THE MECHANIC / MECHANIC: RESURRECTION [Two Movie Collection] [2011 / 2016] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] A High Octane Explosive Re-make of the Charles Bronson Classic! Revenge Is A Dangerous Business!
THE MECHANIC: Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop “The Mechanic” who is an elite assassin with a unique talent for eliminating targets with deadly skill and total emotional detachment. But when the Agency double cross him and his mentor and friend Harry McKenna [Donald Sutherland] is killed, so Arthur Bishop enlists the help of Harry's son Steve McKenna [Ben Foster] on a mission to avenge his death. As tensions rise and deceptions surface those sent to fix the problem soon become the problem themselves in this explosive, high-octane thrill ride.
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION: Jason Statham reprises his role as the hitman Arthur “The Mechanic” Bishop alongside Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones in this action thriller sequel. After retiring as a contract killer, Arthur Bishop attempts to put his murderous past behind him by starting a new life in Brazil with girlfriend Gina Thornton [Jessica Alba]. However, when Gina Thornton is kidnapped by a formidable enemy, and Arthur Bishop is ordered to carry out three seemingly impossible assassinations on very high profile targets if he wants to see her alive again. Facing a race against time, Arthur Bishop must do all he can to complete his objectives before it's too late. Neither one of them will get out alive unless he completes a diabolical list of assassinations of the most dangerous men in the world. Also starring Tommy Lee Jones and Michelle Yeoh.
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THE MECHANIC Cast: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn, Donald Sutherland, Jeff Chase, Mini Anden, James Logan, Eddie J. Fernandez, Joshua Bridgewater, John McConnell, Christa Campbell, Joel Davis, Mark Nutter, Ardy Brent Carlson, Lara Grice, Lance E. Nichols, J.D. Evermore, Ada Michelle Loridans, Linnzi Zaorski, Dawn Neufeld, Molly A. Rosenblatt, William Scharpf, John Teague, David Leitch, Jennifer Ortega, LaTeace Towns-Cuellar, Paul Abraham, David Dahlgren, Stuart Greer, Katarzyna Wolejnio, Larrel France, Danny Cosmo, Derek Schreck, Choop (Arthur the Dog), Chris Angerdina (uncredited), Dane Brown (uncredited), Joshua Cardenez (uncredited), Grant Case (uncredited), Kurt DeVille (uncredited), Elise Fyke (uncredited), Geraldine Glenn (uncredited), Nick Jones Jr. (uncredited), Evgeny Krutov (uncredited), Matt McColm (uncredited), Starlette Miariaunii (uncredited), Gustavo I. Ortiz (uncredited), Aaron Saxton (uncredited), Lawanda Smith (uncredited), Logan Douglas Smith (uncredited), Simon West (uncredited) and Olga Wilhelmine (uncredited)
THE MECHANIC Director: Simon West
THE MECHANIC Producers: Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Danny Dimbort, David Winkler, Irwin Winkler, Jib Polhemus, John Thompson, Marcy Drogin, Matthew F. Leonetti Jr., René Besson, Robert Chartoff, Trevor Short and William Chartoff
THE MECHANIC Screenplay: Lewis John Carlino (screenplay), Richard Wenk (screenplay) and Lewis John Carlino (story)
THE MECHANIC Composer: Mark Isham
THE MECHANIC Cinematography: Eric Schmidt (Director of Photography)
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MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Cast: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Sam Hazeldine, John Cenatiempo, Toby Eddington, Femi Elufowoju Jr, Anteo Quintavalle, Yayaying Rhatha Phongam, Bonnie Zellerbach, Stuart Thorp, Alex Kuzelicki, Brahim Achabbakhe, Thomas Kiwi, Andrew Stehlin, Francis Tonkala Tamouya, Tais Rodrigues Dias, Lynette Emond, Allan Poppleton, Maethi Thapthimthong, Soji Ikai, Vithaya Pansringarm, Chatchawai Kamonsakpitak, Atanas Srebrev, Yothin Udomsanti, Rachel O'Meara, Aaron Brumfield, Damian Mavis, Valentin Velkov, Tony Arunah Abbey, Amir Zargham, Peter Rnic, Eoin O'Brien, Alexander Winters, Armin Parvin, Yuri Chuchenko, Natalie Burn, Tomer Oz, Hare Das Ahatefu (uncredited), Dylan Farrell (uncredited), Geoffrey Giuliano (uncredited), Ann Krav (uncredited), Viktor Krav (uncredited), Suman C. Tharan (uncredited), Raicho Vasilev (uncredited), Markus Waldow (uncredited), Ron Weaver (uncredited) and Willy Zogo (uncredited)
