Source France | Publisher : ESC Editions | Release date : 19 June 2024
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 1.78
HDR10+ / Dolby Vision / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 4K
Soundtrack
English Dolby Atmos
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English DTS-HD MA 1.0
Subtitles
French
Rated 4 out of 5
Artistic : 7.5 | Video : 8.5 | Audio : 8.5
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers that, in addition to the specified and used viewing equipment, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence notation. In addition, the images (extracted from a free-of-rights image bank and the site caps-a-holic) serve as an illustration and cannot be considered representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Sony Bravia XR-65A95L (Dolby Dark Vision)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max (Dolby Atmos | DTS Neural:X), SVS SB-4000
WORK - All shots are allowed
Frank Dux, an American karate champion, has only one obsession: winning the Kumite, an underground martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. A meeting where all blows are allowed, including fatal blows!
Cult for a whole generation, the best US martial arts movie of the 80s revealed in the eyes of the world Jean-Claude Van Damme and its physical appeal. The confrontations (many and varied) that do not lack nervousness are effectively staged by Newt Arnold, the montage that is owed to its star actor is particularly nervous and casting, despite approximate interpretations in places, really imposes it as soon as it comes to laying a foot in the ring. And despite a very secondary scenario to the predictable structure, the energy and sincerity that emerges from it can only win the adhesion. Hajime!
« Well done... but a brick never returns the blows! »
IMAGE - The muscles from Brussels
Coming from the original 35 mm negative, this impressive 4K restoration encoded on this HDR10+ disc and Dolby Vision breathes a new life into photography by David Worth.
Unmasted (format 1.78 instead of the usual 1.85) and brighter, the image displays a nicely preserved silver grain (outside rare planes where a light DNR seems to have been used), a quite excellent definition (cf. the exteriors of Hong Kong) where the few sweetnesses inherent in the source persist (point enhanced here), and miraculously found details (face features, textile fibres, injuries, background decors) vis-à-vis the previous Blu-ray (published in 2010 via Warner Bros. US and 2016 via MGM DE) to the uncertain pitch and often apparent cracking.
The colorimetric palette with well-saturated hues (blue sky, orange belt of Franck Dux, blood, gilding) is more balanced than in the past (primarys are no longer free alive and the carnation that is less orange is healthier), the value of contrasts has seen a solid boost (dense blacks and purer whites) and the light sources display an unprecedented intensity for this title (light of the day, lighting of the tournament).
SOUND - I FIGHT TO SURVIVE 🎶
Bringing breadth and clarity to an aging soundtrack (denatured in nothing) that needed it, this Dolby Atmos remix reserved for the VO is an indisputable boon.
The breath is more than a distant memory, the dynamic is engaging (especially with training and competition), the well-perceptible dialogues are never detached (this was not the case before), the frontal opening is striking and the score of Paul Hertzog, of certain scope, is enveloping as possible.
As of course, less fuzzy than today's productions, the surrounding environment remains discreet (small atmospheres here) and use of moderate bass. But the grafting of the high channels, more about music than about the effects (overflight of an airplane at the very end), brings a touch of modernity welcome for an increased immersion.
Well mixed (the crowd and the music are perfectly heard) despite the loss of verticality, the second English track proposed in DTS-HD MA 5.1 is just a little less powerful than its 3D friend. As for monophonic VF, the same soundtrack as in previous editions, it remains firmly gripped at the power station to emit its dubbing (an artificial strand), its effects (less striking) and its musical score (more narrow) not without clarity and balance.
CONCLUSION - Victory by KO
Even more « ware » on 4K Ultra HD support (three imposing VHS-BOXs with qualitative illustrations, unhoped-for A/V performances, four discs and satiety complements) where it stripes its muscles to the maximum, the work of JCVD which propelled it on the front of the stage (while popularizing the full contact) remains a sure value in the field of the baston. And for the nostalgic of a later era, the film in VHS version (from a transfer of a French VHS cassette of the time and offered in the 4/3 format in stereo French version) slipped inside. In short, this limited edition is a must for fans!
Hello is this planned a 4k bloodsport release with a French soundtrack please?
No announcement yet unfortunately... In fact, Warner has always abandoned this title in France and ESC would have to find a financial agreement with the latter in order to be able to take it out!
[...] this martial art film that has long marked minds in the 1980s (like Bloodsport before him) offers a muscular show where physical strength and determination are at the heart of [...]