Blu-ray

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) spends a lot of his time in jail, but not because he's a criminal. Rather, he's a prison break specialist, hired to go undercover in maximum security institutions to find the flaws in their security systems.

But when he's hired by the CIA to test The Tomb – a new facility designed to hold the world's most dangerous terrorists – Ray finds himself in an entire world of trouble. Betrayed by those he thought he could trust and cut off from the outside world, he must turn to fellow prisoner Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) for help if he is ever going to stand a chance of escaping from this hi-tech hellhole.

Back in the 1980s any film starring Stallone and Schwarzenegger would have been a guaranteed box office smash. But times change and Escape Plan barely made a dent at the box office last year. Which is a shame, because it's actually a much better movie than we expected. The story contains just enough twists and turns to keep you intrigued, and the two leads play off one other brilliantly. There's also lots of fun to be had with Jim Caviezel's turn as The Tomb's sadistic warden Willard Hobbes (you can tell he's a nutter thanks to his softly-spoken nature and love of butterfly taxidermy).

It's a shame that the rest of the supporting players – particularly Sam Neill and Amy Ryan – are wasted in woefully underwritten roles. Although even the handful of minutes that Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson spends on screen is far too generous.

We must add that those expecting the kind of all-out action that a pairing of Stallone and Schwarzenegger would have given us several decades ago will be disappointed. This is much more of a thriller, with a handful of action scenes scattered throughout. Although this does make it all the more satisfying when Arnie finally gets his hands on a massive gun in Escape Plan's closing act.

Picture: Escape Plan makes a break for it on Blu-ray with a very respectable AVC 2.40:1 1080p encode. While the film isn't particularly flashy (the interior decorators responsible for The Tomb clearly favour a stark, industrial aesthetic), the occasional wash of coloured lighting holds together very well and close-ups of the leads' faces reveal no shortage of deep wrinkles and crags.
Picture rating: 4.5/5

Audio: This DTS-HD MA 7.1 mix brims with surround activity. Consistently creative and cohesive use of the entire soundstage ensures that you feel just as immersed in the world of The Tomb as the prisoners who languish there, while the dialogue channel isn't overrun. And, once things really start to heat up during Chapter 13's riot sequence, you'll be ducking for cover and fearing for your life.
Audio rating: 4.5/5

Extras: Director Mikael Håfström and co-writer Miles Chapman provide an audio commentary, supported by two featurettes looking at the film's production and the on-screen teaming of Sly and Arnie. Meanwhile, a third featurette provides a surprisingly interesting history of prisons and the treatment of criminals. Finally, there's a collection of eleven deleted scenes.
Extras rating: 3/5

We say: Not necessarily the film fans were expecting, but still a fun thriller that packs a punch in AV terms

Escape Plan, EntertainmentOne, Region B BD, £25 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 3.5/5