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Director: Dennis Gansel
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Producers: Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Brian Presley, David Gross, David Winkler, Frank DeMartini, Jodi Maddocks, Lonnie Ramati, Mark Gill, Robert Earl, Samuel Hadida, John Thompson, Steven Chasman, Tom Sulkowski, Tom Waller, Trevor Short, Valentin Dimitrov, Victor Hadida and William Chartoff
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Screenplay: Philip Shelby (story/ screenplay), Tony Mosher (screenplay), Brian Pittman (uncredited), Rachel Long (uncredited) and Lewis John Carlino (based upon the characters)
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Composer: Mark Isham
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Cinematography: Daniel Gottschalk (Director of Photography)
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Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD ATMOS
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio Descriptive Service
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 92 minutes and 98 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 2
Studio: LIONSGATE
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: With the films ‘THE MECHANIC’ and ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ you have in one fell swoop a wonderful combination of a Two Movie Collection, and if you are like me a massive fan of Jason Statham, then you are in for a real treat of high octane action. Here we have the relentless invincibility of the hero which is all part of what we expect from a majority Jason Statham action films. But Jason Statham has no room for vulnerability, we find he is more of a hero in combating villains of the evil kind and every time we view Jason Statham he really has a brilliant action packed style. They have also classed him as a Bruce Lee of automatic-weapon fire, so awesomely quick in his decision-making, that he will use his weapon of choice and if that fails he will always has a lightning-fast split-second of ingenuity and combat style. But what of this Jason Statham Two Movie Collection, well here is my review of both films and see if you agree with my conclusion on both films.
‘THE MECHANIC’ [2011] Arthur “The Mechanic” Bishop [Jason Statham] hit man is back in action, teaching us the tricks of the trade. Sleek as a bullet, the action star Jason Statham jaw-clenches his way through the film ‘THE MECHANIC,’ that gives us a much more powerful recharge. The story pivots on one of those professional assassins in the employ of one of those hush-hush organizations in which men murmur murderous instructions into phones so that other men can die. For a hit man like Arthur Bishop [Jason Statham] this makes for an isolated and very lucrative life style that comes with a swank pad, super vintage car and enjoying nights with the local talent.
That existence takes a turn for the worse and especially complications when Arthur Bishop, after some messy business with a colleague Harry McKenna [Donald Sutherland] forms an unlikely partnership with that associate’s wayward idiotic son, Steve McKenna [Ben Foster]. With his complementary buzz cut, hard-body profile and hyperbolic masculinity, turns out to be an overly reckless sidekick that soon starts to resemble something of an unreliable hook-up. When Arthur Bishop and Steve McKenna begin firing off their guns in tandem, it certainly looked like the start of a good friendship, but eventually Arthur Bishop realises in the end that friendship was a 100% false hope.
Jason Statham is as solid as ever in his cagey hard-man role which he has made his own through films such as ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrel’s which suits his broody character’s detached persona perfectly. On the other hand Ben Foster plays his character well, providing a convincing portrayal of a drifting loser whose hot streak and cock-sure arrogance lands him in lots of trouble more often than not and I felt his character was a complete waste of space.
