tracker, things do go awry and eventually, when threatening to turn in the location of the thieves\u2019 location where other valuable treasures lie, Stratton\u2019s girl is taken and now it\u2019s up to Stratton and company to save her.<\/p>\n

S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/em><\/strong> is actually, on a technical level, competently made under the direction of Charles Martin, marking his feature film debut. The chase scenes, while nothing earth-shattering amazing, was still thrilling enough and the acting, mostly, was serviceable though no doubt Orlando Bloom with his distractingly bleached blonde hair, was on cruise control for what I assume is a rare payday for a lead role. The others, as best I can tell, were fine but their English accents did come across stilted but not sure if it were the terrible dialogue or poor English language skills of the actors.<\/p>\n

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But what really sunk S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/em><\/strong> was the really dumb plot which was utterly nonsensical making the bulk of the movie, and character\u2019s actions, just hard to buy. It makes zero logical sense why, more or less, stealing a vase entrusted to secure, in order to get the thieves and a painting they stole from you, as a way to regain your reputation and also in turn for Stratton, get his girl back. Dumb.<\/p>\n

I honestly don\u2019t know how movies like these get passed the scripting phase without producers maybe bringing up issues like that, but it probably comes down to getting a nice profit on what otherwise is probably a cheap production which it still failed, grossing a mere $2.6 million in China.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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No features were included and this did not come with a slip cover.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/em><\/strong> is presented with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and given a nice looking 1080p high-definition transfer. Detail here is decent but not incredibly sharp, but where it does shine is with the bright neon colors of the Shanghai nightlife while skin tones appear natural looking.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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AUDIO \u2013 4.25\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The disc includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 which is quite effective with clear dialogue coming from the center speaker and some fine depth for the action-centric scenes such as the chase sequences which shows off the track\u2019s robustness, where even the lower end bass turns on for an extra measure of intensity, perhaps more than this movie deserves.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Overall, S.M.A.R.T. Chase<\/em><\/strong> is a poorly scripted action-thriller in an otherwise competently shot film. It\u2019s also Orlando Bloom\u2019s foray into the abyss of the direct-to-video realm, alongside the likes of Willis, De Niro, and Pacino amongst others. This Blu-ray release has good video and audio transfers though there are no bonus features.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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