Kill (2023): Steelbook (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Nov 18, 2024
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Nikhil Nagesh BhatRelease Date(s)
2023 (September 10, 2023)Studio(s)
Dharma Productions/Sikhya Entertainment (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: C
- Video Grade: B
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
As far as American theatrical experiences since I was a wee lad go, it’s been genuinely comforting and enlivening to see Indian films of all shapes and sizes be welcomed into the American box office. I understand that’s because of how many Indian and Indian-Americans live in this country, and I for one am immeasurably thankful to have cinema from India accessible, applauded (not nearly enough, in my opinion) and talked about in America today. That’s why it’s always fascinating to see how Hollywood filmmaking influences the many studio systems in India and vice versa. Case in point: Kill, the 2023 action-thriller from Nikhil Nagesh Bhat. This particular throat-slicing showcase of gory action feels light on story to its detriment, just like many American action thrillers, and it sports martial arts choreography popularized by South Korean (Snowpiercer) and Indonesian (The Raid), to its benefit. This isn’t exactly an amalgam of production values as it’s a fascinatingly lean, mean and dire action thriller wearing the heart and soul of an Indian drama.
Lakshya (Porus) stars as Amrit Rathod, a highly trained National Security Guard commando who has just returned to Palampur to learn that his beloved Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) has been forced into an arranged marriage by her father, the business tycoon Baldev Singh Thakur (Harsh Chhaya). Amrit pleads with Tulika to elope with him at an engagement party, but she refuses out of fear of what her father and his violent friends would do. The next day, Tulika and her family board a superfast train from Ranchi to New Delhi for the wedding, with Amrit and his NSG friend Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) on the train as well. Little do they all know, a gang of bandits led by Fani (Raghav Juyal) is on the train and have a plab to rob everyone car by car. Naturally, they reach Amrit and take his beloved Tulika hostage. Chaos ensues.
Kill may feel fussy in its dramatic intentions for the opening 45 minutes, but then it drops the biggest hammer and sends the action into overdrive. In a way, that’s very much like Hollywood filmmaking, in that so many actioners from today pad the beginning with light—and frequently trite—motivations to start the bloodletting. The big difference in Kill is that it, very much like Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer, is about moving its character through moral and physical quandaries the entire film. The setting of a train makes it easier to film the progression and regression of story as it’s constantly moving, giving the filmmakers the ability to move things forward or backward in both form and narrative. That isn’t to say that Kill benefits from that set-up. It’s the opposite, actually, since much of the film is simpler in what it’s asking the audience to be invested in: Revenge.
Although the story is quite pat and almost unknowing of its failings, in that it’s not nearly reflexive enough to pull off such a threadbare narrative, what really sticks out about Kill is just how dire it is in its proceedings. This isn’t the kind of righteous bloodletting of John Wick or the comic hilarity of Hot Fuzz; rather, it’s a straight shot into hell. Amrit eviscerates himself to eviscerate others in revenge. He hangs the bodies of his victims to warn others of what’s to come. When the story reaches its final destination, he hallucinates happiness. That’s all he has left. I don’t think the film itself knows how dire it is, but the classic beefed-up heroics of popular Indian cinema are gone here, replaced with the steely amoral violence it can’t really back up. But dear god, there’s so much blood and gore. I don’t think I’ll be ever able to get the sound of a knife scraping against someone’s teeth as it cuts a joker’s smile into their face out of my head.
Although we’re not certain if the film was finished as a 4K or 2K Digital Intermediate, Kill was shot spherically on an Arri Alexa Mini LF with Signature Prime Lenses and then framed in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This new 2160p, HEVC-encoded transfer is presented in the BT.709 color space because there’s no HDR color grading included. I’m a bit wary of whether HDR could really make this presentation pop more, but I can say with certainty that it could have enhanced the black levels here to be inky instead of looking flat as they do here. There’s no black crush to speak of. It’s that much of the film takes place in dark environments with few light sources, thus I think HDR could have benefited the highlights on the light sources and revealing more depth in the shadows. That all said, this is still a very handsome presentation aided by a data rate that ranges between 85 to 95Mbps for the majority of the presentation. This isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it encode, as I saw the bitrate drop in darker scenes and the opening title cards as it should. Contrast is tuned in well, though you feel HDR could have pushed the sharpness just enough to not make it look as slightly jagged as it does here. All in all, a good job by Lionsgate with the source provided.
As for audio, this is where I can give nothing but high marks to the attached Dolby Atmos track. It’s a full-throated sucker punch of a track, reveling in sending effects like knife slashes, flesh tears and gunshots into the surround channels and Atmos units. LFE is terrific here and music and dialogue are mixed very well, with deep and expressive bass levels that don’t ever overtake the presentation. Get ready for your home theater to get a nice workout with this track. Also included is an English Audio Description track, as well as subtitles in English, English SDH, and Spanish.
All you need is Kill... on 4K Ultra HD! Kill comes home with a two-disc (4K & BD) release from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The Amazon Exclusive release comes with a glossy Steelbook with some specific metallic finishes on the paint, plus a clear PET slip with art that complements the steel art nicely. The two discs—a BD-100 for the 4K and a BD-50 for the Blu-ray—sit inside of the Steelbook with the Digital Copy. A standard UHD edition housed in a black Amaray case is also available from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The following bonus features are included on both releases (and both discs) in HD:
- How to Kill: Making of a Bloody Train Ride (45:47)
- Making of the Train (3:12)
- Introducing Lakshya (Amrit) (1:26)
- Behind the Blood (1:44)
- Behind the Action (2:29)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:28)
In terms of special features, this is a slight punch above your usual EPK-style supplements packages that come on studio releases. In particular, there’s a 45-minute making-of doc that’s a blast to watch as it fully reveals all of the tricks behind the camera needed to pull off the film’s many breathless action sequences. Each part of the set they worked with was on pulleys and could be moved, as they frequently needed to because of the size of the camera rigs and for crew to move around. Unsurprisingly, no one was actually harmed on the set, and it was nice to see all the various makeup and effects crews putting the finishing touches on things before the cameras rolled. As for the other supplements, they’re comprised of EPK-style interviews and featurettes on the film’s cast and crew. For brief overviews of the film’s influences, these supplements to an okay job.
Indian filmmaking sensibilities meet bone-crushing, dire Indonesian martial arts action in Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Kill, now available on 4K Ultra HD and standard Blu-ray from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. This dire journey to gore-soaked hell may not succeed as a drama, but it astonishes in its bloodletting, and the attached 4K presentation of the film is a sturdy and capable showcase of its nastiness. The Dolby Atmos track may be the real star here, although there’s a nice supplements package to give you more info on this action thriller. Pick it up today if it sounds like your jam!
- Sam Cohen
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