Greenland Blu Ray Review (Universal)

Greenland is a 2020 disaster film directed by Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen, Shot Caller, Snitch, and Felon). Ric Roman Waugh is former stuntman plus coordinator for such films as The Blob, They Live, Road House, Lethal Weapon 2, Tango & Cash, Total Recall, Days of Thunder, Dollman, Hook, Universal Soldier, Rapid Fire, Last Action Hero, Hard Target, True Romance, The Crow, Double Dragon, and many other known features. It was written by Chris Sparling (Buried, ATM, Mercy, The Sea of Trees, and The Atticus Institute). It was produced by actor Gerard Butler (Law Abiding Citizen, Machine Gun Preacher, Chasing Mavericks, Hunter Killer, Them That Follow, and A Family Man) and Basil Iwanyk (Basic, Mindhunters, John Wick franchise, A Star is Born, Sicario 1/2, The Expendables franchise, The Town, and Lost Boys 2/3) plus 20 others. It went straight to video in the states due to Covid-19 but it had an overseas theatrical release. The budget was $35 million and it grossed $47.8 million during it’s international run!!!!John Garrity (played by: Gerard Butler from the Fallen franchise, 300, Gamer, RocknRolla, and Den of Thieves) is a structural engineer living in Georgia with his estranged wife Allison (played by: Morena Baccarin from Deadpool 1/2, To Your Last Death, The Flash, and Gotham) and their diabetic son Nathan (played by: Roger Dale Floyd from Doctor Sleep, Stargirl, and The Walking Dead: World Beyond). He returns home to watch the near-earth passing of a recently discovered interstellar comet named Clarke with his family and neighbors.  At a grocery store, John receives a strange automated phone call, informing him that he and his family have been pre-selected for emergency sheltering. Previously anticipated to land near Bermuda, the fragment instead strikes Tampa, Florida, vaporizing the city and a large part of the state. He follows the instructions to be at Warner Robins Air Force Base to make an evacuation flight. At Robins Air Force Base, the family discovers that Nathan accidentally left his insulin in the car.John hurries back to get it while Allison and Nathan are told that they cannot be evacuated due to Nathan’s ailment. Finding out what happened to his family after boarding the plane. John leaves the base as a panicked mob breaks in causing all kinds of gunfight that inadvertently ignites jet fuel which destroys several evacuation planes. John finds a note left by Allison telling him they are going to her father Dale’s (played by: Scott Glenn from The Silence of the Lambs, Training Day, Castle Rock, and The Hunt for Red October) home for safety during all this madness. They are picked up by a couple Ralph (played by: David Denman from The Office. Brightburn, Fanboys, and Logan Lucky) and Judy Vento (played by: Hope Davis from Flatliners, Home Alone, The Nines, and Captain America: Civil War) who notice they have bracelets to safe travel from all of this. They take the bracelets and kidnap Nathan so they get away from the chaos. John manages to hitch a ride on a truck with other survivors who tell him about private planes are flying to Greenland. As the world is getting eliminated by this dangerous threat, the desperate family tries to reconnect through this living hell and awful chain of events. Can they reunite before it’s too late????Welcome to 2021 where direct to video movies costs $35 million! Greenland is a different kind of action film for star Gerard Butler. He doesn’t play his standard bad ass role here that he’s known for. He just plays a normal guy in a extraordinary situation trying to save his family. Gerard Butler is actually one of the better actors when it comes to the leads in that sub-genre that isn’t exactly known for it’s acting over the years. This is one of his better performances and he carries this massive feature on his shoulders with his presence here. Morena Baccarin is excellent eye candy as always and she can hang with some of the best around when it comes to her performances. She’s more than a beautiful face and she can be pretty bad ass at times. David Denman, yes Roy from The Office steals the show here tho. I did expect something like this from David Denman. He’s just a very desperate man trying to save his wife that turns to a evil plan to do anything to get away from this. He goes from good to bad without a blink here. His character really makes you wonder what others would do in this disaster. This had a very solid small supporting cast which included Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn, and Hope Davis. Greenland has a nice balance of drama, action, and suspense. It’s more than a War of the Worlds clone. The visual fx are top notch in Greenland. Hopefully, this one finds more of a life on home video because it deserves it. It’s a very entertaining action feature with all kinds of thrills and heart, RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Universal Pictures! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks incredible on blu ray. I am actually kinda shocked that it didn’t get a 4K release because those disaster and action scenes look great here. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track is top notch. This feature really shins when the world is getting destroyed in this. It definitely capitalizes on the disaster sub-genre for this. All of the dialogue is crystal clear and the music is elevated. It also has English SDH and Spanish subtitles.Let’s discuss the special features from Universal Pictures! It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Ric Roman Waugh and Producer Basil Iwanyk. They chat about the concept, story, characters, actors, action, important scenes, and everything else that you would want to know about this production. They talk about lead actor Gerard Butler. They go over their personal relationships, his work ethic, his role being different from his others, his commitment to it plus being a producer here, and other stuff. They bring up the pandemic and they have a conversation about it through out this track. They have good chemistry here and it’s an entertaining listen. 3 “Deleted Scenes” that’s a little over 5 minutes which includes Colin, Poker, and Original Ending. They all have optional intros from the director. “Humanity” is a little over a minute. This is more of an extended promotional trailer but it has comments from director Ric Roman Waugh, actors Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, and various others from the production during it. It also comes with a slipcover, a digital code, and a DVD copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!