Elephant White – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

I love when movies are unexpectedly good. Such is the case for Elephant White, a seedy, moody look at human trafficking in Bangkok, yet as the film puts a little twist towards the end, so did I on my first sentence assessment. Elephant White is unexpectedly good, but where were my expectations? Well, I had them adjusted quite fine with the film’s cast of the always solid Djimon Hounsou and Kevin Bacon, but of interest here, even though the film’s a direct-t0-video outing, it’s directed by Prachya Pinkaew, a Thai filmmaker who’s been delivering some knock-outs over there in Ong Bak, The Protector, and Chocolate. Piqued your interested huh, it did mine.

Pinkaew takes a break from all of those Muay Thia fighting films, for a solid little action/drama which find Hounsou as an assassin, who gets caught up with a seedy underground arms dealer (Bacon) and Thailand’s sex trafficking operation. It’s a simple plot, and it’s execution is pretty straight-forward as well, as Hounsou kills, talks, kills, talks, kills, talks. Pinkaew in his American debut, makes the most out of the dimes for the budget, with his careful eye on the moody Thailand backstreets, the neon glow of their Vegas facade, and the sweaty actors in the country’s humidity. It’s a slick production, and with this team, Elephant White tricks you into believing it’s a better film than it is.

Not to knock on it too much, as it seems as I have, Elephant White is a solid little movie, a nice change of pace for director Pinkaew, yet due to the film wanting to say something deep about the ills of the sex trade business, it’s really not say anything at all. The twist is heavy-handed, and the coda about the statistics of Thailand’s sex trafficking operations are harrowing enough to hurt this film that isn’t really helping the cause, no matter its good intentions. All in all, it’s a solid time-waster, with a nice turn by Bacon and solid work from Pinkaew.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Millennium Media hammers out a nice HD presentation. Given its low budget, the film looks great. Slick, detailed, vibrant, there’s lots to enjoy in its appearance here in HD. Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is a solid action film mix, with constant speaker activity, deep bass, clear dialogue and good separation in the music.

Despite some Millennium Films Trailers, we get nothing, which is a crying shame, since a chat with Pinkaew would have been great, as would a look at Thailand’s underground sex operations.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: