The Review at a Glance: ( max score: 5 )
Film:
Extras:
Audio/Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )
78
Studio and Year: Stage Six Films - 2010
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Feature running time: 92 minutes
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Disc Format: BD-25
Encoding: VC1 (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 1:85.1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English PCM 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles: English SDH, French
Starring: Jillian Murray, Marnette Patterson, Ashley Parker Angel, John Schneider
Directed by: Andy Hurst
Music by: Steven Stern
Written by: Howard Zemski & Monty Featherstone
Region Code: Free
Blu-ray Disc release Date: June 1, 2010
"No Risk, No Fun"
Film Synopsis:
Wild Things Foursome is the seductive next film in the hot and sexy Wild Things series. Hotel magnate Ted Wheetly is tough on his arrogant hard partying son, Carson (Ashley Parker Angel), who believes his wealthy, womanizer father drove his mother to her death. When Ted is killed in a racing accident, Detective Frank Walker (John Schneider) is assigned to investigate the case. As he digs deeper into the death, he becomes more and more suspicious of the scheming, seduction, greed, double-crossing, and possibly even cold blooded murder.
My Take:
four·some
1. A group of four persons or things, especially two couples.
2. a. A game, played by four persons.
b. A terrible straight to video movie.
‘Wild Things: Foursome' is the third sequel to 1998's 'Wild Things'. I was never a big fan of the first and recently caught the ultra-bad third one, 'Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough' on cable. I just don't get how the producers thought it was a good idea to make this, and even worse, let 'Andy Hurst", the writer of Wild Things 2 and 3, direct this. 'Wild Things 3' was so bad, and when I looked up 'Wild Things 2' it is considered even worse! His terrible direction didn't help the wooden performances and terribly delivered lines of horrendous screen-writing. By now you can skip the review and go peek at the A/V ratings if you are at all morbidly curious. The twists and turns were so predictable (well OK, 1 of them caught me by surprise) and plot so contrived this was just a vehicle to show off 'the pretty people'. If the movie had as much exposed skin and sex scenes (besides the one "foursome") as I was led to believe it might have had a a bit of redemption, but it just wasn't gutsy enough to 'go all the way'. Detective Frank Walker played by John Schneider (Bo Duke--Dukes of Hazzard) was the only breath of fresh air when muttering some of his lines with a delivery that insinuated he knew how bad it all was as well. To make matters worse the move insulted the viewer by showing 'how it all happened' during the end credits, like it was so clever we needed the insight. I know I am bashing this movie pretty hard, and don't get me wrong, it's not good, however it kept me engaged enough to focus until the end; just not for the reasons the film-makers had intended.
Parental Guide:
Unrated- strong sexuality, nudity, language and some violence.
AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Audio: 82
- Dynamics:
- Low frequency extension:
- Surround Sound presentation:
- Clarity/Detail:
- Dialogue Reproduction:
Video: 74
- Resolution/Clarity:
- Black level/Shadow detail:
- Color reproduction:
- Fleshtones:
- Compression:
‘Wild Things: Foursome' comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 27.5 mbps and DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound that has an average bitrate of 4.6 mbps.
‘Wild Things: Foursome' 'almost' looked as bad as the movie was. Sony lost it's winning streak of superb Blu-ray releases with this one. There was a level of video noise that surpassed film grain that I attribute to compression. The movie just looked flat and up-converted DVD-esque. The cinematography didn't help; most scenes, even under the brightest of sunlight seemed dull and a bit dark. The black levels never reached inky, but there were not many scenes that got real dark. The colors were the best part of the transfer even though the skin-tones looked a bit on the orange side of things--maybe it was all that sun they got living in Florida?
The DTS-HD MA track was a little better, though was concentrated mainly in the front sound-stage, having hardly any surround activity--even during a boat or car race scene. The best part of the audio was the low end; bass was clean and clear and did reach chest shaking low at times. Dialogue was the priority in the mix, even though I did lose a few too many word's to the loud and dynamic soundtrack. The audio is far from a reference track, but it's the best part of this release.
Bonus Features:
- (HD) Trailers: Youth in Revolt, Chloe, Harry Brown, The Bounty Hunter and Unthinkable.
- BD LIVE Enabled
Final Thoughts:
At best, ‘Wild Things: Foursome' is perfect fodder for a 3 AM brain-dead watch that pops up on cable while flipping around; Besides that I cant recommend this Blu-ray at all. Its like a made for 'The WB network' movie that has nudity and foul language, though the nudity and sex are not even risqué enough to satisfy a curious watch. This is not Sony's shining moment in picture quality, it has no special features (besides a few HD trailers), and more than its share of cringe-worthy moments, lines and acting. Skip.
Lee Weber
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS35 1080p High Definition Front Projector (Calibrated by Jeff Meier)
Custom 1.3 Gain 128" 2.37:1 CinemaScope Screen
Pioneer SC27 Receiver (Calibrated by Jeff Meier)
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triangle Zerius Speakers (7.1)
SVS PC13-Ultra Subwoofer
