The Raid: Redemption

THE RAID: REDEMPTION is one of the most successful movies I've seen in YEARS. It's not the greatest movie, by a long-shot...but the gap between its ambition (which is pretty high) and its actual accomplishment is almost non-existent. I've long believed that movies need to be judge, in part, on how well they accomplish what they attempt, and not just how "good" they are by some high-brow, artsy standard. Thus, a low-brow comedy like KNOCKED UP can get 5 stars from me because while it isn't great art, it meets or exceeds all its own goals. And by the same token, a gorgeous, ambitious, "serious" film like, oh, let's say ANNA KARININA only gets 3 or 4 stars, because its reach so far exceeds its grasp. THE RAID: REDEMPTION is darn near perfect. It wants to be a nearly non-stop, adrenalin-fueled, ultra-violent, martial-arts heavy action movie. It tries to strike a balance between incredible tension and the visceral release of that pent-up tension. It wants to shock and awe. And it does. Set in Indonesia, we meet a group of heavily armed and armored cops who are planning a raid on a very tall apartment building. At the top of this building sits the city's most vicious crime lord, along with his two cruelly effective henchmen. Beneath them, for floor after floor, is a seemingly endless string of bad guys, the scum and villains of the town. The cops must fight their way from bottom to top...and once their presence is exposed the viciousness and intensity of the fight is nearly ceaseless. The movie, while not based on a videogame, is the best example of a videogame movie I've seen. Granted, that's a low bar...but THE RAID clears that bar so effortlessly. The action sequences, which start with gunplay and then devolve first to knife play and then hand-to-hand combat, are among the best I've seen. I've never been a huge fan of the MMA/martial-arts type of combat, where the hero and his foe kick, punch, block, flip, etc. But I've NEVER seen so many fights staged so brilliantly or executed with such brutal fervor. This is no exaggeration...during some of the action sequences, I found myself on the edge of my seat, talking to the screen (or yelling at it). I simply DO NOT do that, yet I couldn't help it. I was engrossed and engaged. Yes, there is a bit of a story. We are introduced, perfunctorily, to several characters and we do learn a few things about them. There is even a bit of a surprise relationship that is revealed late in the film. There are moments for dialogue and for catching a breath. I wouldn't say the dialogue is brilliant or the acting Oscar caliber...but it is a little better than one might expect. Iko Uwais plays Rama, our young hero...and he's a convincing screen presence (and a helluva fighter). This is the kind of movie that relies on archetypes to gives us a shorthand for understanding the characters. The heroic rookie, the guy with the smart-aleck remarks, the leader with a secret, the potentially corrupt higher leader, the insane bad guy, etc. etc. What THE RAID does, however, is take these stock characters and put them in nearly perfect motion for maximum impact. Gareth Evans wrote, directed, edited and co-choreographed the film. In my mind, his is one of the most singular accomplishments in recent film history. Again, his goals are not exactly lofty or ennobling. But I can barely conceive how he managed to succeed so well where so many others have tried and failed. This is a brutal film, and many viewers will not be able to finish watching it. Some will find it glorifies violence or is just deeply depressing in its depiction of insane violence. For me, it was a rush from start to finish. It was a punch to the gut, but it was somehow uplifting as well. It's simplicity of plot and tightness of purpose set it up to succeed beyond anything I could have expected. I had heard it was good, but was skeptical. "Surely that's just fanboys and genre nuts talking," I said to myself. But I was wrong. Evans and his talented team delivered one of the most thrilling movies I've seen. Wow!

