Something to watch tonight: Wednesday 26 February
The Raid (Evans, 2011)
Back in October last year I recommended the 2012 comic book adaptation Dredd and now, just arrived on AMC+ and Shudder, is an even better “get to the top of the tower” adventure, the Indonesian/Welsh martial arts epic, The Raid.
I reviewed this one when it was released in cinemas back in 2012:
Storming out of – not quite – nowhere, Gareth Evans’ The Raid is a stunning example of pure cinema – action, editing, sound design and choreography all harnessed to a beautifully simple story that once kicked-off, doesn’t let go. An Indonesian SWAT team are sent to capture a big time – but untouchable – drug dealer from his lair at the top of a run-down apartment building defended by hordes of expendable henchmen. Yes, it’s violent but there’s a purity about its expression that makes it quite beautiful. If you replaced the impact sound effects with music, The Raid becomes intense and powerful contemporary dance.
In addition to just arriving on streaming, Umbrella Entertainment recently released a restored 4K UHD DolbyVision edition of The Raid and, if my own UHD player hadn’t literally blown up a couple of weeks ago, I would be tempted to rip the cellophane off it and give it a spin this coming weekend. They also have a special collector’s edition which features all the discs plus a limited edition graphic novel and other tchotchkes.
Also reviewed in that Capital Times piece from May 2012: The Hunger Games (the first one), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (the first one), 21 Jump Street (the first one), The Hunter (Willem Dafoe goes Tasmanian Tiger hunting), and the third in the series of “In search of …” classical music documentaries, In Search of Haydn which contains one of my favourite, gentle, pans:
At the beginning of In Search of Haydn, narrator Juliet Stevenson makes the bold assertion that the great composer was at least the equal of contemporaries Mozart and Beethoven. Phil Grabsky’s film – the third in a series of “In Search of” films – then proceeds at some length to fail to make that case. It features lots of damning with faint praise from the assembled musical experts – soprano Sophie Bevan talks about how easy Haydn arias are to sing but how difficult they are to make beautiful, for example – and the extended examples from the repertoire don’t quite set the heart a‑flutter. The other problem Grabsky fails to wrestle with is the fundamentally undramatic life old Haydn lived – long, productive, successful and happy. Who wants to see that?
Where to watch The Raid
Aotearoa & Australia: Streaming on AMC+/Shudder
Canada, Ireland, India, USA & UK: Digital rental