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Blu-ray Review: THE FOREVER PURGE

Sep 26, 2021 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The NFFA has been voted back into power, and has reinstated the annual Purge, where once a year for 12 hours all crime is legal, including murder. This will be the first Purge for Adela (Ana de la Reguera) and Juan (Tenoch Huerta), a married couple from Mexico who snuck across the border into Texas ten months earlier. Adela has been working at a meat processing plant, while her husband has been working as a ranch hand for the wealthy Tucker family. Adela and Juan join fellow ranch worker T.T. (Alejandro Edda) to ride out purge night at a local shelter. Meanwhile, the Tuckers—patriarch Caleb (Will Patton), his daughter Harper (Leven Rambin) and his son Dylan (Josh Lucas) and his pregnant wife Cassidy (Cassidy Freeman)—are locked up safe in their armored home. The next morning, when the siren goes off at 7am, everyone is relieved to have successfully survived another purge night. However, they soon discover that the violence is far from over.

A radical group calling themselves the Real Patriots of America have declared this a Forever Purge—they are on a mission to purify America by eliminating all refugees, terrorists and foreigners, and the killing will not stop until they succeed. The violence is not only happening here in Texas, but across the entire United States. Many cities have already gone dark, and a state of emergency and martial law have been declared. But the violence is quickly spreading, and the NFFA is struggling to get the situation under control. Some of the Tuckers’ longtime employees have turned against them, seeing this forever purge as an excuse to right their income disparity. While some employees such as T.T. and Juan have remained loyal, the ranch will soon be overrun, and they must abandon their home, but there seems to be nowhere safe to go, and nowhere to get help. However, Mexico and Canada have just announced that they will open their borders for six hours, offering sanctuary for any unarmed Americans seeking asylum. So our group of survivors hop in a big rig cab in hopes of making their way to El Paso before the borders are shut down indefinitely. Along the way thy will face new threats and hate groups lurking down every road and around every corner, looking for new victims to add to their Ever After purge body count.

The Forever Purge is an exciting new installment in this franchise, taking the violence of the franchise somewhere it’s never been before…into the daylight! The Purge films usually utilize the darkness and creepy, sadistic costumes to build the tension as innocent people try to survive 12 hours of mayhem. This time, there is no clock, and even though much of the movie takes place in the daytime, things are not any less scary or terrifying. There are still the creepy, over-the-top costumes and tense moments that make you jump when you think one of our heroes is about to meet their end. This installment also brings in a whole new threat, grounded in reality, of these out of control hate groups, and the collapse of humanity. The one glimmer of hope in all this darkness is our group of survivors. They may come from different backgrounds, but are working together to make sure the whole group survives. The once wealthy, rich ranch owners find themselves in the opposite position, relying on the generosity and kindness offered by the normally disadvantaged and oppressed as they try to flee their own country.

The Forever Purge definitely feels like a Purge movie, but it also has a somewhat different, more artistic look than the previous films. While the other movies often relied on darkness to set the tone and mood, this film makes some stylistic choices, such as playing with focus or slow motion at times. There is also this really impressive one-take shot, which feels almost like a video game, putting the viewer right in the middle the action as our group makes their way through the explosive streets of El Paso, finding and neutralizing new threats around each corner. Scenes like this really get the heart pumping, making you feel like you are right there trying to survive this forever purge along with the characters.

There are some fun and interesting new dynamics and relationships this time around as well. First there’s married couple Adela and Juan. She seems happy to be in America and eager to learn English and take advantage of the opportunities. Early on there are some hints that Adela has an interesting background, with a particular set of skills. Juan is a little more hesitant to accept the American way and has been slower to pick up English. This has caused a bit of a rift between Juan and his employer, Dylan. Dylan is irritated whenever Juan speaks English. He claims he isn’t racist, but also doesn’t understand why people with two very different cultures need to integrate—why can’t they just live their separate lives?! He may also be a bit jealous at Juan’s natural ability to tame his family’s horses—Juan may be more of a cowboy than he is, but according to Dylan, Mexicans shouldn’t be cowboys. Dylan’s pregnant wife Cassidy starts off excited to soon be a mother, but as the events of the forever purge start to unfold, she begins to worry about bringing a child into this hateful new world. Meanwhile, there’s a bit of romance brewing between Dylan’s younger sister Harper and ranch hand T.T.—there’s even a cheesy meet-cute moment as the group is raiding a gas station for supplies, where T.T. finds a jar of peanut butter just as Harper discovers a jar of jelly. It is interesting to see people of these two different cultures learn to bond, adapt, and work together in order to survive.

