If you’ve never seen F. Gary Gray’s Law Abiding Citizen, then stop reading this right now, go find a copy (this new snazzy steelbook is now available), and sit down and watch it (preferably the unrated cut as it has more footage and, while it doesn’t drastically change anything, it makes the film feel a little tighter all around).
Before we go any further, this is going full-blown spoiler territory as this is the film’s second 4K release and it’s a 16-year-old movie.
L-R: Jamie Foxx as Nick Rice and Gerard Butler as Clyde Alexander Shelton in LAW ABIDING CITIZEN. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Law Abiding Citizen (truly a wonderfully creative title, not sarcastic) focuses on Nick (Jamie Foxx), a Philly DA who’s focused on getting the win — even if that is hardly what justice stands for. He focuses on getting Clyde’s (Gerard Butler) family’s killers sentenced and agrees to a plea where one of them gets the death penalty while the other, in exchange for testimony, gets a murder conviction. Clyde is absolutely disgusted by this offer but, as he is a law-abiding citizen and not a lawyer, he doesn’t have much say in the matter. While Clyde demands to know the reasoning behind the deal, he gets a vague answer essentially stating that without the testimony, there’s a chance they lose as Clyde was knocked out and there are no other witnesses. Clyde plans for the next 10 years on how to exact his revenge and manages to do so in a way that would make Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) giddy with excitement. He targets everyone who was involved with the case, his first victim being the man who was sentenced to death for his family’s murder. Clyde gets caught and put in prison. However, this doesn’t stop him from carrying out his traps and murderous plots, creating a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that causes even the DA to be unable to figure out how Clyde is enacting all these crimes from his cell.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN 4K UHD steelbook exterior. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
F. Gary Gray (Friday, The Negotiator, The Italian Job (2003)) is certainly no stranger to making tense action thrillers and he struck gold again with Law Abiding Citizen. Even though the script penned by Kurt Wimmer (The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Equilibrium, The Recruit) has some plot holes in it and has a sense of whimsy which is needed to get the plot conveyed and executed to make it believable, any logical issues present in the film are outweighed by the passion that Butler conveys in wanting to get Clyde’s version of justice. He is fueled by sheer drive and passion and that is a tangible experience everyone can experience.
L-R: Gerard Butler as Clyde Alexander Shelton and Jamie Foxx as Nick Rice in LAW ABIDING CITIZEN. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Foxx (Collateral) and Butler (Gamer) are undeniably fantastic and have incredible chemistry with one another playing the anti-hero and antagonist. However, they’re also placed along side Colm Meaney (Re-Creation) as Detective Dunnigan, Nick’s partner; Leslie Bibb (Juror #2) as Sarah Lowell, who’s Nick’s prosecuting partner; Regina Hall (Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.) as Nick’s wife Kelly; and Viola Davis (The Woman King) as the mayor. The entire cast is exceptional.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN 4K UHD steelbook interior. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Law Abiding Citizen got a standard 4K release in 2018 and people were hoping for something a little more with that release as the HDR10 left a little to be desired and the features were directly lifted from the previous Blu-ray, but throughout the past seven years, it’s been on sale enough and had enough copies that if you’re a fan of the film, you certainly already own it on 4K already. So, what does this new steelbook have to offer to entice audiences to repurchase a 7-year-old 4K release of a 16-year-old movie? There is no new transfer, there are no new features. The only new addition here is it now comes with Dolby Vision which makes the picture look a little better than the previous 4K release. It’s certainly not night and day by any means, but it is an improved picture. Is this enough to entice an audience to buy a 4K again? That’s up to the individual. It is a really nice steelbook with a PET cover that is arguably better than the similarly styled slipcover of the first 4K which is nearly impossible to find today. In reality, the differences between the original 4K release and the new steelbook release are minimal. At the end of the day, if you don’t own Law Abiding Citizen yet, this is the definitive version to own as it has both cuts of then movie, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, but if this would be a repurchase, Dolby Vision alone may not be enough to entice the price tag.
Law Abiding Citizen Special Features:
- The Justice of Law Abiding Citizen
- Law in Black and White: Behind the Scenes
- Preliminary Arguments: The Visual Effects of Law Abiding Citizen
- The Verdict: Winning Trailer Mash-Up
- Theatrical Trailer
- Audio Commentary with Producers Lucas Foster and Alan Siegel (Blu-Ray only)
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray Combo Steelbook May 20th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Lionsgate Law Abiding Citizen webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Recommendation
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