Import Corner: The Substitute Collection (Via Vision) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Via Vision gathers together The Substitute films for the first worldwide, with the third and the fourth film making their Blu-ray debut.

Studio: Via Vision
Release Date: April 19th, 1996 (theatrical) (The Substitute) / April 3rd, 1998 (TV premiere) (The Substitute 2) / August 14th, 1999 (TV premiere) (The Substitute 3) / April 24th, 2001 (TV premiere) (The Substitute 4)
Run Time: 1 hour 52 minutes 58 seconds (The Substitute) / 1 hour 29 minutes 48 seconds (The Substitute 2) / 1 hour 29 minutes 51 seconds (The Substitute 3) /
Region Code: FREE

Disc Count: 4 (BD-25)
Picture: 1080p (1.78:1 aspect ratio) (all films)
Sound: English LPCM 2.0 (all films) / English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (all films)
Subtitles: English SDH (all films)
Slipcover: Yes (hard slip box)
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, Diane Venora, Glenn Plummer, Marc Anthony, Luis Guzmán, William Forsythe (The Substitute) / Treat Williams, B. D. Wong, Angel David, Michael Michele, Larry Gilliard Jr. (The Substitute 2) / Treat Williams, Rebecca Staab, Claudia Christian, James R. Black (The Substitute 3) / Treat Williams, Rebecca Staab, Claudia Christian, James R. Black (The Substitute 4)
Written by Roy Frumkes, Rocco Simonelli, Alan Ormsby (The Substitute) / Roy Frumkes, Rocco Simonelli (The Substitute 2 and 3) / Roy Frumkes, Dan Gurskis, Alan Ormsby (The Substitute 4)
Directed by Robert Mandel (The Substitute) / Steven Pearl (The Substitute 2) / Robert Radler (The Substitute 3 and 4)
Rating: MA15+ (language and violence) (all films)

NOTE: The first film in the series, THE SUBSTITUTE, features the UK TV version of the film. This version is 2 minutes shorter than the original version and while it keeps all of the language and nudity, the brief martial arts moves employed by the hero and his team had to be cut out. The BBFC didn't like that kind of stuff so it had to be removed. Via Vision sent out an email about a week after the set was released informing us about the version of the film presented in this collection, but also that they are making it right by pressing new discs with the uncut version. October is the planned shipping month.

Via Vision has asked me to wait to review the first film until I receive my replacement disc. Therefore, I will not talk about the film's presentation at all. I talk about the rest of the films, which are presented fully incut, and how they are presented. I will update this review when the replacement disc arrives.

____________________________________________

Poster

____________________________________________

What's It About?

After he did some jobs for CIA, ex-marine John Shale is visiting his high school love Jane. She's now a teacher in Columbus High School in Miami. Soon after his arriving Jane has her knee cap broken while jogging. After that, John decides to go undercover as her substitute in high school. Very soon he finds out that gang named Kings of Destruction is terrorizing the school. Shale is going to give everything to stop them, even his own life. (The Substitute)

Professional mercenary Karl Thomasson arrives in Brooklyn to attend the funeral of his brother Randall, who was murdered while trying to stop a carjacking that has been blamed on the "Brotherhood", a vicious street gang led by "Little B." Karl, who believes there is something more to it, goes undercover as Randall's replacement at Lenthrop High School in Brooklyn, where Randall was a history teacher, so Karl can investigate the Brotherhood. Karl becomes the protector of Randall's daughter Anya when their lives are threatened by whoever is behind the recent string of carjackings, and the plot behind the carjackings runs a lot deeper than the Brotherhood, and the threat is a lot closer to Karl and Anya than they dare to think. (The Substitute 2: School's Out)

At a college visit to a war buddy's professor daughter, mercenary Karl Thomasson finds her brutally beaten. He then poses as a teacher to teach a lesson, and get revenge, on the brash football jocks responsible. (The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All)

A former mercenary joins a military academy as a teacher. He soon discovers a neo-Nazi group, code-named Werewolves, formed among the cadets. He also quickly finds that they have military leadership among the officers at the Academy. (The Substitute 4: Failure is Not an Option)

____________________________________________

Video/Audio

Every film in this collection is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. I believe these transfers are cropped down from a 1.85:1 instead of matted because there isn't enough headroom in many scenes when there should be. That being said, these films look good. I would say that the first film has a slight lead over the others because there are no random imperfections like hairs and scratches that the other films have. They all present a lot of pretty good detail, especially in close-ups. Colors are nice and skin tones look accurate. The third and fourth films look the worse but that is only because the colors could have been a bit stronger.

Each film has one English track and they all sound good. Dialogue is clear and I didn't hear any problems like warping or low levels.

____________________________________________

Extras/Packaging

The Substitute

Theatrical Trailer (1m 43s, SD, 1.90:1)

The Substitute 2: School's Out

Trailer (1m 8s, SD, 1.33:1)

The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All

Trailer (1m 50s, SD, 1.33:1)

The Substitute 4: Failure is Not an Option

Commentary with director Robert Randler

Behind the Scenes Footage (3m 10s, SD, 1.33:1) Some good fly-on-the-wall footage of a scene being shot.

Deleted Scenes (4m 3s, SD, 1.33:1)

Trailer (1m 28s, SD, 1.33:1) This is the film's Redband trailer.

Via Vision has given THE SUBSTITUTE COLLECTION a nice package. The outer slip box is thick like many Limited Editions from the various boutique labels but this one is glossy on the spine and the back. The front gives us the cover art used for the film's DVD release with a lenticular effect. I like it. It makes the release stand out from the others. The artwork used for the SUBSTITUTE 2 poster art is used on the back of the slip box. There is also a nice envelope that holds 6 postcards featuring scenes from the films.

Inside the slip box is a 4-disc, thicker blu-ray case. The poster artwork for the first film is used as the cover here and there is some inner artwork as well. Each disc features the poster art for each corresponding film.

Each disc is REGION FREE

____________________________________________

Overall

I had fun watching these films. I had seen the first film before but none of the sequels. They were all good films with each film presenting basically the same story. A teacher is either hurt or killed. Military friend or family member wants to seek revenge so they become a substitute for that teacher to find the killer. Then, the substitute finds out that the school he is "teaching" is involved with drugs.

As the films go on, they focus less and less on the teaching and more on the ass-kicking. I do not have a problem with that. The first and second films focus a lot on the teaching and the goings on in the school. The third and fourth deal very little with the school. I mean, how many times can you do the "teacher who is a badass beats up high school students?" The producers clearly knew this so they pivoted to the outside the school stuff and made the films more action heavy.

These films are dumb fun with some really poor acting and some unintentionally funny moments. Each film is worth the watch.

Via Vision does a good job bringing these films to Blu-ray. Each film looks and sounds surprisingly good. I would have loved for some more special features (the fourth film is the only one that gets anything outside of a trailer) but I am sure Lionsgate just wanted what was on the DVD and nothing new.

That being said, this is a very solid release that I can wholeheartedly recommend, especially to my fellow late-90s action hounds.

____________________________________________

Extras/Menus