What an interesting
choice for a film project by the usually likeable Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne
Johnson.
That would be director
Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain, which is headed to the home entertainment
market place on Aug. 27 courtesy of Paramount Home Media Distribution.
The ARR for the DVD and
Blu-ray/DVD combo pack (with UltraViolet) product offerings works out to 123
days and the box office take was $49.3 million.
The Pain & Gain script is
based more or less — with the appropriate filmmaking licenses taken for
dramatic and storytelling purposes — on the crimes committed by the infamous
“Sun Gym Gang” of the Miami area (circa 1994 - 1995). Details of their violent activities were
chronicled in newspaper accounts prepared by Peter Collins right around the time
of their sentencing — two ended up on death row.
So who ended up on death
row (where they sit today)? That would
be giving away the main plot elements, but let us just say that the Sun Gym
Gang consisted of Mark Wahlberg’s character, Daniel Lugo, the character played
by Dwayne Johnson (character named Paul Doyle) and the third member of the
gang, Adrian Doorbal is portrayed by Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Million
Dollar Baby, etc.).
Two of these three were
sentenced to death and the third turned on his partners-in-crime in exchange
for a lighter sentence — did eight years of a 15-year jolt.
The trio, with some accomplices,
hit upon the scheme of kidnapping and extorting unsavory “businessmen” in the
area. To these bodybuilding
knuckleheads — all of which had previous criminal records — it seemed like a
pretty good plan. Shakedown high profile
wheelers and dealers, who would, they reasoned, be reluctant to go to the
police because of their own criminal activity.
With that kind of a
set-up you quickly realize that there are no likeable characters — hence the
interesting choice of a film project by Wahlberg and Johnson. That aside, Pain & Gain
nevertheless turns out to be a fascinating film to watch … simply because it is
plucked from real life events that are both frightening and downright bizarre.
Also on the release
docket from Paramount this week is the Dennis Quaid/Michael Chiklis ‘60s era
Las Vegas crime series titled simply Vegas. On Sept. 17 look for the five-disc collection
titled Vegas: The DVD Edition, which features all 21 episodes of this
short-lived series that was loosely based on the exploits of legendary Sheriff
Ralph Lamb.
Since the Las Vegas of
the period portrayed in the series is long gone, extensive use of CGI and
clever set designs delivered both the look and “feel” of the city, especially
the classic Fremont Street casinos in the old downtown area. Bonus features include production featurettes
and deleted scenes.
And speaking of Las
Vegas, Sept. 17 is also the street date for the six-disc DVD set of CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation: The Thirteenth Season — all 22 episodes
featuring Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue, with long-standing series regulars,
George Eads, Jorja Fox, Eric Szmanda and Robert David Hall.
The following week, Sept.
24, Paramount has both Hawaii Five-O: The Third Season (a
seven-disc selection) and South Park: The Complete Sixteenth Season (three-disc
set) ready for release as Blu-ray and DVD product offerings.
To download this week's
complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report
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