From legendary director John Woo and the producer of John Wick comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death. Full of Woo’s signature style, Silent Night redefines the action genre with visceral, thrill-a-minute storytelling.

For in-depth thoughts on Silent Night, please see my colleague Gaius Bolling’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Silent Night arrives on Blu-Ray with a very strong 1080p presentation in its original 2.00:1 aspect ratio that looks very nice in high definition. The film was also released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, but we do not have that available for review. Color saturation is formidable with the holiday color palette presenting moments with a lovely vibrancy. Some elements of the production design and lighting make a bold impression as they leap off the screen. Skin tones are natural with exposed skin showing off blood, bruises, and scars as the narrative develops. The clarity throughout is forthright with subtle textures in the locations and clothing coming through perfectly. Black levels showcase a stellar amount of depth and do not fall victim to substantial digital noise or banding outside of a few gradients. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has delivered a welcome presentation, and we can only imagine the 4K UHD Blu-Ray impresses more.

Audio Quality

The Dolby Atmos track brings this unique sonic experience to life with tremendous depth and accuracy. The movie uses environmental sounds impeccably, and the track really blossoms when bringing it to life. This narrative delivers a plethora of hard-hitting moments, including a substantial low-end response that sells the brutality of the narrative. This story indulges in moments of quiet which puts a greater emphasis on the sounds of the locations around the characters, which the soundscape disseminates from numerous directions. Dialogue is nearly nonexistent, but the tertiary background chatter comes through clearly as it balances well with the music and the sound effects. This track is a force to be reckoned with. There are English SDH and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: A 17-minute featurette is provided in which the cast and creative team discuss the unique conceit of the narrative, why they wanted to make this film, the work of John Woo, the most difficult scenes to film, and much more.

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

Final Thoughts

Silent Night goes a bit overboard at times trying to maintain its gimmick, but it is made infinitely better thanks to the contributions of the legendary John Woo and a committed performance from Joel Kinnaman. The action thrills in the right way and the story hits you when it is supposed to. The movie is simple-minded and does not raise the bar on the genre, but at the end of the day, you have a good time with it. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with an amazing A/V presentation but not too much in the way of supplemental features. If you are a fan, you may want to spring for the 4K UHD Blu-Ray SteelBook for the best quality. Recommended

Silent Night is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray SteelBook, Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital.

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

Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment 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.