Unhinged - Out of Control - Blu-Ray

Movie: You surely know this as well. You are in a particular hurry and right now all other road users seem to have conspired against you. That's what happens to single parent Rachel (Caren Pistorius), who once again makes her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) late for school and then also upsets an important customer. Now Rachel is on a 180, which is why she torpedoes another motorist who simply won't move at a green light, not only with a violent volley of honks, but also with savage abuse. It's a nasty mistake, as the motorist (Russell Crowe) is an extremely unstable psychopath whom Rachel's behavior makes extremely angry. When he confronts her and demands an apology, Rachel stupidly doesn't react the way the man expected her to - and so he pins himself on her heels to make her life a living hell.

"Unhinged - Out of Control" was the first Hollywood film to hit the big screen after being shut down for several months by the first Lockdown. A little over 130,000 moviegoers doesn't seem like much of a success at first glance, but it can certainly be considered one given the difficult situation, especially in the first few weeks of release. Now Derrick Borte's thriller is not necessarily a masterpiece of logic. There is, for example, a scene in a diner where it is questionable whether it could really happen that way and whether someone might not intervene. Also, the very drastic reaction of the mysterious psychopath to Rachel's behavior is a bit over the top to say the least.

But that doesn't detract from the entertainment value this film has. The staging is genuinely exciting in places, the car chases are fast-paced and Russel Crowe, who is really good in the fodder here, plays the murderous highway psycho frighteningly well. Crowe, who's also had the odd media-generated freak-out in real life, comes across as genuinely menacing in some moments, giving the film a certain credibility it lacks elsewhere.

It's a shame that some aspects of the story are more or less neglected - such as the very intense opening sequence, or what Rachel's tormentor can do with her mobile phone. This is all only touched upon, but would have had the potential to provide even more moments of suspense if it had been fleshed out a bit. Instead, some of Rachel's private worries, which are sufficiently explained at the beginning, could have been reduced.

Nevertheless: Even with its dramaturgical weaknesses, "Unhinged - Out of Control" has become an entertaining and rousing thriller that shows very exaggeratedly how much aggression has increased in everyday road traffic. Not a masterpiece, but definitely: worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The film's color scheme on the Blu-ray captures the heated, sultry atmosphere in New Orleans very well. Contrasts are a bit heightened in places, but this seems to be a stylistic device. Image sharpness is at a very good level throughout, with even small details coming through excellently, especially in the bright outdoor scenes. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix is very powerful, especially in the more action-packed moments, and makes for lush surround moments in the home theater. Very good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is about a half-hour look at the making of the film with interviews and footage from the shooting. There's also an audio commentary by director Derrick Borte, cinematographer Brendan Galvin, production designer Frederick Waff and costume designer Denise Wingate that's worth listening to. It's an entertaining commentary worth listening to, and reveals some interesting details about the making of the film. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles here. All in all, the bonus offering gets a decent: good!

Conclusion: "Unhinged - Out of Control" is a tense thriller that may not always be entirely logical, but which offers more than solid entertainment thanks to a delightfully nasty Russel Crowe and well-acted car chases alone. The Blu-ray can absolutely convince in terms of picture and sound quality and also offers a few nice extras. For this there is quite clearly a: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp