Den Of Thieves is a 2018 American heist film that was written, directed, and produced by Christian Gudegast and stars Gerard Butler, 50 Cent, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones, Dan Olivieri, Mo McRae, and Max Holloway. In the film, an elite group of County Sheriff Deputies look to stop a gang of thieves that have been planning to rob the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles, California.
The film starts out with the team of robbers who are led by Ray Merriman; as they make a violent armed attack and hijack an armored truck. A security guard who drops his coffee instigates the shootout accidentally. Police arrive onto the scene and engage in a shootout, and eventually Merriman and his crew escape with the empty armored truck, but he reprimands one of his men, Bosco, for killing the first guard.
The film was originally released in the United States on January 19, 2018, and received mixed reviews from film critics and ended up grossing $74 million worldwide. A sequel is currently in development.
The Film Itself (3.5/5):
Let me just say, I absolutely enjoyed Den Of Thieves. At first, I did struggle to find some satisfaction in this film, mostly because it really presents itself in a similar fashion to those movies in the Oceans film franchise. Going through an extremely long and elaborate set of plans to carry out what a lot of us would consider to be the impractical in terms of heists. There are a few moments where this movie felt as if it really dragged out too much, allowing for my wife and I to really welcome any distraction that would come our way. But, in the end, the story that we were given, albeit quite long and offering a lot of unnecessary moments, was one that we didn’t expect it to go the way that it did, even with the ridiculous shootout that occurs during the heist.
Picture Quality (5/5):
The visual presentation that the Blu-ray release of Den Of Thieves offered was one that not only did a beautiful job at letting you visually see and understand the events that were carried out during the attempted heist (I say that because I don’t want to hint in either direction on whether or not they were successful), but did a really great job at letting you see and understand the extremely detail oriented planning and mastermind work that went into trying to carry it out. One of the scenes that really stood out as we watched this the other night was the shootout that occurs; that particular sequence was very much on the edge of your seat action oriented, and offered absolutely no distortion in the events as they were being carried out. Some of the camera angels that went on during this sequence were fantastic and ones that I don’t really recall seeing in a film like this.
Audio Quality (5/5):
Normally, I would deduct a point for lack of immersion for a release that comes packaged with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track. But, the Blu-ray release of Den Of Thieves made that audio track absolutely fucking rock as it roared through my home theater system. Including full awareness of the camera location as there was a lot of action that played out, the audio track was prompt in moving between the various channels that allowed for both my wife and I to feel as if we were sitting right there in the middle of everything. The dialogue was clean and clear and everyone was able to be heard without having to manually adjust the volume levels as the movie played onward.
The Packaging (3/5):
The Blu-ray release of Den Of Thieves comes packaged in your standard two-disc Blu-ray amaray case. Within that case is the standard Blu-ray copy of the film as well as the standard DVD copy of the film. Neither of the discs feature any artwork whatsoever that’s related to the film, outside of the standard release text and considerably generic shiny background behind the printed text. There is a digital copy redemption pamphlet that’s been included for streaming options as well as a slipcover that features the same piece of artwork that’s been included on the case art.
Special Features (4/5):
There was a surprising amount of special features that have been included on the Blu-ray for Den Of Thieves. The content that’s been provided offers a nice look that extends the storyline, as well as some of the work that went into making the film. The surprising fact, that despite the obnoxious menu movement as I had to answer “which version do you want to watch” three times before going into the movie, was the fact that this release includes both the theatrical and the unrated version of the film. We obviously watched the unrated version. Included with this release is:
- Choose Version Of Movie (Theatrical Or Unrated)
- Alternate Ending
- Alpha Males
- Into The Den
- Alameda Corridor
- Outtakes
- Theatrical Version Audio Commentary With Director Christian Gudegast And Producer Tucker Tooley
- Theatrical Trailer 1
- Theatrical Trailer 2
Technical Specs:
Video
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH, Spanish
Runtime
Original Film: 149 minutes
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I was really pleased with Den Of Thieves. While the story felt that it was too long, and overly drawn out, the way that things unfolded by the end of the story allowed for both myself and my wife to feel satisfied with how things were carried out. The visual and audible experience for this release was absolutely one of the best that I’ve personally seen and heard with the Blu-ray format, despite it being packaged with a 5.1 mix. The special features that were included were considerably wholesome in providing an extended look into the story as well as some of the behind the scenes action. If you’re considering adding this title to your library, I would absolutely recommend it; especially if you’re a fan of heist movies like this. Den Of Thieves will be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning on Tuesday April 24, 2018.
Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.