Movie Reviews

When a crowded city bus blows up in Brooklyn and a campaign of terror begins to make it's bloody mark on the streets of New York, it's up to FBI special agent Anthony "Hub" Hubbard and U.S. Army General William Devereaux to find out who's responsible and put an end to the destruction. Together, they face explosive danger at every turn when they team up to wage an all-out war against a ruthless band of terrorists.

Well before the horrors of 9/11 shocked this country, The Siege did a great job of stirring me up when I saw it in theaters. This film is as relevant today as when it was released and gives a scary look at the world of terrorism and its affect on us. It is interesting to see the parallels with the way things were going over the past few years and I’m thankful that things didn’t escalate to these levels. This is still a great piece with strong performances and disturbing truths.

The HD presentation is better than I expected and features nice detail and depth of image. Some of the longer shots can be a tad soft, but dimensionality is stronger than I expected. Colors have a bit of a muted quality but I didn’t notice any noise or signs of compression issues. Contrast levels are good and add to the depth of image and shadow detail is pretty solid.

The DTS soundtrack is also pretty good but lacks the dynamic punch of more recent mixes. There is still a nice sense of space in the mix with good use of the surrounds and main soundstage. Dialogue is well balanced, but slightly thin at times. Low bass extension is there when it needs to be, but I was hoping for a bit more.

The only extra is the trailer.

As relevant now as it was when it first released, The Siege is still a jolting film. Fox has done a good job with the presentation and if you haven’t seen it, it is definitely worth a look.