TAKING ON THE DRUG LORDS IS IMPOSSIBLE. TAKING ON A COUNTRY IS INSANE. When prisoner of war Robert McBain (Academy Award winner Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter) is rescued in the jungles of North Vietnam by a group of Rangers, he expresses his thanks and gratitude. The leader of the Rangers, Santos (Chick Vennera), takes out a $100 bill, tears it in two, gives half to McBain and says, “If the other half of this bill ever finds you, you can pay me back.” Eighteen years later, Santos is killed in Colombia while leading a fight against drug lords and corrupt politicians. His sister, Christina (Maria Conchita Alonso, Predator 2, The Running Man) goes to New York with the other half of the bill and seeks out McBain to enlist his help in overthrowing the Colombian regime. With the surviving ex-Rangers from his Vietnam rescue, including Michael Ironside (Total Recall, Top Gun) and Steve James (The Exterminator, The Soldier), McBain’s team travels to Colombia to break the power of the drug lords and avenge Santos’ death. Directed by genre favorite James Glickenhaus (The Exterminator, Shakedown, Slaughter of the Innocents), McBain delivers “a macho action fantasy… spectacular mayhem that action audiences expect.” (Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times)

For thoughts on McBain, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/Bx4vP5G81XY?t=720]

Video Quality

McBain debuts on Blu-Ray in the U.S. courtesy of Synapse Films with a new 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that looks very good. There is no indication that this release comes from a new scan or restoration, but it appears very film-like with no trace of digital manipulation. There are some small deficits in the video quality, but you will not find any compression artifacts or other preventable digital anomalies. From beginning to end, fans should be delighted to see there is virtually no print damage to be found. The transfer presents with a fetching amount of natural grain intact. You will not spot many moments where things seem clumpy or swarming, instead you will get an image that is nicely resolved.

Black levels are fairly deep with no egregious instances of black crush or compression artifacts, but the nighttime shots are not exactly ink black. Contrast is well defined with highlights never appearing overly bright or coming close to blooming. The natural photography shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail in the jungle environments. These facets also translate to other elements such as the textures on the uniforms, weapons and production design. Synapse Films has ensured this one received a good amount of care.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with the original DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio stereo mix along with a newly remixed DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio surround sound track. This is a prime example of having the best of both worlds, as you get to maintain artistic purity with the theatrical stereo mix while also having an option that takes advantage of the audio technology of the day. Both tracks sound very good with not much popping up to hold things back. Dialogue is clear and stable without the action-packed sound effects or the score overshadowing important information. Powerful sound effects such as explosions are given the appropriate weight within the mix. The environmental effects such as gunfire or helicopter blades are presented without issue. The music in the film never struggles with fidelity. This presentation is a fine effort from Synapse Films. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director James Glickenhaus and film historian Chris Poggiali provide a solid commentary track in which they discuss the production of this film, the shooting locations, the attempts to bring realism to the narrative, the state of the drug epidemic at the time, working with the performers and more that gives good context to the feature.

Original Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

McBain is a serviceable early ‘90s action film which never does anything to distinguish itself apart from the fact that it stars Christopher Walken. The actor could execute this role in his sleep, but he at least does enough to keep your attention. The action set pieces are capably executed, but the story is simply not there to make this something particularly noteworthy. If you are a lover of any and all action movies, this one is not terrible, but it also is not particularly memorable. Synapse Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a good A/V presentation and a decent commentary track. While we would prefer an action movie with the character from The Simpsons, this is passable.

McBain will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on July 11, 2023.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Synapse Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.