Simon West is a capable action/thriller director and his aptitude comes across in the way ‘THE MECHANIC’ is assembled and runs like a well-oiled machine, with significant pauses for exposition of high octane sequences. ‘THE MECHANIC’ seems designed as a vehicle for Jason Statham and, to that end, it serves its purpose. With the film ‘THE MECHANIC’ and the director Simon West and his co-workers have produced a motion picture that is appropriate and is well worth a Blu-ray release. But as to the final end to the film, I felt Steve McKenna [Ben Foster] was like a fish out of water, who I felt his character was jealous of Arthur Bishop and not a patch on Jason Statham and in the end he gets his deserved comeuppance, as his character was 100% pure arrogance and it would have been a far better film if his scenes were left on the cutting room floor and it proves my point, and obviously his career has gone in decline and good riddance to bad acting.
‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ [2016] Arthur “The Mechanic” Bishop [Jason Statham] is back again as the Hit Man on Cruise Control and at the start of the film ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ and certainly isn’t mourning his dead protégé from the previous film ‘THE MECHANIC.’ But for Arthur Bishop, there is no escape, especially when his old archenemy, the scheming businessman Riah Crain [Sam Hazeldine], abducts Arthur Bishop’s new love, Gina Thornton [Jessica Alba], and of course without any hesitation Arthur Bishop is coerced into resuming his former trade and he must deliver three “kills” for Riah Crain, in his typical signature style: making the assassinations appear to be an accident.
When we first encounter Arthur Bishop, he is enjoying retirement living on a boat in Rio de Janeiro, but as always demonstrates with Jason Statham’s savvy character, and it is virtually impossible to stay out of trouble for long in that Brazilian city, and with Arthur Bishop having to violently fend off the mindless minions of the ruthless criminal Riah Crain [Sam Hazeldine] delivering the message that their boss requires his services.
Retreating to an island paradise in Thailand and the safe auspices of his friend Mei [Michelle Yeoh], Arthur Bishop finds himself drawn to the beautiful Gina Thornton [Jessica Alba]. The two immediately become romantically involved, but she's kidnapped by Riah Crain's henchmen and Arthur Bishop is given an ultimatum, either he must dispatch three of Riah Crain's enemies, in each case making it look like an accident, or the young woman dies.
All in all, ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ satisfies the action blockbuster that tick all the boxes of being “wildly outrageous stunts,” “exotic locations” and “high body count” but once again, it is definitely a Jason Statham oriented film would not be complete without the arbitrary display of colourful explosions, glorified chases, exaggerated gunplay and a no-nonsense Jason Statham predictably flexing his acrobatic leaping, climbing, swimming and fighting muscles as if he was participating in his own self-indulgent Olympic games. In the end, ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ is probably what most viewers imagined when they heard about ‘THE MECHANIC’ film sequel was coming through the pipeline and it is just a typical action romp, especially for die-hard Jason Statham fans, especially like me, and finding it a totally good guilty pleasure all round.
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THE MECHANIC MUSIC TRACK LIST
SCHUBERT: TRIO IN E-FLAT, OP.100 (Andante con moto) (Written by Franz Schubert) [Arranged and Performed by Stephen James Edwards]
BETTER OFF DEAD (Written by Linnzi Zaorski) [Performed by Linnzi Zaorski]
GOREE (Lyrics by Arsene Kane and Music by Nuru Kane) [Performed by Nuru Kane]
DO IT AGAIN (Written by Ben Ellman, Robert Mercurio, Jeff Raines, Richard Vogel and Stanton Moore) [Performed by Galactic]
CHICKEN BONE (Written by Brant Curran Slay and Benjamin Brooks Reynolds) [Performed by Chickasaw Mudd Puppies]
WHY BLUES (Written by Chris Thomas King) [Performed by Chris Thomas King]
SHAKE (YO MAMA) (Written by North Mississippi All-stars and James Mathus) [Performed by North Mississippi All-stars]
THUNDER IN THE JUNGLE (Written by Sid Barcelona, Stephen Raskin, Rob Myers and Afrika Bambaataa) [Performed by Thunderball]
