Rampage Blu Ray Review (Warner Bros.)

Rampage is a 2018 action film directed by Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Incarnate, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, & Frontier). It’s loosely based on the video game series by Midway Games. Warner Bros. acquired the rights for the popular 1986 arcade game when they purchased Midway Games for $33 million in 2009. It grossed a worldwide total of $425.7 million at the box office. Athena-1 that’s owned by gene manipulation company Energyne is destroyed after a laboratory rat mutates & wreaks havoc. Dr. Kerry Atkins (played by: Marley Shelton from Grindhouse, Valentine, Scream 4, & The Sandlot) is the only survivor from the disaster. She is told the only way she can leave is to retrieve research canisters containing a pathogen by CEO Claire Wyden (played by: Malin Akerman from Watchmen, The Final Girls, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, & Billions). After a mishap, the remaining pieces end up at different locations including the Everglades, where a canister is consumed by an American crocodile named Lizzie, a forest in Wyoming, where a gray wolf named Ralph is exposed to the pathogen, & the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary where a rare albino gorilla named George runs into the experiment.

Primatologist Davis Okoye (played by: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson from Fast & Furious franchise, Faster, Doom, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, & Skyscraper) is a former US Army Special Forces soldier & member of an anti-poaching unit, He saved George & he has helped raise him ever since. Davis is contacted by Dr. Kate Caldwell (played by: Naomie Harris from 28 Days Later…, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Skyfall, & Street Kings), a genetic engineer who is responsible for creating this entire mess. George is captured by a government team led by Agent Harvey Russell (played by: Jeffrey Dean Morgan from Watchmen, The Losers, The Walking Dead, & Magic City) & put on an airplane. Claire & her brother Brett (played by: Jake Lacy from The Office, Better with You, & I’m Dying up Here) send a squad of mercenaries lead by Burke (played by: Joe Manganiello from True Blood, Justice League, Spider-Man 1/3, & Sabotage) to capture Ralph. Both end up as epic fails & makes the situations much worse. The military tries to step in but they are about to make everything more dangerous & eliminate whatever to fix the problem. Can they stop this before the government completely takes out the city leaving no witness?

I am very fond of monster flicks & video game adaptations, this combined both of those sub-genres so I had high expectations for this when it was first announced. I grew up on the game so naturally I have great memories when it comes to it. I thought Rampage delivered everything that you would hope for from this type of production plus more! The Rock always comes through when it’s an action film, I still haven’t been disappointed with anything he’s done in that genre. He’s just perfect for that environment & adds something special to those mass produced features that make his movies stand out more than others. The supporting cast was impressive & elevated everything on screen. The only main actor & character I wasn’t convinced by was Jake Lacy’s Brett. I thought that was a missed opportunity & could have been done so much better by someone else.  It’s loaded with top notch visual effects & they look amazing in this! You have to appreciate all the work they put into this production because it really pays off at the end. As far as a popcorn action flick goes, Rampage is one of the best that’s been made in recent years. A rumored sequel is being thrown around right now as a possibility & I hope it happens. HIGHLY recommended, I had so much fun with this & the replay value is off the charts on this. It’s worth owning!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation. This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer is a visual treat to experience! It’s one of those discs that you could easily consider for reference quality. The effects are some of the most impressive that I’ve seen in awhile & they really dominate the screen in this. Warner Bros has provided 7 different audio options which include English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1, & English: Dolby Digital 5.1 for this release. Lots of action & chaos featured in Rampage so it’s really roars in your home set up. It feels like you are there with the characters. It also has English SDH, French, Portuguese, & Spanish subtitles.

Let’s discuss the special features on this blu ray disc from Warner Bros. “Not A Game Anymore” is a little over 6 minutes. Director  Brad Peyton. actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Joe Manganiello , & various producers talk about their love for the original game. They joke about making money back from playing it so much back in the day & skipping school for the popular arcade game. They bring up references & homages that are in the film. They chat about developing the project & looking at various scripts for it. 10 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. “Gag Reel” is almost 3 minutes & it has some hilarious goofs from the film. “Rampage – Actors in Action” is almost 11 minutes. It has interviews with actors Marley Shelton, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Joe Manganiello , & various crew members. They talk about the action & stunts in the film. It shows some behind the scenes footage. It goes over some of the training for their roles. “Trio of Destruction” is a little over 10 minutes. It has interviews with Director Brad Peyton. actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, & various crew members. It focuses on the monsters from the film. It shows concept art & behind the scenes footage. They discuss the visual effects for the feature. “Attack on Chicago” is a little over 10 minutes. It has interviews with Director Brad Peyton. actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, & various crew members. It focuses on Chicago & it’s locations in the film. It goes into detail about the visual effects. They mention all the destruction that took place in this. “Bringing George to Life” is almost 12 minutes. It mainly focuses on actor Jason Liles. He was the stand in for the character & helped captured the motions for him. It has all kinds of behind the scenes footage & it shows how they created George for this film. It also comes with a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of this release. It’s available everywhere starting Tuesday, check it out!!!!