I love a good Schwarzenegger movie but I’m not really sure about his 2017 offering which sees him play a hitman that is being hunted down by his fellow professionals. Oh and it’s an action comedy which also has me extremely worried, in any case this one’s just recently arrived on Bluray so without further ado here’s my Killing Gunther Blu-ray Review.
- Killing Gunther (2017)
- Genre: Action, Comedy
- Running Time: 93 Mins
- UK Rating 15
- Discs: 1
- Released By Spirit Entertainment
- Blu-ray Released 9 July 2018
Plot
A group of assassins led by Blake (Taran Killam) decide to take out the guy that is considered the best in their field of work. His name is Gunther (Arnold Schwarzenegger) but will killing him really be that easy?
The film is written and directed by Taran Killam with the cinematography side of things that’s taken care of by Blake McClure. They choose to cut quickly from one scene to another in a hope of keeping the energy and tempo of the film going. It’s certainly a style that can work well but I’m not sure the overall quality of the film can be saved by this tactic. The whole premise of the film is that Blake has hired a film crew to film him killing Gunther and that therefore means the camera work is done in a documentary style, handheld.
I can see what Taran Killam was trying to achieve but I really think he misses the mark on so many levels. Maybe he could have used somebody to provide an objective view on what was working and what needed some polish or re-working.
Music / Audio Effects
The music is composed by Dino Meneghin and provides a high energy tempo kind of sound that is definitely in keeping with all the silliness on screen.
Acting / Characters
Taran Killam is the main character of the film and it’s his story that we follow. Unfortunately without wishing to sound cruel he really struggles to carry the film. When Arnold Schwarzenegger completely out acts the rest of the cast you probably know the acting’s bad. Don’t get me wrong I love a good Schwarzenegger film and he’s good at what he does. The others in the film really aren’t and I struggled to stay with the film until Schwarzenegger finally arrived at just over the hour mark.
In short Schwarzenegger plays a hitman known as Gunther whilst the rest of the cast also play assassins that are all trying to kill him.
Cast
- Taran Killam as Blake
- Bobby Moynihan as Donnie
- Hannah Simone as Sanaa
- Peter Kelamis as Rahmat
- Aaron Yoo as Yong
- Paul Brittain as Gabe
- Amir Talai as Izzat
- Ryan Gaul as Barold
- Allison Tolman as Mia
- Cobie Smulders as Lisa
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Robert “Gunther” Bendik
Conclusion: Killing Gunther (2017) Film Review
It should be noted that this is an incredibly silly action a comedy and one in which I feel misses the mark by some way. First off the writing is poor, the acting awful and the most of the jokes are so obvious you see them coming a mile away.
I think this may lie at the door of Taran Killam as he not only wrote and directed the film but also stars in it. I can kind of see what he’s aiming for but in the end it really doesn’t work. I’m sure some people will find it entertaining but having to endure over an hour before Schwarzenegger appears is simply too much.
There is little doubt that when Arnold Schwarzenegger does finally appear the film improves a little with him again poking fun at himself. That said it isn’t enough to save the film from being a pretty poor effort and a film best viewed with friends after several beers. In fact I recommend skipping the first hour and just start watching when Arnie appears.
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Conclusion: Killing Gunther Blu-ray Review
The films from 2017 so there zero issues with the picture quality so on to the extras and there’s just a trailer to view. Whilst I’m not a huge fan of this movie it’s still good to see it receiving a Blu-ray release as many smaller new films are only appearing on DVD in the UK for some strange reason.
Extras
- Trailer
A film best viewed with friend after several beers, in fact I recommend skipping the first hour and just start watching when Arnie appears.
Popcorn Cinema Rating: Killing Gunther (2017)
MOVIE RATING: BARELY TOLERABLE
BLU-RAY RATING: EXCELLENT
POPCORN CINEMA: NOT RECOMMENDED
Killing Gunther (2017) is available now on Blu-ray from Amazon.
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Killing Gunther (2017) Trailer
For those of you yet to see the film I’ll leave you with a little taster…
Clip may not be representative of the blu-ray version
That’s Killing Gunther blu-ray review, if you have any thoughts on this film you can leave them over on our Facebook page.
Summary: Killing Gunther (2017) Blu-ray Review
Movie title: Killing Gunther (2017)
Duration: 93 mins
Director(s): Taran Killam
Actor(s): Arnold Schwarzenegger, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Hannah Simone, Peter Kelamis, Aaron Yoo, Paul Brittain, Amir Talai, Ryan Gaul, Allison Tolman, Cobie Smulders
Genre: Action, Comedy
- Movie Rating
- Blu-ray Picture Rating
- Extras
Summary
An action comedy that misses the mark but does include an interesting appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Pros
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Completely Zany & Stupid
Cons
- Predictable
- Poorly Written
- Poor Acting
- Poor Execution of Dialogue & Action Sequences for Comic Impact
