Behind the Scenes (Featurette) (2m 27s, HD)
Chokeslam (Trailer) (1m 25s, HD)
Lycan (Trailer) (1m 20s, HD)
Man From Earth: Holocene (Trailer) (1m 30s, HD)
The featurette is really short and doesn’t really offer much outside of some fly on the wall footage. I can see why MVD Visual didn’t put any money into the special features. This is a film that has a pretty low score on IMDb and probably doesn’t have very much in the way of demand or fans, so there was no need to put into special features that no one is going to watch.
The disc is REGION FREE
This 1080p transfer is presented in the film’s original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and presents the film well enough. Like the sound below, the picture never really shines. There is no way factor, but it really isn’t needed. The transfer looks fine. I didn’t find anything wrong with, but it doesn’t do anything to wow us either.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is good. Outside of the wrestling matches, there is not much going on, so the track really doesn’t have a “shine” moment, but it doesn’t really need it. The does liven up a bit when the wrestling matches start, but that is about it.
A mild-mannered deli clerk finally gets a second chance to pursue his high school sweetheart, a notorious female professional wrestler, when she returns for their ten-year reunion.
When I was a kid I loved wrestling. My cousin and I would watch wrestling whenever it was on, ordered the pay-per-view events, and raided our local Toys ‘R Us (R.I.P) to find the latest WWF (World Wrestling Federation) toys. We always had fun with wrestling, but we also took it very seriously too. We had our favorite wrestlers who we would defend against anything. There were times when we would get into physical fights because the other would say something bad about a favorite wrestler.
As time went on, wrestling and I grew apart. I started watching kung fu films with my mom and my cousin, who was older than me, started dating. I did pick up wrestling again in the late 90’s when the “attitude area” came around, but it wasn’t the same as before. I grew tired of wrestling and its attempts at story and comedy. I still respect wrestling for what it was, not what it is today. Too much focus on dumb storylines and not enough wrestling. Back in the day pay-per-view events would last about two hours and we would see ten or so matches. Now, the events last a lot longer and you get fewer matches.
I tell you all of the this because I want my mindset upon entering this film to be clear. I watched this film because I found the plot synopsis to be interesting. I have seen romantic comedies set in the world of wrestling before, and they were pretty bad. I had hoped that this one would be different.
It was not.
Chokeslam is a bad film. The romantic comedy aspects (guy loves girl, girl leaves town to pursue her dreams, guy spends his life (in a small town) trying to forget girl, girl comes back to town for high school reunion, guy falls for girl again, girl’s boyfriend turns out to be a jerk, guy ends up with girl) are so predictable that we just go with it. Kind of like when we have to go to someone’s house, who we do not like, for a birthday party or something. We know what is going to happen, but we just do it anyway to get it over with. There is nothing in the plot that is original, but there is nothing wrong with that.
What the film, and the filmmakers, do not do is try to spice up the plot with anything really. The filmmakers think that the wrestling angle is so good that people will overlook the plot and all of its same ole same ole.
The problem with this thinking and its execution is that everything that surrounds it is not even remotely interesting. The characters are flat, one-dimensional characters who have nothing to them other than what the plot needs them to have. This, of course, makes the film an utter bore fest. Without anything to these characters we can not relate to them and the stuff that does come up about some of the characters is delivered with such a clunkiness to it that we don’t buy it for a second. We learn that the main character, Corey, was put into a mental institution because he couldn’t get over the main girl in the film. Now, this could have been an interesting subplot that could have given us some insight into the character, but the filmmakers clearly don’t care about giving us anything remotely interesting about anything here and deliver this information by having a character blurt it out in the middle of an argument.
Actually, now that I think about it, that is the most interesting thing that happens in the film. And, of course, it is not all that interesting, to begin with. That would be an oxymoron. Something is interesting without being interesting. That is Chokeslam in a nutshell.
Now, how is the wrestling? The wrestling is not at all interesting. The matches that we see are also very clunky and poorly choreographed. Every hit, every move is thrown with the force of child and is not fake at all. (wink, wink) I have seen better matches from backyard wrestlers. Thankfully, the matches don’t last very long, but the filmmakers should have put on a better show when it comes to the wrestling. That is like if your film is about running, but the actual running is more like walking, but faster.
Chokeslam is the worst kind of bad film. It takes everything and does nothing with it. At least the “so bad it's good” films are trying to be something and failing miserably. Chokeslam does none of this. The acting is ok, the wrestling is terrible, and nothing of note happens throughout the entire film. The best way I can describe the failing of Chokeslam is: you know the feeling of having someone you really respect come up to you and tell you that they are disappointed in you? Chokeslam is that feeling.
The blu-ray, from MVD Visual, is ok. They have done the best they can with the picture and audio, but there are really no special features, just a very short behind the scenes featurette and a few trailers. I know that this isn't all that popular, so the special features would have been a waste of money. In the end, if you like the film, then get blu-ray. If you are looking for something that will entertain you for an hour and a half, then look elsewhere.
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