Universal’s Blu-ray presentation is top notch. The picture looks pristine, not only during the daytime sequences on the ranch and in the mayhem in the streets, but also during the darker nighttime sequences of the more traditional purge activities. There is an excellent level of detail in faces and textures, really bringing out the creepiness of some of these purge costumes. Right from the start, the film’s soundtrack provides a fully-immersive, rich sound. As Adela and Juan make their way to the underground tunnel out of Mexico, the viewer is surrounded by the sounds of a blustering wind, and the rumbling and rattling of the shack covering the tunnel. And in another scene, the viewer is bombarded in every direction with the sounds of various news reports about the purge. Throughout the film, the Dolby Atmos track sounds amazing, whether it’s the constant sound of gunfire in the distance, or some immediate threat trying to get at our group of survivors, the viewer always feels right in the middle of what’s happening on screen. The track makes excellent use of the subwoofer and all channels to amp of the tension and immerse the viewer in the action.

The Blu-ray and DVD discs come packed in a standard HD keepcase with a carboard slipcover, and the case includes a slip with redemption instructions for an HD Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film, plus a bonus Universal All-Access Rewards points code that can be used for a free digital movie or towards other rewards. The release contains about 13 minutes of bonus material, including an alternate opening (in storyboard format), a deleted scene, and 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and filmmakers.



What’s Included:

Film: (1:43:30)

    Blu-ray:

    • 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
    • Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service), Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

    DVD:

    • 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
    • Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service), Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

    Digital (code may not be valid after 9/30/2022):

    • HD digital copy redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu
    • Universal All-Access Rewards Code (Offer may not be valid after 12/31/2025)
      Code can be redeemed for points towards a free digital movie or other items in the Universal All-Access Rewards program. The selection of five free digital titles usually changes around the first of the month.

Extras:
All the same bonus material can be found on the Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy. Play All, or select from:

  • Alternate Opening — Storyboard Sequence (1:40)
    Presented in animated storyboard format, this alternate opening sequence gives a different origin story for Adela and Juan. The U.S. Army secretly invades Mexico to attempt to gun down some top targets, but they manage to escape through a hole in the floor, and make their way across the desert into the U.S.
  • Deleted Scene (1:36)
    Kirk, T.T. and Juan crack jokes about Americans while wrangling cattle at the ranch.
  • Collapsing the System: Behind The Forever Purge (8:00)
    The cast and filmmakers discuss the premise of the film, shooting scenes in Spanish, working with Mexican director Everardo Gout, working with the horses, the stunts and effects, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producers Jason Blum & Sébastien K. Lemercier, costume designer Leah Butler, co-VFX supervisor Joshua LaCross, head wrangler Bobby Lovgren, stuntman Dan Mast (“Thing 2”), special effects coordinator Zak Knight, first assistant director James Moran, and stars Ana de la Reguera (“Adela”), Leven Rambin (“Harper Tucker”), Tenoch Huerta (“Juan”), Cassidy Freeman (“Cassie Tucker”), Sammi Rotibi (“Darius Bryant”) & Alejandro Edda (“T.T.”).
  • Creeptastic Wardrobe (2:06)
    Costume designer Leah Butler talks about some of the new and unique looks for this latest (and first daytime) installment of the Purge movie franchise. Includes behind-the-scenes footage.
  • Theatrical Trailer (2:30)

 


Final Thoughts:

My Rating
Film:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Recommended

The Forever Purge is a throoughly-entertaining new chapter for the Purge franchise, taking the violence into the daytime for the first time, and moving the story in an exciting new and more grounded direction. This may be my all-time favorite horror franchise, and I’m happy to see that the filmmakers continue to find new and creative ways to expand the story. I am really interested to see, if there is another film, how they continue the story from where this film leaves things. Universal’s Blu-ray presentation looks and sounds amazing, though only includes a very small selection of bonus material. This release is a must own for any fan of the franchise, but also an easy recommendation for any horror fan looking for a well-made thriller with some interesting and thought-provoking ideas, and well-developed characters and relationships. This is definitely one of my favorite installments of the Purge franchise yet.




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