Review of In The Line Of Duty: Kidnapped

Introduction

The In The Line of Duty series continues with this movie, Kidnapped, a story of the crime the FBI loathes more than any other.

This time there is a twist, as the kidnapper seems to know more than the victims themselves of their lives, more than the FBI knows of their investigation.

Drawing on a cast that have made their names on TV and lower budget movies, the dramatisation of a true story highlights the similarities between so many Hollywood scripts and real life.

Video

Advertised as the imaginatively titled 4:3 Academy on the box, most viewers will plump for the more standard full screen 4:3 rather than the more technically correct 1.33:1.

The image is for the most part clean and free from dirt and noise. There is the occasional speck and glitch but nothing to detract. My main complaint on the video front is the somewhat soft definition of the picture.

Outside scenes are well lit and the colours are fine with nice clarity. The problem really arises on the scenes shot inside or in poor light. There is a lack of sharpness to lines and edges that does get quite tiresome to watch, almost as though there is an overlapping identical image in some cases. It is really noticeable on close-ups of the actors, where you would expect a definite edge to their features, whereas what you get is a fading into the background.

This is a shame as the disk does display some good colour qualities with some nice rich reds and clear greens, but they cannot save the bad parts.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented as Dolby Digital Stereo. There is quite a heavy reliance on incidental music throughout the film, but it does not annoy or interfere with the action on screen.


Obviously there is little in the way of scope for major audio effects, but the speech does seem to stay tied to the screen when needed and there are no major problems with the soundtrack.

Features

Some nice extras on this disc, which are not just related to this film.

The menu screens are static and silent, with a different picture for most screens. The about the film section is basically what you can read on the back of the box and the Credits section is what you can see at the end of the film. There is a hint of padding with these two items but there is better to come.

About the Stars is a bio on each of the three main stars of the film and is quite nicely presented.

The trailers section holds a small surprise as not only do we get the trailer for this movie, but also three others in the Odyssey Video catalogue.

Conclusion

I wasn`t expecting much when I first put this film on, but it is actually a well thought out movie with some nice twists and some humour. The characters quite deep and offbeat, which is nice as it would have been too easy to fall into the standard good guy with problems at home versus criminal with evil plan but heart of gold routine.

Apart from the problems with the quality of the video, this is worth a look, a well thought out well acted movie.