VERBAL (Written by Amon Tobin) [Performed by Amon Tobin]
MISSISSIPPI KKKROSSROADS (Written by Chris Thomas King) [Performed by Chris Thomas King]
PIANO TRIO No. 2, IN E FLAT MAJOR, OP. 100 (Andante Con Trio) (Written by Franz Schubert) [Arranged by Christopher Todd Landor]
NOW I KNOW (Written by Danny Lohner) [Performed by Renholder]
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MECHANIC: RESURRECTION MUSIC TRACK LIST
SUFFOCATION BLUES (Written by Kevin McKeown) [Performed by Black Pistol Fire]
BAHIA (Written by Stan Galouo, José Miguel Ortegon and Vitor Salomao Barbosa) [Performed by Stan Galouo, José Miguel Ortegon and Vitor Salomao Barbosa]
SANGYOONI ENGAGEMENT DANCE (Written by Siriporn Traetulakarn) [Performed by Siriporn Traetulakarn]
THAI COUNTRY SONG (Written by Siriporn Traetulakarn) [Performed by Siriporn Traetulakarn]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – LIONSGATE Home Entertainment UK presents you this double action film package with an outstanding 1080p image presentation on a grand scale, and equally impressive is the 2.40:1 aspect ratio viewing experience that is a knockout. This is also a near-reference perfect transfer that never disappoints with both films. With the dramatic scenes we see in both films, makes the Red shot feature films looks spectacular virtually all of the time, making the most of its globe-trotting locations look brilliant. Both films offer transfers that offer superb levels of fine detail in close-ups and a surprisingly warm looking overall palette with each scene you view. Contrast and black levels are solid, and there are no issues with image instability or compression issues. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – LIONSGATE Home Entertainment UK brings us for both films a very impressive 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, which is equally a knockout all round, as well as equally as terrific and engaging. Expect heavy surround usage and dynamic design. Bass gets a fine workout, and rear surrounds are used for more than just stock gunfire and soundtrack distribution. There's plenty of ambient atmosphere here. Dialogue when you could hear it properly was crisp and clean, but at certain times I had a job hearing what they were saying, as certain scenes had the background music over powering their speech, but when it came to a lot of the action sequences the surround sound really kicked in and had a good workout with all the speakers. The front sound design is definitely with noteworthy channel balance. Whether it is cars or bullets, again with both films the action moves from one side to the other with fluid precision and the sound mixes for both films remains distinct and dynamic with room-penetrating clarity, exhibiting outstanding detailing between the mid-range and highs even during the loudest segments. While it's just a shade away from reference, this is yet another top-class mix from LIONSGATE Home Entertainment UK.
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THE MECHANIC Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Sneak Blu-ray Previews: THE FIGHTER [2010] [1080p] [2.40:1] [2:27]; BLITZ [2010] [1080p] [2.40:1] [1:58]; LIMITLESS [2010] [1080p] [2.40:1] [1:46] and MARS [TV Advert] [2010] [1080p] [1.78:1] [00:32].
Special Feature: Deleted Scenes [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [10:52] Here we get to view five deleted scenes, which consist of: ALTERNATIVE ENDING TO OPENING SEQUENCE; DINER; IN THE BAR; AFTER THE CARJACKING and BISHOP COACHES IN CAR. As usual, you can either watch each item separately or Play All.
Special Feature: Tools of the Trade: Inside the Action of 'THE MECHANIC' [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [7:47] Cast and crew talk up the film's appeal as a Hitman type film, the work of the cast, shooting some of the more daring scenes, and viewing how they film some of the more awesome dangerous stunts. Contributors include: Simon West [Director], Jason Statham [Arthur Bishop], Irwin Winkler [Executive producer], Ben Foster [Steve McKenna], Noon Orsatti [Stunt Coordinator] and David Leitch [Action Designer and Second Unit Director].
Theatrical Trailer [2011] [1080p] [2.40:1] [1:31] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film 'THE MECHANIC' and really gives you flavour of what this action film is all about.
