Next of Kin
1989/109 mins.
Released by Warner Bros.
Rated R
Starring Patrick Swayze, Helen Hunt, Liam Neeson, Bill Paxton,
and Ben Stiller
Directed by John Irvin
Single Sided/Single Layered
Reviewed by Robby Cox
E-mail- koi@magicnet.net
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Opening Remarks: This is the first "Budget Priced"
Warner Bros. title that I've seen. I must admit that I'm not very
impressed. The sticker on the packaging states that this disc has
Production Notes and Multiple Language Tracks. This is not true.
This disc has neither and I felt kinda screwed.
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Movie Quality: Next of Kin is your basic action movie. The plot
goes like this-Patrick Swayze plays a hillbilly cop in Chicago.
His brother is killed by the mob. So Patrick and his backwoods
family seek revenge. The movie is pretty lame and it's only
saving grace is it's excellent cast. It's kinda funny to see Liam
Neeson playing a redneck with a southern accent, which he can't
fully pull off. I really enjoyed seeing Ben Stiller in a dramatic
role. Overall, this movie isn't the worst piece of crap that
you've ever seen, but it's not very good, either.
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Video Quality: This disc impresses in it's video quality, but not
in it's presentation. The video is nice-looking and the colors
are sharp. This movie is 10 years old, but the DVD of it looks
great. The movie is presented in Fullscreen or Pan & Scan, as
it's sometimes known. I'm pretty sure that this movie wasn't shot
in this format. All of Warner's "Budget" line are
Fullscreen, which is pretty lame. Anyways, the video quality is
good, but the formatting is wrong.
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Sound Quality: The sound quality of this disc is great. The music
sounds great even though it's not my type of music. The voices
are clear and are mixed just right. This area is nicely done.
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Extras: There are no extras on this disc. Period. There's no
trailer. The promised Multiple Languages or Production Notes are
nowhere to be found. The menu screens are objectionably ugly with
just the WB logo and the name of the movie. This is where they
get ya. The "Budget" line has no extras, period.
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Improve: Add the Widescreen presentation and add some extras. At
least the trailer.
RIYL: Steven Seagal films?
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Overall Opinion: This disc isn't horrible, but it's not very
good. The movie's okay, but the lack of the Widescreen version is
unforgivable. Also the lack of extras is lame. But this disc only
costs $10, so maybe I can forgive this. This disc is the
equivalent of a sell-through VHS movie, but with better video and
sound. If you want extras, look elsewhere. If you want the best
version available of this film, then you can't go wrong here.
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Movie Quality: ***
Video Quality: ****
Sound Quality: *****
Extras:
Personal Opinion: ***
Total: 15 out of 25
Final Score: 60 %