I Want to Get Even: Limited Edition – Neon Eagle Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Indonesia, 1987
Director: Maman Firmansyah
Cast: Eva Arnaz, Clift Sangra, Nena Rosier, Rengga Takengon, Hendro Tangkilisan, Dicky Zulkarnaen, H.I.M. Damsyik, Yona S. Kamarullah, Tuty Kusnendar, Husen Nur

Release Date: November, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 90 Minutes 5 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Indonesian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $39.99

"Irma, a pregnant bar hostess with a troubled marriage (to put it lightly) to bulky lunk Rudy. Her life isn’t great but she’s making the best of it. But things go quickly downhill for her when she’s kidnapped and assaulted by local druglord Cobra. She escapes her captors only to find her idiotic hubby less than sympathetic. When she refuses his demands that she abort their baby, he pushes her from a moving car!

Meanwhile, Cobra betrays his business partner Roni, played by ubiquitous Indo character actor Dicky Zuklarnean, setting up a bloody gang war, while in the background Rudy keeps trying and failing to get retribution on the criminals. These two narrative threads end up meeting in the film’s truly explosive finale, when Irma finally gets her ultraviolent revenge!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "2K restoration."

I Want to Get Even comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 27 GB

Feature: 26.3 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, and black levels are strong throughout.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Indonesian), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Indonesian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Though both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, the Indonesian audio track sounds noticeably more robust. Included are removable English subtitles for the Indonesian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an audio commentary with Andrew Leavold, reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to 1500 copies), and a 16-page booklet (limited to 1500 copies) with an essay titled An Eye for an Eye written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and a home video art gallery.

Summary:

Maman Firmansyah directed I Want to Get Even. The only other notable film he directed is Escape from Hellhole.

A drug dealer named Cobra likes to abduct women and have his way with them. One of his victims, Irma, manages to escape him, and when her husband finds out, he sets out to get revenge.

Indonesian cinema is known for its outrageous plots where anything can and will happen. The main narrative revolves around a bad guy named Cobra who runs a drug syndicate, and when he’s not working, he has women abducted and then has his way with them. The other narrative revolves around a woman named Irma, who's married to a man who can’t get aroused unless he slaps her around a few times. That said, the narrative feels like two films that ultimately come together for an explosive finale.

The opening credits do a superb job setting the tone by showing what kind of man Cobra is and the lengths his men will go to. A sinister synth score reinforces the mood of this sequence. Though things start off strong, it is not always smooth sailing, since the narrative never firmly establishes any momentum. The sequences where characters are kicking ass and blowing things up are where the narrative excels, while the scenes where men are assaulting women feel excessive.

Despite Eva Arnaz’s (The Warrior) character Irina being top-billed and prominently featured on the promotional art on a dirt bike with a bazooka over her shoulder, she's not the main attraction. The most memorable performance is the actor who portrays Cobra; he really gets into the role with sadistic glee. That said, all of the performances work well within the confines of the story that unfolds.

Indonesian genre cinema always worked with anemic resources, and yet they almost always made films that held your attention. Though the narrative can be repetitive, I Want to Get Even is a film that fully exploits its resources; it is a highly entertaining mix of action, brutality, and mayhem that fans of Indonesian genre cinema should thoroughly enjoy.

I Want to Get Even gets a first-rate release from Neon Eagle Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a pair of informative extras, highly recommended.

Note: This edition is limited to 1500 copies.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer