OVERVIEW: One of the most compelling heroes ever to step from novel to screen makes his highly-anticipated home entertainment debut when JACK REACHER blasts his way onto Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on May 7, 2013 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The film will be available for Digital Download on April 23rd. Tom Cruise tackles the title role with the brute force his character is known for and his “tightly controlled performance holds our attention all the way through to the tense finale” (Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News). Based on best-selling author Lee Child’s wildly popular series of novels, JACK REACHER was adapted for the screen and directed by Academy Award®-winner Christopher McQuarrie (Best Original Screenplay, The Usual Suspects, 1995). Filled with heart-pounding action, thrills and a “killer chase scene” (Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News), JACK REACHER is “hard-boiled detective story entertainment” (Richard Corliss, Time) that “will have you gasping in surprise at the velocity and ferocity of the action” (Marshall Fine, Huffington Post). The film also boasts “a top Jack Reacher ensemble cast” (Claudia Puig, USA Today) including Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now), Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day), Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn), David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Jenkins (The Cabin in the Woods) and Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard). 

The JACK REACHER Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with UltraViolet™ is bursting with compelling bonus features including an in-depth look at Reacher’s journey to the screen, the filmmakers’ devotion to remaining true to the essence of the character and their drive to create an action-thriller that harkens back to the landmark films of the ‘70s. The combo pack also includes a look at the training and stunt choreography behind the gritty and intense fight sequences, an exploration of the Reacher phenomenon around the world with Lee Child, as well as commentaries by Tom Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie and composer Joe Kraemer. The film will also be available as a single-disc DVD. 

The Blu-ray release available for purchase will be enabled with UltraViolet, a new way to collect, access and enjoy movies. With UltraViolet, consumers can add movies to their digital collection in the cloud, and then stream or download them – reliably and securely – to a variety of devices. 

SYNOPSIS: From The New York Times bestselling author Lee Child comes one of the most compelling heroes to step from novel to screen - ex-military investigator Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise). When a gunman takes five lives in what seems like an open and shut murder case, all evidence points to the suspect in custody. On interrogation, the suspect offers up a single note: “Get Jack Reacher!” So begins an extraordinary chase for the truth, pitting Reacher against an unexpected enemy with a skill for violence, a secret to keep and a target on Reacher’s back.

FILM REVIEW: This outrageous but entertaining pulp style melodrama thriller is directed by Christopher McQuarrie who you might remember, brought us the 1996 award winning, The Usual Suspects. He gives us an efficient mesh of nineties John Grisham-esque thriller procedural with flashes of seventies/eighties vigilante style movies, reminiscent of The Firm (1993) meets Shaft (2000). As a matter of fact, aside from the frequent cell phone usage, the events shown could have easily taken place in decades past, allowing for the story line to be boundless from any particular time period. This adds to the uniqueness of the film and makes for great storytelling, in my opinion.

The film starts off with an excellent 8-10 minute opening sequence that gets the adrenaline pumping and envelops the viewer with lots of unorthodox action-thrills and anxiety. These scenes are done without any kind of dialogue, and the result forces the view to observer every action taken, frame by frame. This director delivers both flagrant tension and a feeling that the movie is steering us in directions that we may not be able to handle as viewers. Nevertheless, there is an obvious sense of coolness and confidence about the opening scenes.

Tom Cruise, who seems naturally suited for the role, stars as sharp-shooter/military investigator Jack Reacher - the wild card, a highly decorated soldier once employed by the Military Police, and has now quit the army and “disappeared off the grid,” living a mysterious and somewhat austere lifestyle. In fact, one could possibly surmise that Reacher could be Ethan Hunt’s (Mission Impossible movie series) reclusive twin suffering from PTSD, after returning from war. As would be expected of Cruise, he executes the role flawlessly and is nothing less than Tom Cruise at the top of his game.

On the other hand, for those of you that are fans of foreign films, you may recognize the legendary German director Werner Herzog, who appears in a very devious, but short role in this flick. Herzog just happens to be playing the sinister-looking, scary European guy with the heavy German accent and obvious Soviet Bloc influences. He really brings the bad guy role to life and makes for an excellent villain. Additionally, I liked the always competent Mr. Robert Duvall and his colorful gun-toting character along with the Academy Award nominee for Best Actor (The Visitor, 2009), Richard Jenkins, playing the role of the questionable District Attorney. Likewise, the beautiful and talented eye candy, Rosamund Pike (Bond girl: 007- Die Another Day, 2002) who nails the part of feisty risk-taking super lawyer, Helen Rodin.

Perhaps the most purely enjoyable scene comes when Reacher who has to engage in what I’d like to think of as the best car-chase scene of the year. In my opinion the scene lasted for the right amount of time and rivals great chase scenes from that of Robert DeNiro’s Ronin and to Mark Walhberg’s The Italian Job. This flick is a confident and well-paced crowd pleaser that showcases some welcomed smarts. There's lots of swagger, but not arrogance, lots of attitude, but not overly done. The action is pure and thrilling. Overall the Performances are solid across the board the cast seems to know how to have fun and can harness humor and action at the appropriate timing.

This flick is class “A” Tom Cruise and is definitely worth seeing in theaters. I believe it deserves four and a half out of five stars for absolute action and thrill with a smart twist.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.39:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English, French  and Spanish subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.39:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital,  and English Audio Description

Subtitles - English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Commentary by Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie

Commentary by composer Joe Kraemer

When the Man Comes Around

You Do Not Mess with Jack Reacher: Combat & Weapons

The Reacher Phenomenon

Ultraviolet Copy

DVD Copy