Two driven men are locked in an escalating cycle of violence and revenge in this edgy thriller from the director of The Hitcher. Haunted by the hit-and-run death of his wife five years ago, Rennie Cray (Jim Caviezel, Person Of Interest) has devoted his life to tracking down the killer twisted psychopath (Colm Feore, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) who randomly murders women using his souped-up ’72 El Dorado. But the stakes are suddenly raised when a mysterious, tormented woman (Rhona Mitra, Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans) becomes caught in their deadly game of cat-and-mouse, leading to a shocking showdown neither one is willing to lose.
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Video Quality
Highwaymen debuts on Blu-Ray courtesy of Shout! Studios with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer derived from a new 2K scan of the Interpositive. The transfer retains the natural film grain of the source without any indication of digital manipulation to obliterate the details. The grain is organic rather than overly noisy or clumpy, allowing for a sumptuous texture to the image. Skin tones appear to be natural, detailed, and consistent across the ensemble.
Clarity and detail thrive with the tattered clothing and the metallic production design standing out. The traditional elements such as the barren highways render clearly with a palpable heat radiating off the asphalt. Colors are lovingly saturated with warm hues providing a harsh appearance to the palette. Black levels are largely deep and hold up well with crush not cropping up as a major issue. Print damage has been cared for without any exceptional blemishes and only a few lingering specks that made it through the remaster. Shout! Studios always puts forth good work.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray presents the film with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in its original English audio which brings this movie to life with great force. One of the more aggressive elements of this soundscape is any thrilling driving sequence filled with roaring engines and twisted metal. The intensity of the soundscape dials up the tension during every confrontation. As great as this may be, it can become a bit of an issue when it comes to the dialogue.
Exchanges are often a bit overwhelmed by competing action, causing lost information. That being said, the words themselves experience no crackling or sibilance. The music emerges with impressive fidelity while avoiding age-related wear and tear at the highest amplitudes. This presentation appears to be in decent shape even if the mix is a little hot at its source. Every element feels like it is in a battle for prominence, so you may have to adjust your volume as you watch. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.
Special Features
- International Cut: There is a longer International Cut (1:30:22) provided in HD with Dolby Digital 2.0 lossy audio that expands upon the US Theatrical Cut (1:20:52) that is featured on the disc.
- Audio Commentary: Director Robert Harmon provides a commentary track moderated by Michael Felsher from Red Shirt Pictures who gets the filmmaker to discuss his journey to filmmaking before giving some great context to how this film was made and the creative choices throughout.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
Highwaymen is a solid road revenge movie that pulls back a bit on the mystery of the situation and leans fully into pulpy fun as cars are embraced as weapons of chaos. It is not particularly complicated, but sometimes you simply want to watch a madman square off in a carefully constructed death machine. The stars are fine with what they are asked to do and provide the basic level of charisma to make this work. It is short, simple, and very violent, and sometimes that is all of the combo you need. Shout! Studios has delivered a Blu-Ray featuring a good A/V presentation and a smattering of special features. If you don’t have this in your collection yet, this disc is a good one. Recommended
Highwaymen is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Shout! Studios has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
