Overall: 4.6 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis

Career bank robber Doug (Ben Affleck) and his volatile partner, Jim (Jeremy Renner), hit a roadblock when Doug falls for bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall), whom he kidnapped during their last heist. Worse, an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) is now trailing the thieves around their Charlestown, Mass., territory. Affleck directs and co-writes this smart, intricate actioner that co-stars Blake Lively as Krista, Jim's sister and Doug's troubled former flame.

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively

Director: Ben Affleck

Blu-ray Release Date: December 17, 2010

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Rating:

Overall rating weighted as follows:

Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%,

Movie - it's just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio: 4.9 Stars

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

Subwoofer - 4.5 Stars

Dialog - 5.0 Stars

Surround Effects - 5.0 Stars

Dynamic Range - 5.0 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

The first half of this movie is mostly dialog, but when it ramps up to a couple of heist scenes, this movie shows off. The bullets are heard clearly as the wiz by your head, and the explosions fill the room. At one point, a stun grenade was used, and the high pitched squeal almost disoriented me. The soundtrack was minimal, but it left more room for your ears to take in all the glory of this DTS-HD Master mix.

Video: 4.7 Stars

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

Color Accuracy - 4.5 Stars

Shadow detail - 4.5 Stars

Clarity - 5.0 Stars

Skin tones - 5.0 Stars

Compression - 4.5 Stars

Video resolution: 1080p, Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Aspect ratio: 2.40:1, Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Money shows up in this movie quite a bit. When it does I'm able to see what president it is, what the serial numbers are, and I can almost make out the date ... that's how detailed the video is. Color and darkness are handled with skill, without any blurring or hue loss. It is rare for me to notice the scene transitions, but I quite liked them in this film. They feature aerial shots of Charlestown and Boston where you actually feel like you're in a helicopter over the city.

Bonus Features: 4.0 Stars

Theatrical and Extended Cut Audio Commentaries

"Ben's Boston" Focus Points

Extended Cut Scene Indicator

BD-Live Functionality

Movie: 4.0 Stars

This film is full of heist movie clichés. It has a hardnosed FBI agent, a bad boy, a love interest, an evil crime lord, and most importantly a thief with a heart of gold on his last job. You would think this movie wouldn't work, but its acting performances and respect for its setting make this movie tasteful and enjoyable.

This is a very well paced film. I thought it would drag in between action scenes but it didn't. In fact, before I knew it, two hours had passed and the movie was over. Heist movies are always a strange balancing act. They have to make you like the characters and root for them without you forgetting they are breaking the law. They must have done a good job with it, because I caught myself saying, “Just walk away, to the screen a few times.