The Fate of the Furious – Blu-Ray Movie Review

The “Fate of the Furious” is the eighth installment in this beloved franchise. It begins with Dom and Letty enjoying their honeymoon in Cuba by engaging in a street race of course. But then this movie’s villian, Cipher (Charlize Theron) blackmails Dom so he becomes compelled to cooperate with her evil plot. Then the crew gets recruited by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) to help track down a stolen EMP device that later turns out to be a caper related to Dom’s criminal mission. When the time comes to stop Cipher, it’s all hands on deck and even Deckard (Jason Statham) joins the crew in their attempt to stop Cipher and Dom before they destroy the planet.

Specifications

Universal
2017, Color, Rated PG-13, 2 Hr 16 mins
DTS:X, 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron and Kurt Russell
Directed by: F. Gary Gray

Rating

Entertainment:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Violence: Yes
Sex: No
Language: Mild

Like past installments in this series, this movie is a special effects and action-packed juggernaut. I was really entertained the whole time on the first viewing but this movie doesn’t hold up that well in repeated screenings. I did appreciate that it had fewer of the oh-my-God-they-survived-that type of moments which have become something of a staple in past episodes. This movie is a fun and vigorous diversion for a rainay day with lots of great action and plenty of explosions to dizzy your head. The various locations ara a real treat as well. The campy acting is part of the bargain. Fans of the series will probably want to own this movie. Others will be happiest with this as a rental.

This movie runs the gamut from bright, colorful and detailed scenes to dark, grainy and subdued scenes. The Blu-ray disc lays it all out there and I swear I didn’t identify one single issue or artifact to mention. The disc passes colors, details and all the shades of gray as well as any Blu-ray I have tested. This is refernce grade work without a doubt.

This is the first movie I have tested that was originally encoded and presented in DTS:X. Needless to say I was very excited to hear it on my home system. (I caught this film in the theater and it was OK, but my home system is always better.) Though there were some excellent scenes, I was sadly let down. I am not sure if the problem was DTS:X or the way the audio was mastered, but the audio track was by and large compressed-sounding. So some of the action scenes burst out of the speakers with a full-range sound. But that was not always the case. Other scenes were flat and lifeless. On the whole, the lack of dynamic shadings between the loudest passages and the softest was a huge dissppointment.

This is a two disc package with the Blu-ray, a DVD and a Digital HD code. It includes an extended Director’s cut that is only available in the digital download. The on-disc extras include a number of short documentaries and featurettes – The Cuban Spirit, In the Family, All About the Stunts, Extended Fight Scenes, Feature Commentary with Director F. Gary Gray, Betraying the Family: Cipher and Dom, Leaderless: A Family Lost, Shaw Family Values, Meet the Nobodys and Car Culture.