Posted: 11/08/2011

13

(2010)

by Ruben R. Rosario

Now available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Anchor Bay.

Géla Babluani’s remake of his own film 13 Tzameti, into the Hollywood vehicle 13, is an entertaining reworking of his original material and does a pretty decent job at setting itself apart from the original. Vince (Sam Riley) is a hard working electrician that is trying his best to take care of his family, with his father being in the hospital. While on a job, he overhears his employer about a big job that’s going to make him a millionaire, all he has to do is follow the instructions of this envelope that was mailed to him. After stealing the envelope, Vince is catapulted into a deadly game of Russian roulette, where wealthy businessmen bet on players to obtain tons of cash, with human lives at stake. 13 is a really faithful remake with it’s solid cast, tense setting and enough changes and enhancements to the original that make it all the worth while.

One of the most interesting factors about the timing of the release of 13 is how it coincides with the Occupy movement that is happening currently around the world. Initially, Babluani’s original film dealt with undertones of the financial crisis of the mid 2000’s. The beauty of this is that no matter what, each film is dealing with extreme’s of the perversity of the wealthy people’s actions and how it affects the lower class. Theme’s and content aside, one of the much more interesting aspects is how some of the character’s are developed in 13 than in 13 Tzameti. One of the biggest is the depth of the two brother’s that are involved played by Jason Statham and Ray Winstone, that share a much different bond in comparison to the original. Mikey Rourke is another example of a character that has an actual back story, as opposed to being another face amongst dead men walking. Micheal Shannon does a great job, as he always does, playing the referee to the games and maintaining the intensity of the atmosphere. Sam Riley is fantastic as Vince and carries the film quite well. The scenes of him in the arena playing the game are well done and he convinces the audience of all of the fear and pressure that comes with being a participant in such an endeavor.

The video on the Blu-Ray sports a 1080p, MPEG-4, AVC encoded transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.41:1. The transfer is a really great one and conveys a lot of detail and great colors. Once the games begin, much of 13’s color palette becomes very dark, with rich blacks for the gamblers suits and various backgrounds of the mansion. There’s a bit of grain in the image that give it some texture and ultimately make watching 13 a pleasant experience.

The audio on 13’s Blu-Ray is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless track that has only a few minor quibbles. The mix is really solid, with the dialog being front and center, the music being spaced out into the surround channels and the SFX being handled in some really great surround mixing. One that comes to mind is the use of the spinning chambers during the game to give a really haunting effect audibly to immerse the viewer. On the downside, some of the SFX are very bland and sound like they came from some stock audio library, especially the gunshots used throughout the film.

Overall, 13 is a real treat for those that interested in seeing a harrowing, gritty film that retains many great elements of its predecessor. Babluani does a fine job in recreating his material for a new audience and has some real star power behind it. While this disc from Anchor Bay has no extras, 13 is still a great looking, good sounding film, that will satisfy fans, old and new. Recommended.

Ruben R. Rosario is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio for Visual Media. He works as a freelance location sound mixer, boom operator, sound designer, and writer in his native Chicago. He’s an avid collector of films, comics, and anime.

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