The Equalizer

Theatrical Release Date: 2014 09 26 (USA)

UPC: 043396439825

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Profanity]

Summary: Based on the 1980s crime series of the same name, The Equalizer stars Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a former Black Ops commando who faked his own death in hopes of living out a quiet life in Boston. However, when he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to save a young girl named Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds his thirst for justice reawakened after coming face-to-face with a syndicate of brutal Russian gangsters. Afterwards, McCall becomes the go-to man when the helpless require the kind of vengeance they would never find without his skills. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Category: Thriller

Features: Blu-ray exclusives:
Vengeance mode with Denzel Washington & Antoine Fuqua - watch The Equalizer through the eyes of Robert McCall as Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua break down the deadliest moves
Denzel Washington: a different kind of superhero
Equalizer vision: Antoine Fuqua
Inside The Equalizer
One man army: training and fighting
Photo gallery

Special features:
Home mart: taking care of business one bolt at a time
Children of the night

The Equalizer

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 12/30/2014

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DHMA

Runtime: 132 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)

Tim Holland

Denzel Washington is the main reason to see Antoine Fuqua's bold and brutal crime drama, based on the hit but long-forgotten CBS series that ran on the network from '85 to '89, about a former secret agent who dispenses vigilante-type justice on behalf of defenseless, ordinary folks. Washington, who won an Oscar for Fuqua's Training Day, delivers a perfectly modulated, slow-burn performance that lifts this otherwise conventional genre piece into an engaging entertainment that will please the core audience who turned Taken and Liam Neeson's other action-oriented vehicles into global successes.

The movie begins with a quote from Mark Twain: "The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." Apparently, Washington's Robert McCall was born to not only be a guardian angel for down-on-their-luck good people, but also to unmercifully slaughter bad guys with ordinary objects, from corkscrews to hedge clippers, and take delicious delight in doing so -- as he does repeatedly over the film's two-hour-plus running time.

The story is simple enough. McCall works at Home Mart, a Home Depot-like store in Boston, where he jokes that his previous occupation was as a Pip, one of the backup singers/dancers for soul legend Gladys Knight. He even does a few cool dance moves to better sell the lie to others. But McCall suffers from insomnia, so each night he heads down to a local diner (that looks like it was designed by Edward Hopper) to sip tea and read classic literature. Another early morning regular is Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young prostitute who dreams of becoming a singer. When Teri is roughed up by Slavi, her Russian pimp (Justified's David Meunier), and lands in a hospital, McCall pays him a visit and offers to buy Teri's freedom for 9,800 dollars. Slavi refuses, of course, but soon wishes he had accepted when McCall kills him and a roomful of his cohorts in a brisk 19 seconds. (McCall times everything, from grooming to gutting bad guys.) Unfortunately, Slavi's boss is the head of the Russian mob, and he doesn't appreciate that his illegal business ventures have been interrupted by the deaths. Soon, McCall is the target of a top Russian assassin.

While The Equalizer carries the name of a bygone TV show, its real roots stretch back to such 1970s hits as the Death Wish and Walking Tall movies, in which justice was served with brutal, deadly force. It also plays like a good-old-fashioned shoot-'em-up, in which the audience can't wait until the good guy straps on his gun belt, mounts his horse, and rides into town to dispense with the outlaws. Even the ragged font Fuqua uses for the opening-credits sequence evokes a Western theme.

Yes, The Equalizer is predictable and it gets more ludicrous as it goes along, especially in the final, expertly staged set piece in which McCall turns the Home Mart into a house of horrors for the gangsters. It also defies belief that McCall is never questioned by the police in any of the killings, even though he is on surveillance footage and a coworker eventually witnesses his skill with a nail gun. But there is no arguing that this slick, solidly built action yarn delivers the goods. While it may not be as prestigious as Washington and Fuqua's previous outing, it is equally as entertaining. ~ Tim Holland, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Denzel Washington  Producer 
Todd Black  Producer 
Mace Neufeld  Producer 
Michael Sloan  Producer 
Ezra Swerdlow  Executive Producer 
Steve Tisch  Producer 
Richard Wenk  Screenwriter 
Jason Blumenthal  Producer 
Harry Gregson-Williams  Composer (Music Score) 
Antoine Fuqua  Director 
Alex Siskin  Producer 
David J. Bloomfield  Executive Producer 
Benjamin Waisbren  Executive Producer 
Tony Eldridge  Producer 
Denzel Washington  Actor 
Marton Csokas  Actor 
Chloë Grace Moretz  Actor 
David Harbour  Actor 
Bill Pullman  Actor 
Melissa Leo  Actor 
Haley Bennett  Actor 
David Meunier  Actor 
Johnny Skourtis  Actor 
Alex Veadov  Actor 
Vladimir Kulich  Actor 
E. Roger Mitchell  Actor 
James Wilcox  Actor 
Mike P. O'Dea  Actor 
Anastasia Mousis  Actor 
Allen Maldonado  Actor 
Chris Lemieux  Actor 
Mike Morrell  Actor 
Matt Lasky  Actor 
Shawn Fitzgibbon  Actor 
Vitaliy Shtabnoy  Actor 
Timothy John Smith  Actor 
Robert Wahlberg  Actor 
Steve Sweeney  Actor 
Owen Burke  Actor 
Luz Sanchez  Actor 
John Romualdi  Actor 
Johnny Messner  Actor 
Patrick Coppola  Actor 
William Xifaras  Actor 
Jenny Johnson  Actor 
Peter Haydu  Actor 
Tait Fletcher  Actor 
Mark Stefanich  Actor 
Dan Bilzerian  Actor 
Matthew Leonard  Actor 
Elisala Baker  Actor 
Yan Dron  Actor 

Country: USA