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Release
date |
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4th April 2001 |
| Reviewer |
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Paul James |
| Audio |
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English |
| Subtitle/s |
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English, Dutch |
| Region
Code |
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2,4 |
| Chapters |
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16 |
| Disc
Format |
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DVD5 |
| Running Time |
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90 minutes |
| Classification
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M15+ (Medium
Level Violence and Low Level Course Language) |
| Distributor |
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Universal Pictures |
 DVD EXTRAS |
- Theatrical
Trailer |
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CAST & CREW Director Albert
Pyun Cast Tom Sizemore, Rozondo "chilli" Thomas,
Dennis Hopper, Steven Seagal, Joe Spano, Jaime Pressly / Music Serge
Colbert |
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Ticker is a movie I’d never heard of before this
review, which surprised me after learning that it contains some well known Hollywood movie
stars such as Dennis Hopper (Speed), Tom Sizemore (The Relic, Saving Private
Ryan) and Steven Seagal (Exit Wounds, Executive Decision). But, after watching
the DVD I soon knew why it’s a B grade stinker.
Detective Ray Nettles (Sizemore) of the San Francisco P.D. and his partner Fuzzy (NAS)
one evening stumble upon Swan (Hopper) and his co-horts in a factory, Swan is an Irish
terrorist specialising in bombs and blowing things up. In the attempted arrest Fuzzy is
shot and killed but Nettles manages to capture one of the terrorists, the beautiful
scientist Claire (Jaime Pressly). Swan escapes and begins a terrorist bombing campaign
throughout the city to force the police to release Claire. Nettles takes it upon himself
to work alone, disobey orders and join forces with Glass (what is it with these ridiculous
character names?) played by Seagal to take down Swan. Glass is the Officer In Charge of
the San Francisco bomb squad whose job it is to try and defuse the bombs left by Swan.
Ticker has a tired and lame old plot, Nettles is the typical burnt out detective who
just refuses to obey orders, continually gets into fights with other detectives and who
has a personal vendetta to avenge the death of his partner. Yes we’ve all seen that
before and it’s coupled with a very ordinary performance by Sizemore. Then you have
Dennis Hopper who is supposedly playing an Irish terrorist, his accent or poor attempt at
an Irish accent at that continually changes throughout the movie from full on american,
half irish – half american and poor irish. He basically just puts out a carbon copy
of his role in Speed.
Lastly with have Seagal the OIC of the Bomb Squad, Seagal just plays his normal role,
cool talking, tough acting, martial arts expert complete with his old pony tail. The only
good thing about the film is you get to see lots of explosions and occasionally Seagal
does his hand to hand combat thing on some poor unfortunate retard criminals. |
So how does this transfer hold up?
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VIDEO
This is a new film so you would expect the transfer to be pretty good on DVD and it is.
It’s anamorphically framed in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It is a
clean transfer with no specs of dirt or film grain. Black level was solid with good shadow
detail. Colours were also bright and fairly well saturated. Whilst not of reference
quality it is quite sharp and detailed. |
 ... |
AUDIO
Well, the back of DVD cover states that the audio track is English 5.1, that
indicates to me that I am expecting a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio track. So after the
film commences and my receiver is displaying "Pro Logic" I go "What
the….". I try and change it on the fly with my remote but the DVD player is
saying that’s the only audio track available, so I go to the menu, nope can’t
see it there, go back to the film and nope definitely not on the DVD. So in essence the
DVD cover is wrong, the only audio track is Dolby Digital two channel.
Why I do not know, this is a film made this year about blowing up buildings with bombs,
you’d think that would cry out for a Digital soundtrack. Anyway the 2.0 track is
adequate, dynamic range is limited, the bass is okay and obviously mainly used for the
explosions which could have been sooo much better with a properly mixed 5.1 track.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and the surrounds barely audible. |
... |
EXTRAS
Only included is the theatrical trailer. Overall Ticker is a
rental only if everything else in the store is out, the lack of extras, only pro logic
audio and a very average film at best makes it hard to recommend. Ticker is a stinker. |
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| DVD Ratings |
PICTURE_QUALITY |
8/10
– Quite Sharp and detailed |
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SOUND_Quality |
5/10 - 2.0
Surround Audio Only |
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5.1_WOW_Factor |
N/A |
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| EXTRAS |
0/10
– Not Applicable |
REVIEW_DATE
7th December 2001 |
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Review Equipment |
| Monitor |
Pioneer SD-T43W1 (16:9 RPTV) |
Speakers |
Fronts: Polk Audio RT55 |
| Receiver |
Yamaha RXV995 (DD/DTS) |
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Centre: Polk Audio CS350 |
| DVD_Player |
Pioneer DV535 |
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Rears: Polk Audio RT/fx |
| Interconnects |
QED S-Video & QED Optical |
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Sub: M&K MX125 |
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| * jpeg
files for internet promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by
Universal Pictures |
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