Many of the reviews were written before the BD even released so figured I would write a review. First a few key points so you can decide if it is worth your time to keep reading or immediately decide if this movie is not for you. - EXTREME GORE (Think Saving Private Ryan, then go beyond that) - Little to no plot (it is a pure action movie) - The Martial Arts is great, but its NOT a martial arts movie - It is a foreign film so the English dub is horrible When I say extreme gore, we are talking brain matter, long vicious cuts and just generally extremely violent scenes. If this level of violence is beyond your tolerance level than I don't think you will like this movie at all. If extreme violence does not scare you off than the action in this movie will reward you. But let's be clear, despite it having an Indonesian martial arts star in it and featuring martial arts this is not a martial arts movie as most view them. The movie is based on the police raiding a crime lord's apartment building so various forms of weapons are used in this movie so its not all just Silat. In fact, more people are taken out from guns than from martial arts. The martial art used in this movie, Silat, is some of the best you will see filmed in a movie. If you train in martial arts you will instantly recognize many of the attacks you train and drill in, and you will see reversals as good as the attacks. This movie has a very nice blend of pure action scenes and martial arts scenes so people that typically aren't into martial art movies should like this movie, but since the martial arts in this movie is very good the martial art fans should love it from that point of view. Best blend of both worlds I've seen. The English dubbing is dreadful and will make the movie feel off because the voices just don't match. If you are ok with subtitles than I highly recommend switching to it in the Audio options (called "Original Music") and selecting your choice of language subtitles. The picture quality is very good, it is actually better than most of my Blu-Ray movies. Though it does look as though it has had some post production editing as it appears a bit unnaturally polished. I'm guessing this is to smooth out the grainiess most movies have. I noticed it but honestly it works and I doubt most will even see it. For a foreign movie the extras on the disc are pretty decent, but it is standard fare for most movies. My PS3 couldn't play this movie by default - it was at 3.61. It had a version of 3.65 on the disc, but then it complained I needed to download a newer software version to validate my encryption key. So I downloaded 4.1 from Sony and it worked. Not sure if dedicated Blu-Ray players will also need to be updated, but I figure it is worth mentioning so anyone thinking of buying this is prepared. Outside of having to update my PS3 to play the movie, the only other annoyance I had with the Blu-Ray Disc is that in order to skip the commercials, I couldn't simply hit the Title/Pop Up Menu button ...I had to keep hitting the Next Chapter button. Though since it was general Blu-Ray movies being advertised and movies coming to theaters soon this "feature" might affect all Blu-Ray movies. Overall this is a great movie for anyone looking for a pure adrenalin rush (remember gore disclaimer). There are other movies to give the mind a work out. This is the kind of movie you sit with your munchies out and enjoy!

I have always loved martial arts and other action packed movies that also have a good story behind it. I had never heard of this movie (The Raid Redemption) when it first came out; however, after reading about the second one (The Raid-2) which just came out at the theaters, I decided to purchase this one. Many times movies are over hyped and wind up being not very good movies, but everything I had read about this DVD movie is true. This is a foreign (made in Jakarta) film with subtitles but don't let that discourage you from seeing this DVD. Those who love action movies are in for a real treat with this movie. The theme is about an elite Police SWAT team who have been assigned to raid a protected safe house filled with criminals, including the big crime boss. As they enter this high rise broken down looking building the raid seems to be going well, but in a very short time all hell breaks lose. The SWAT team members are quickly confronted by the criminals who are shooting, hacking and chopping to stop the SWAT team from getting to the crime boss as the SWAT team climbs to each floor. The fight scenes includes incredible martial art battles using fists, feet, head, knives, machetes and of course a wide variety of guns and rifles. After viewing this fantastic action movie I will definitely see the sequel which just came out. If you love well made action movies that keep you riveted to your seat, this movie is for you. I loved it and will no doubt view it again and again. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: The Samurai Soul: An old warrior's poetic tribute).

always a good movie to watch

One of the best action movies ever made

Great action! Outstanding bombastic Dolby Atmos mix! It’s a bit pricey, but worth every penny!

Great action that leave almost all other action movies behind.

"The raid" o "Redada asesina" como se la conoce en España es una película muy brutal y que apenas tiene un guión pero va a lo que va, acción puro y duro y muy bien rodado, la calidad de imágen del DVD de Sony está bien y el apartado de sonido también, es la versión uncut y contiene muchos extras, igual que la versión de USA en Bluray (que por cierto trae Castellano) pero es una película que no merece mucho la pena tener en Bluray ya que está rodada de una forma que en Bluray se ve muy parecido al DVD, muy recomendable la edición, el apartado de sonido también está muy bien contando con la v.o también.

Film tutto d'azione, con storia ridotta all'osso. Stunt incredibili e ritmo serrato, da vedere. Forse un po' sotto quel che mi aspettavo dopo le recensioni che avevo letto. Niente italiano, ma non c'è granché da capire, è sufficiente guardare!