Born To Kill DVD Review (Region 0)

Seth Gecko · 07-06-2005, 6:23 PM

<IMG SRC='http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/BornToKill/BornToKillR0.jpg' ALT='BORN TO KILL DVD cover artwork' ALIGN='RIGHT'>BORN TO KILL Reviewed June 2005 by <A HREF='search.php?do=process&query=Norman McLeod&showposts=1&forumchoice[]=107&forumchoice[]=197' target='_top'>Norman McLeod</A>.The Movie : 5Kil is a young man that works for a criminal syndicate as a hired killer. His only companion is Chichi, a pet monkey. He spends his solitary days drifting around on his motorcycle, waiting for the next contract. One evening he finds a girl collapsed on the street and helps her home, and pretty soon he's besotted.This is a slow paced film with occasional bursts of action rather than an all out thriller. It ruminates on the isolated existence of a killer who gets the chance to change his way of life. Unfortunately, instead of being a meditative and striking portrait, like Jim Jarmusch's 'Ghostdog' or Beat Takeshi's 'Sonatine', this is just boring. This is a banal story that just limps along going nowhere. The aptly named Kil (Jang Hyun Soo) just smokes Marlboro's, eats noodles, chucks his loot in the fridge, and wanders about wearing sunglasses. (When will film hitmen learn that wearing sunglasses indoors actually draws attention to you?) He doesn't say much and doesn't look people in the eye. Cool, huh? Not really. He rides around on his bike (actually a rather nice Yamaha V-max, bike fans) until one day he bumps into a pretty lady, Suha (Eun-ha Shim) who brings him out of his shell. She doesn't know that he's a hitman, of course, until she's kidnapped by gangsters apparently upset that Kil wants to go straight. Or something. The story is so tedious and this particular transfer so bad that I couldn't tell what was going on at times. Even the subtitles are appalling, with rotten translation and spelling throughout. Oh dear, this is a poor affair.Picture : 2Rubbish. The film opens with what should have been a nice tracking shot of Kil sitting on his bike at night smoking a cigarette (in the pouring rain, the oaf, but we'll let that slide). Instead of being smooth and silky, the shot sets the standard for the rest of the film being a juddery, murky mess showing motion trails and artefacts. The blacks are dreadful, and you can't make out anything that's not directly in the light. It's also a grainy mishmash of blur at times. Only scenes shot in broad daylight and containing no fast pans or camera moves are anywhere near okay.<IMG SRC='http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/BornToKill/BornToKill_1.jpg' ALT='BORN TO KILL'>Sound : 5The Dolby Stereo mix is average in quality, which is a relief compared to the quality of the picture. It's not very loud and there's not much in the way of effects. The mix isn't awful but it is pretty bland. This is obviously a budget release and they certainly didn't do anything to enhance the viewing experience in any way, and this includes audio.<IMG SRC='http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/BornToKill/BornToKill_2.jpg' ALT='BORN TO KILL'>Extras : 1A couple of sparse text pages (written only in Korean), and the trailer.<IMG SRC='http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/BornToKill/BornToKill_3.jpg' ALT='BORN TO KILL'>Verdict : 3A run of the mill hitman movie that's low on thrills and has a dreadful transfer to boot. Avoid.<div ALIGN='CENTER'>Review Disc Supplied by <a href="http://global.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?W7QIPXOV+/en/prdTransfer.aspx/pid-1003985707" target=”_blank”><img src="http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/SuppliersLogos/YesAsia.jpg" Align="absmiddle"></a> Please support us by using our review sponsors.</div><TABLE border='0' CELLPADDING='0' CELLSPACING='2' WIDTH='100%'><TR><TD COLSPAN='2'>BORN TO KILL (1996)</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Genres</TD><TD><A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=exact&searchfield=genre&sea rch_for=ACTION' target='_blank'>ACTION</A>, <A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=exact&searchfield=genre&sea rch_for=ROMANCE' target='_blank'>ROMANCE</A></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Director</TD><TD><A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=director&se arch_for=HYEON-SU JANG' target='_blank'>HYEON-SU JANG</A></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Stars</TD><TD><A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&searc h_for=WOO-SUNG JUNG' target='_blank'>WOO-SUNG JUNG</A>, <A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&searc h_for=EUN-HA SHIM' target='_blank'>EUN-HA SHIM</A>, <A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&searc h_for=KYEONG-HWAN JO' target='_blank'>KYEONG-HWAN JO</A>, <A HREF='http://www.totaldvd.net/cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&searc h_for=HAK-CHEOL KIM' target='_blank'>HAK-CHEOL KIM</A></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65'>Region</TD><TD>0 (KOREA)</TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Supplier</TD><TD>Dawoori Entertainment. Released Monday 18th April 2005</TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>SRP</TD><TD>$19.99</TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Discs</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Format</TD><TD>DVD9</TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Time</TD><TD>109 mins.</TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Chapters</TD><TD>13</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Picture</TD><TD>Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 </TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Sound</TD><TD>Korean Dolby Digital 2.0</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Subtitles</TD><TD>English</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Case</TD><TD>Amaray</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Extras</TD><TD>About the movie text Cast & Crew Text Trailer Scene selection</TD></TR></TABLE>If you would like to comment on this review, please reply below.