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MECHANIC: RESURRECTION Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Engineering The Sequence: Inside ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ [2016] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 2.40:1] [9:54] Here we get to view lots of rare behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. They talk about the character Arthur Bishop and his personality of being an anti-hero and an amalgamation between James Bond and Jason Bourne. They give great praise towards Jessica Alba, in saying that her part in the film shows how Jessica can hold her own, especially in some of the dramatic scenes in the film. Contributors include: Frank DeMartini [Executive Producer], Philip Shelby [story/screenplay], Jessica Alba [Gina Thornton], Dennis Gansel [Director] Jason Statham [Arthur Bishop] and Vic Armstrong [Second Unit Director].
Special Feature: Scoring the Action Film with Mark Isham [2016] [1080p] [2.40:1 / 1.78:1] [8:59] This special feature piece mainly features the composer Mark Isham talks about how he goes about creating the music score for the film. Mark Isham also talks about growing up in San Francisco in the 1960s and talks about meeting his music hero Donald Buchla who had conceived and implemented the concept for a modular voltage-controlled synthesizer. We also find out that Mark Isham’s first musical instrument was a trumpet and learnt his trade in jazz and classical music, and when a director heard one of his compositions, offered him a job in composing a film score, and because mark enjoyed it so much, decided that was the career he wanted to pursue and really enjoyed composing the music for the action sequences for Jason Statham. With the different locations in Thailand, Mark likes to compose the music differently for the two totally different locations in Thailand, and especially likes to use different instruments to create specialised music for those locations, but most importantly Mark realises that the sound design is a very important aspect of these types of action films.
Special Feature: The Malaysian Prison [2016] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:21] Here we get a brief look at behind the scenes look at creating the Malaysian Prison from the action sequel ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ that was shot in Thailand. According to this source, the prison scene was filmed in Chanthaburi, Thailand, which was an abandoned top security prison, which had been shut down for six years, but had to get a Buddhist Priest to come into the bless the location, as the Malaysian extras felt the place was haunted. As to the island itself, this was made using computer-generated imagery. Contributors include: Jason Statham [Arthur Bishop] and Frank DeMartini [Producer].
Special Feature: Michelle Yeoh: Secret Ally [2016] [1080p] [2.40:1 / 1.78:1] [1:13] Here we have a brief profile of the actress Michelle Yeoh, who talks about her part in the film and explains about her character in the film was a long term friend to the character of Arthur Bishop, who trusted her 100%. Contributors include: Frank DeMartini [Executive Producer] and Jessica Alba [Gina Thornton].
Special Feature: Statham on Stunts of ‘MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ [2016] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:23] A brief look at Jason Statham and voicing his opinion on his personal stunts, which he really enjoys and prefers doing himself. All the crew really liked Jason Stathan, as he knows how to perform a certain stunts and makes life so much easier when it comes to film his action stunt scenes, and on top of all that Jason really likes to put some input on how he wants his stunts to be filmed. We also get to view some rare behind-the-scene filming. Contributors include: Vic Armstrong [Second Unit Director], Frank DeMartini [Executive Producer] and Jessica Alba [Gina Thornton].
Finally, with the films ‘THE MECHANIC / MECHANIC: RESURRECTION’ [Two Movie Collection] that was directed by Simon West and Dennis Gansel does not rely on high tech gadgetry and keeps most of violence pretty down to earth. The shoot-out scenes are staged without excessive blood and gore, and there are some occasional surprises. Not surprisingly, Arthur Bishop comes off looking immaculate in both films, compared with his murderous colleagues as well as his wicked enemies. Altogether, both films are primarily nuts and bolts of over the top action packed melodrama and especially with Jason Statham being tight-lipped with every performance and his sidekick maniacal mate’s give us full on energy that keeps you on the edge of your seat right to the very end of the each film. As with both films, especially with the last twenty minutes you usually get a full on assault of grenades, machine guns, and a typical boat explosion. There has been a lot of scathing negative critical reports about these films, especially the second one and I suspect that are non-fans of Jason Statham, but for real enthusiastic fans of this macho muscle actor, like me, you will I know love these two films and critics should not be so pompous about films of this calibre, as I thoroughly enjoyed both films. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
