COLUMBIA TRISTAR has released a surprisingly effective
"straight-to-video/dvd" release, "A BETTER WAY TO DIE."  Writer/director Scott Wiper also stars in this action/drama as a young cop forced to make a run for his life after the mob mistakenly believes he's got a special computer chip.
While Wiper is a little too confident in himself at times as an actor, his
directing skills help the audience gloss over his inadequacies as an actor. The supporting cast, including Andre Braugher and the beautiful Natasha Henstridge, is excellent!  Wiper isn't horrible, it's just that he can't deliver his lines convincingly, and he's so good behind the camera, he should "stay" there!    There's plenty of action throughout the film, and while the dramatic sequences tend to slow the film down, they're still overshadowed by the kinetic violence unfolding!  We're surprised the film didn't get an NC-17 rating, really!
The COLUMBIA TRISTAR release is presented with its proper 1.85:1 aspect ratio and 16:9 enhancement.  It's an outstanding transfer!  While the colors are solid and vibrant, there's no oversaturation at all!  The contrast is excellent too!  The blacks and grays are deep and discernible in even the darkest scenes.  Fleshtones are natural throughout.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is extremely aggressive!  All speakers tend to get a work out here!  While the dialogue is focused towards the center channel, the mix is multi-layered with numerous directional effects, and musical interludes that are always well separated.  The .1 LFE track is extremely helpful during the action sequences.
COLUMBIA TRISTAR has provided an audio commentary with Wiper on this release.  While it's hard not to recommend "any" commentary for either aspiring filmmakers or "fans", Wiper comes across being so undeservingly arrogant that it's hard to recommend it as being "insightful".  The theatrical trailer, without 16:9 enhancement, is featured.