Blu-ray Review: YOUNGBLOOD

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Apr 23 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Dean Youngblood (Ashton James, Boxcutter) is an 18-year-old from Detroit with a promising future as a professional hockey player. After he and his brother Kelly (Emidio Lopes) lost their mother at an early age, their father Blane (Blair Underwood, L.A. Law) put all his efforts into coaching the boys and toughening them up. But his father’s code has had a lasting effect on Dean, and recently, a racial incident caused him start a fight and get suspended, missing most of the hockey season. With his suspension coming to an end, Dean’s only opportunity is to join the Canadian Hamilton Mustangs. While GM Lucas Turco (Joris Jarsky) likes Youngblood, Coach Murray Chadwick (Shawn Doyle, Star Trek: Discovery) isn’t completely sold. Youngblood has a bit of a temper and an “everyone’s out to get me” attitude that is prone to starting fights. He’s also not the best when it comes to teamwork, often hogging the puck in practice.

Youngblood quickly becomes friends with most of the other members on his team, including captain Denis Sutton (Henri Richer-Picard, The Dishwasher). And he hits it off with the coach’s daughter, Jessie (Alexandra McDonald). He learns to play better as a teammate, but still has a short fuse. When the coach doesn’t give Dean a shift in his first game, that old familiar “everyone’s out to get me” feeling comes back. It doesn’t help that Dean’s overbearing father also tells his son that he has himself to blame for not getting played. If Dean can he learn to keep his emotions in check and let the harassment from the other players roll off his back, he could truly be great. And with the playoff coming up, he’s going to be tested to see if he can make the mature choice.

Youngblood is a 2025 Canadian remake of the 1986 film of the same name starring Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. A large part of the premise of the original film was that farm boy Dean Youngblood needed to learn to toughen up and fight to play hockey in the big leagues. However, in this version it’s a bit of the opposite. From a young age, Dean’s father has been toughening him up, especially after the loss of his mother. His father wanted his son to know that life is unfair and that you need to fight for what you want. Though this constant grinding from his father has left Dean with this toxic “everyone is out to get me” complex. He’s quick to let things set him off, and quick to start a fight. While fighting is part of hockey, Dean also needs to learn when its not so important to do so. The players on the other teams know that Dean is easy to anger, and know what buttons to push. This attitude puts Dean at odds with his coach, who is the one who controls his future. Dean already has the shooting and scoring skills to excel at professional hockey, he just needs to learn some maturity, and this team may just be the answer.

I have never seen the original 1986 version of Youngblood, so I can’t really make many specific comparisons or talk about differences in quality. Though I must say that from clips, the characters here have much more natural French Canadian accents than Keanu Reeves. This version seems to focus more on Dean’s story and breaking the cycle of toxic masculinity being passed down between generations. From a young age Dean’s father has been encouraging him to always show his strength and anger as a way to prove himself as a Black man in a predominantly white sport. But Dean has the scoring skills to back up his talent, and never really needed to be such an aggressive enforcer. His father has indoctrinated him with this paranoia and chip on his shoulder. But now, being away from home and with his supportive new team, he can learn to put that in the past, mature and become not only a better player but also a better person.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting and entertaining movie, but Dean’s constant fight scenes felt a bit excessive. It seems like the team would have just gotten rid of Youngblood early on when he’s starting fights instead of playing the hockey they signed him on for. I do appreciate the ultimate journey we see his character go on, and there are exciting hockey sequences throughout the movie. Though sometimes they feel a bit secondary. I’d be curious to see the original version and how it compares.

Well Go has released Youngblood on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review. The release features a solid, clean picture that looks great throughout. The audio track is also impressive, providing clear dialogue and a thoroughly immersive audio track, which is especially noticeable with the roar of the crowd during thr hockey sequences.

The Blu-ray release contains a single Blu-ray disc, which is packed in a standard HD keepcase. Our copy did not include a slipcover, and the release does not contains a digital copy. The only bonus material is a 4-minute featurette with the the director and cast, along with the film’s trailer and trailers for three other Well Go releases.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:44:19)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

Behind the Scenes (4:02)
The director and cast talk about the premise of the film, why they wanted to be a part of it, how the reimagining differs from the original film, and what they want viewers to take away from the experience. Includes some behind-the-scenes photos, and interviews with director Hubert Davis, and stars Ashton James (“Dean Youngblood”), Blair Underwood (“Blane Youngblood”), Henri Picard (“Denis Sutton”), and Shawn Doyle (“Coach Chadwick”).
Trailer (2:07)
Previews
Select from trailers for:
- Altered (2:06)
- You Gotta Believe (2:21)
- Greater (2:31)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Youngblood is a different take on the original 1986 film, flipping the script and instead of trying to toughen up the main character, it’s the main character trying to move away from the toxic masculinity that’s been engrained in him since he was a child. Overall, it is an interesting new take, with some exciting hockey sequences. Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great but only includes one short 4-minute behind the scenes featurette for bonus material.