Maximum Risk (1996) Blu-ray Review

Alain Moreau, a French soldier, never knew he had a brother, much less a twin, until he found him lying dead on the streets of his European home town. To find out who his brother was, Alain must step into his shoes. He must become Mikhail, and follow his footsteps back to New York’s tough Little Odessa and into the same shadowy underworld that swallowed his brother. There’s only one problem: all traces of Mikhail’s life are rapidly disappearing, and the one person who knew Mikhail best may not be telling all she knows…

Maximum Risk comes to Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.40:1 transfer that is unremarkable in the context of the best Blu-ray releases to date, but still manages to look very nice. Detail is impressive from the opening moments of the film as evidenced by objects like streets, old and worn building facades, cars, and even the smaller background objects such as the fruit in a vendor’s cart. We’re somewhere “South of France” according to the movie (Nice, we later discover), and the movie offers a nice looking, colorful, and clean image. Colors are natural and vibrant, even though parts of the movie take on a duller appearance. There is no excessive grain or noise in the film, but then again coming off of reviews of Belly and Felon, moderate grain would look like a freshly scrubbed print.

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Flesh tones are accurate throughout, as are black levels. Obvious edge enhancement was visible in one scene as an unnatural outline encompassed a character. The image is never extremely sharp, but it isn’t terribly soft, either. There is a nice, easy-on-the-eyes middle ground here that makes for a solid 1080p viewing experience. The result is an image that doesn’t jump off the screen, but stays grounded in a nicely done transfer that won’t wow viewers, but is one that lives up to expectations of a moderately successful Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick from the mid 1990s. Maximum Risk maximizes its audio with a surprisingly exciting Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless surround sound mix. From the film’s opening foot chase scene, the sound impresses.

The rear channels are alive with ambient crowd noise, and the music begins to swell all around the listening area. Sound effects, such as the crashing down of a door, deliver moderately impressive lows. The high end comes across as a bit harsh, such as when Alain hangs onto and falls from an exterior stairwell in a building. This track certainly doesn’t lack volume, but it lacks the finer nuances and cleanliness of the better soundtracks, trading volume for clarity, crispness for harshness, and distinct sound for a jumbled smorgasbord of an action movie sonic extravaganza. Nevertheless, it’s still a blast to listen to. After the first few minutes, the soundtrack continues to be an enjoyable listen.

The train station scene in chapter two features great ambience, solid, deep rumblings when the trains move past, and better highs from the train whistles. Again, the fire in chapter three is reproduced extremely well here as the flames that engulf the office also engulf your living room from all directions. Crackles and crashes are ever-present, and the intensity of the scene is elevated thanks to the great sound. There are many gun shots throughout, and all are definitely loud and pack quite the punch. They are not as clear and precise as heard in films like 3:10 To Yuma, but they get the job done nicely. Dialogue is clean and well-prioritized with no volume issues. This track is very loud and aggressive, somewhat harsh, but an awful lot of fun to listen to. This is one you’ll want to crank up, sit back, and enjoy.