OVERVIEW: A Walk Among the Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson (Non-Stop, The Grey, Taken series) and Dan Stevens (The Guest, “Downton Abbey”) debuts on Digital HD on December 16, 2014, and Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD on January 13, 2015 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Based on Lawrence Block’s best-selling series of mystery novels and directed and written by Academy Award-nominated writer Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Minority Report, The Wolverine), A Walk Among the Tombstones is produced by Jersey Films’ Danny DeVito.

SYNOPSIS: In this intense thriller, Liam Neeson plays Matt Scudder, an ex-NYPD cop turned unlicensed private investigator who reluctantly agrees to help a drug trafficker (Dan Stevens) hunt down the men who brutally murdered his wife. When the PI learns that this is not the first time that these men have committed this sort of twisted crime -- nor will it be the last -- he must blur the line between right and wrong as he races to track the deviants through the backstreets of New York City before they kill again

REVIEW: Director/Screen writer Scott Frank (The Wolverine, 2013) brings us this grittier and edgier 1970s style crime drama with Liam Neeson and some relatively unknowns, Dan Stevens (The Guest, 2014), Boyd Holbrook (Out of the Furnace, 2013), and Brian "Astro" Bradley (Bradley, many might remember as the highly received young talented rapper on the US season one finals of The X-Factor, as “Astro”). 

“A Walk Among The Tombstones” is seemingly a throwback to the early nineties crime procedural thriller flick rather than the no-holds-barred, out-and-out action adventure, we’ve all come to embrace in today’s cinema. The flick is very much a well-mannered and leisurely paced old school crime thriller, with Neeson in top form as a cop whom knows his limitations, but whom will also go the extra mile when it comes to tackling a crime that he finds so offensive that it must be dealt with at all costs. His gruffly charisma and sheer physical presence mean that Scudder is an impressively mean and moody lead character, as one would expect from the Neeson action style.

Rightfully so, many comparisons may well be drawn with his Taken films’ lead character, though in this latest effort his grizzled detective character Matt Scudder is out walking the beat on the mean streets of New York trying to track down a kidnaped victim as a troubled and recovering alcoholic, rather than being away in some far away exotic landscape. And undeniably one could conclude that Scudder character possesses lots of similarities to Neeson’s cool-and-confident all-action hero from the Taken film series, as well. 

It is nice seeing Liam Neeson playing an old-fashioned private eye with less martial arts action bashing the bad guys and more pavement pounding on the mean streets of New York. However, I believe this will hurt the film in the long run because it presents us with very little more than anything we’ve seen a million times over the years. As a result I’m afraid it will be a snoozer for many of the younger crowd. The storyline would have made a nice television series, but certainly not a blockbuster movie. I believe it deserves three out of five stars for mighty fine acting from excellent casting, but falls well short of being a great movie for theaters. This is most certainly a movie for a night on the couch with a beer and some friends.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 1.85:1 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 (1.85:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0, DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (French, Spanish)

Subtitles - English SDH, Spanish, French

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.

DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet™ lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download.

MATT SCUDDER: PRIVATE EYE - Author Lawrence Block and Screenwriter/Director Scott Frank discuss the complex character of Matt Scudder and how he transforms from page to screen.

A LOOK BEHIND THE TOMBSTONES - Investigate the many characters of A Walk Among the Tombstones.