The Courier (Blu-ray Review)
This intense action-thriller unfolds in real time as two embattled souls fight for their lives. Academy Award® winner Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) stars as a vicious crime boss out to kill Nick, the lone witness set to testify against him. He hires a mysterious female motorcycle courier (Olga Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace) to unknowingly deliver a poison-gas bomb to slay Nick. But after she rescues Nick from certain death, the duo must confront an army of ruthless hired killers in order to survive the night.
Film 
Ezekial Mannings (Gary Oldman) is one of the most powerful and feared crime bosses in the world. After he is finally arrested and, on the way, to meet justice, he hires a lovely and talented courier (Olga Kurylenko) to deliver a poisonous gas bomb to the only witness that can seal his fate.
As is the case in films like this one, things don’t go as planned and the courier, who was an impartial middle woman, has to now protect the witness and deliver him to law enforcement before they both end up getting killed by Manning’s endless hordes of henchmen.
I had very low expectations going into The Courier but once it revved up it became an entertaining romp of a film. This is not a great film by any stretch, but it is an entertaining one. It is filled with some awesome action set-pieces, Olga Kurylenko riding a motorcycle, Gary Oldman chewing up the scenery, and some gruesome kills. What more can a boy ask for? Don’t answer that…
The Courier won’t set the world ablaze, but I had a fun enough time watching the film. It set out to do that which is was made for: entertainment. Olga Kurylenko gave it her all and if you don’t believe that then you should check out her social media page — she took a literal beating – but her character was quite awesome and likable as hell. It went a long way in my suspending disbelief. You better believe I’m on team Olga!
Video
Encoding: AVC/MPEG-4
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Clarity/Detail: Lionsgate hits it out of the Blu-ray park with this release. Contrast and sharpness levels are terrific. I did not detect any instances of post-production tinkering.
Black Levels: There are a few scenes taking place in darkly-lit interiors and enclosures. These scenes are reproduced flawlessly and without crush.
Color Reproduction: The color palette is bright and bold. The Blu-ray handles all of the colors of the rainbow with great ease and reproduction.
Flesh Tones: Olga Kurylenko looks great. Everyone else also looks presentable and without blemishes. This changes when people get demolished by car wheels or weaponry…to a great extent!
Noise/Artifacts: The digital photography looks and feels organic and not necessarily “polished” like a low budget production would look. This is major compliment on the visual aesthetic.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Dynamics: The audio design for The Courier is fantastic on this Blu-ray! It’s got clean evenly spaced out levels that completely envelope the viewer. There are many scenes involving juxtaposition and these clever scenes just flow with the creative use of audio and placement. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA lossless audio design is awesome!
Low Frequency Extension: The lovely LFE low-end bass levels rumble and shake during the many scenes of carnage and mayhem present here.
Surround Sound Presentation: The Courier is an action-packed film, with lots of action scenes featuring vehicles, drones, and lots of gunfire. The surround channels really draw you into those enclosed spaces in the parking garage where all of these elements collide at the same time.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels were clean and clear, with no signs of distortion or clipping.
Extras
The extras on The Courier Blu-ray are non-existent with the exception of a fun and informative audio commentary by the filmmakers — check out the titles – everyone here wore several belts during filming. Now that’s dedication! A digital copy of the film is also provided.
- Audio Commentary with Director/Writer/Executive Producer Zachary Adler & Producer/Writer/Composer James Edward Barker
- Trailer Gallery
- Digital HD Copy
Summary
I was expecting to hate The Courier, because it looked to be a dime-a-dozen type of low budget film that I was already accustomed to. Surprisingly, it was fun enough and the Blu-ray had awesome video/audio specs, with a cool audio commentary. Give it a spin and you may be even more surprised than I was in terms of how much you will like it. Olga Kurylenko rocks hard!
The Courier is available on Blu-ray
& DVD January 21, 2020!
ORDER NOW!
