Review of Road House

Introduction

I saw Road House in the cinema back when it was released. The movie came in the middle of Patrick Swayze`s most successful spell as an actor - following Red Dawn, North & South and Dirty Dancing and coming before Ghost and Point Break.

Road House is typical a Hollywood star-vehicle - hard man Dalton (Swayze) is hired as a "cooler" (or head bouncer) at a small-town club after the owner decides to clean it up. Unfortunately, the town is run by a crooked businessman, Brad Wesley (Gazzara), who takes a dislike to Dalton after his nephew is sacked from the club for skimming the till. A series of more and more bloody confrontations follow as Wesley fights to keep control of "his" town and Dalton fights to keep his life!

Video

The video is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of above average quality. The picture is free from grain although there is the very occasional speck of dirt on the print. The image is a little soft, especially towards the edges of the print, but is stable and colourful. The title sequence displays slight compression problems, with some pixellation of a "glow" around a neon sign - otherwise the encoding is fine.

As far as the visuals go, they main consist of fight sequences, primarily in the "Double Deuce" club, and the fights are well choreographed and look pretty good - although they are quite brutal. There are also some gratuitous scenes of Swayze oiled up and training, showing off his muscles.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, which contains an embedded Dolby Pro-Logic signal. Although I would have obviously preferred a 5.1 soundtrack, the 2.0 sound is adequate, and the dialogue, music and effects are all well reproduced. The scenes inside the club would have benefited greatly from a multi-channel soundtrack with the crowd noise, fighting and music.

Speaking of music, the club`s resident band is the Jeff Healey Band and the music is the film is very good, and also features Otis Redding.

Features

The only extra on offer is the trailer - some music videos from the excellent soundtrack would have been nice.

Conclusion

Road House is no-brain Saturday night entertainment - plenty of action, some romance and the good guys win in the end - typical Hollywood fare really. Despite being relatively entertaining, the movie is predictable and follows a well-used formula. A good cast make the best of a mundane story and script and the film relies heavily on the fighting to maintain audience interest.

The video and sound are above average, but the lack of extras is disappointing. Although the disc will have a £12.99 price tag, this is one to rent on a Saturday night and watch over a few beers as it has limited replay value.