The Antoine Fuqua/Denzel Washington Equalizer trilogy has come to a close with The Equalizer 3, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the film on a stunning Blu-ray with some of the best video and audio of a new release this year.
Washington stars as Robert McCall, a former government operative who now helps people in need against those in power positions. The film is based on the 80s spy-vigilante CBS series starring Edward Woodward (which in turn also spawned a currently airing reboot series starring Queen Latifah in the title role).
The first film released nearly a decade ago in 2014 was a fantastic re-imagining of the TV series, with McCall doling out revenge in all the best ways. The second film was a huge disappointment, veering too far from the successful formula, and failing by trying to be too different. This third film, while not as good as the original, comes pretty close.
The Equalizer 3 opens in Italy, where McCall takes out the head of a mafia family. On his way out, he gets shot and finds himself rescued and cared for by the people of a small village in Southern Italy. McCall finds himself at home in this new place but soon discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
Cherry the Geek was sent a copy of the Blu-ray from Sony to review. The video and audio on the disc are top-notch. As I was watching, I couldn’t help but imagine what the 4K disc might look like. If the Blu-ray looks this great, the 4k must be amazing.
There are a number of Special Features included on the disc. There are five six-minute EPK-featurettes on the making of the film– “Blood Brothers: The Collaboration of Denzel Washington & Antoine Fuqua,” “Call To Action,” “Robert McCall: A Man of The People,” “Denzel and Dakota: A Reunion,” and “Postcards from the Amalfi Coast.” These featurettes are all fine, but I wish they were longer and more extensive. The video quality for all of them are A+ though. They look great but are lacking in substance. The disc is also missing an audio commentary which would have been nice.
Besides the featurettes, the disc includes the Jacob Banks “Monster” Lyric Video, and about 18 minutes of deleted scenes. As far as the deleted scenes go, they are all pretty insignificant with one exception. There is a fantastic 8-minute deleted scene called “An Evening Walk with Aminah”, where McCall and a romantic interest named Aminah walk around the village at night and end up at a wedding. While I can understand why the scene was cut due to its length, it is a BEAUTIFUL scene that shines by itself. Good stuff.
If you’re a fan of revenge thrillers or The Equalizer franchise in general, you won’t be disappointed in this disc. The presentation alone is worth a buy.
MOVIE: A-
VIDEO QUALITY: A+
AUDIO QUALITY: A+
BONUS FEATURES: B-
OVERALL VALUE: A
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