John Wick [DVD]

I first saw the film, John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves, at the theater when it was originally released. I hadn’t known anything about the movie until the week before when I accidentally saw a trailer for it on television. That sparked my interest. When I went to see the movie, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Since this Fall season had proven to be a great year for me and seeing movies at the theater (The Expendables 3, The November Man, A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Fury, The Judge, and The Equalizer), I suspected that John Wick might turn out to be the biggest and most badass action thriller of the year.For me, it certainly was.Like most of the other titles listed above, I also realized I needed to see the film a second time to see if I still felt the same about the movie. I had discussed the film with another reviewer whose opinion is usually right on the button with movies. He had graded it, however, a star lower than I would have, expressing a problem with the change in attitude near the end with the head of the Russian mafia in New York City, Viggo Tarasov (as played by Michael Nyqvist).Spoiler Alert!In other words, to live, the mobster had to be willing to turn over his son (Iosef) to John Wick. It took watching the movie a second time for me to feel comfortable with this change in attitude and to understand why the Russian mobster did it.As most viewers already know, the movie opens up with the death of Wick’s wife (played by the lovely Bridget Moynahan as Helen) and a few flashbacks to set up why Wick loved her so much. It worked for me. I could certainly emphasize with man when the Russian thugs break into his house, beat him up with a baseball bat, steal his muscle car, but more importantly, kill the puppy dog that was a final gift from his wife to help him with his grieving and to give him something else to love.Once Viggo realizes that his son (Alfie Allen plays Iosef) did these things to John Wick, he fully understands the nature of his situation and what must be done. He knows there will be no reasoning with John Wick about this, though he does give it the old American effort. That’s when he realizes Wick must be killed. I mean this is the man who used to work for Viggo…the man Viggo sent to kill the Boogeyman. He knows how deadly Wick can be and so sends a dozen well-trained killers to the man’s house. Wick kills them all with either gunshots to the head or hand-to-hand combat. No mercy is shown. That’s the moment in the film when most viewers realize something very special is going on…that Keanu Reeves is back in full battle mode.John Wick eventually has to take out the entire Russian mob in New York City to get to that one person who instigated it all, and he does it with such proficiency and panache that it nearly takes your breath away.The fights scenes alone will blow you away as Wick utilizes every move he knows from throat jabs to high kicks to using his knees and elbows to block and attack, not to mention countless take-down tactics. And these are all done with intensity and speed. They don’t look choreographed at all. Handguns are also treated realistically with Wick having to reload his semi-automatic handguns and automatic rifles continuously as he runs out of ammunition. He also has more than one or two handguns on him at any given time, and when he shoots a bad guy, he always ends it with a head shot. It’s usually two to the chest or stomach, and then one to the head. This way, no one gets back up to attack him.I loved Ms. Perkins (played by Adrianne Palicki), who is just as dangerous as Wick with small arms and hand-to-hand fighting. She’s called in for a high price to take Wick out and very nearly succeeds. She fights him with such skill and relish that I think he spurred her at sometime in the past. Maybe dropping her to marry Helen, and this is her revenge.Then, there’s the other assassin, Marcus, who’s brilliantly played by Willem Dafoe. You don’t quite understand his motives until the end. This is when you grasp the fact that he sees Wick as kind of a son figure. This is a relationship that Viggo will never have with his own flesh and blood. Marcus is ready to die for John Wick, but Viggo does just the opposite with Iosef, which tells you something about Wick and the person he’s hunting.There’s also Ian McShane as Winston, the owner of the hotel where Wick stays. McShane brings his character wonderfully to life by underplaying him. It gives his actions and dialogue even more strength, especially when he confronts Ms. Perkins at the end, knowing how deadly she is.Beautifully filmed, expertly choreographed, this film truly delivers on the action and fight scenes. This is not a thinking man’s movie, but rather one designed to bring Keanu Reeves back with full force to the fans who loved him in the Matrix trilogy.One major thing you should know about the regular DVD. There are no extras on it, unless you count the previews. No commentary, no deleted scenes, and no behind-the-scenes features. I haven’t seen the Blu-ray edition yet, so I can’t comment on that. I was totally surprised since this is the type of film you’d expect to have a ton of extras on it, especially with regards to the fighting sequences. So, if you buy the regular DVD, be aware of that.The movie itself is certainly worth the price alone.

This movie is just friggin fun to watch. I love all the John Wick films and this one is the entry pass to the series. The stylized action sequences are so very well choreographed. You do not deal with "cut shots" with the fight scenes that you do in the Jason Bourne movies (and keep in mind that I love those as well). But the training and commitment that Keanu (and other notable actors) made to authenticating every action scene is well appreciated. I love revenge, action, killing, etc. movies. This is up there for me as one of the best. Just great fun...

Best one of the series. Good story line and acting. The others bored me to tears since they are mainly a rehash of the first but with 90 percent more fight sequences. I like martial arts but there was nothing much than that in the rest of the vids.

Perfect DVD

I ordered this disc mainly out of curiosity. I wanted to see if my Blu-Ray player ( an OPPO 103 'firm-ware' improved to handle 4K discs) would play the 4K and feed it to my 1080p Panasonic plasma. It wouldn't. I don't know exactly why but I'm researching it ( is my Yamaha A/V receiver blocking it I don't know). Anyway, I decided to put the humdrum BluRay disc in and watch the movie. Right from the get-go I knew something good was happening. The DOLBY-'ATMOS' logo came on and sound effects started dancing around the room (the Yamaha is a 7.1 player ). Gee, I thought I might not get 4K but at least I have the sound of a 4K movie (hopefully). Then the movie started and my thoughts were 'what the he..' : The image was not only good, it was 'Ultra' good. It was like BluRay on steroids. There was color, contrast and sharpness (not to mention sound) that I had never seen on a BluRay disc before and I have some good discs to compare it to (Ben Hur, Fifth Element).I'm sure some find the movie itself over-the-top when it comes to violence and the capacity of Keanu Reeves to withstand pain when he dispatches bad guys ( who needs Superman when we have John Wick? ). But if you've seen the movie and like it and are considering buying the BluRay you might want to go the 4K route right now for future reference. If the 4K disc is anywhere near the viewing quality of the BluRay you will be very pleased with your decision ( anybody know what the expectant life of a Panasonic 1080p plasma TV is?)After seeing this disc I also purchased the movie 'Sicario' in 4K to see how it shaped up image-wise. Right off the bat that beautiful DOLBY-'ATMOS' logo came on and the sound was dancing around the room. Again the movie started and visually it was stunning. I can't figure out how this is happening. A disc is made in the 4K format and they make a BluRay from the master that ends-up upgraded as well? Is the BluRay disc which comes with these 4K discs made from the 4K master? That's the question. How else could they incorporate the DOLBY-'ATMOS' sound in the BluRay movie. It's a quandary. I'm hoping somebody out there will beat me over the head with technical sagacity and explain all this.Please be gentle.Back in the day of vinyl records every audiophile had what he called a 'reference' album or two that brought out the best sound from his audio system. This 'John Wick' 4K/BluRay disc is now my reference BluRay. The sound and visual presentation are both very good. No, let me fix that- they are extremely good.If your system is up to the task and you like technical improvements that enhance your movie viewing experience you will be very pleased with this purchase. Highly recommended.