They’re back, and they’re balder than ever! Noted chrome-domes Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis pair for 2019’s direct-to-video thriller 10 Minutes Gone.

Crime boss Rex (Willis) brings on a team led by Frank (Chiklis) to purloin a collection of valuable jewels. However, this robbery goes awry, mainly because an unknown party alerts the police in advance.

Because he gets a severe bop to the noggin, Frank loses 10 minutes of memory related to the job. He needs to recover those observations to discover the identity of the rat and stay ahead of other threats.

At its heart, Gone wants to offer a modern-day spin on 1940s film noir crime thrillers. Unfortunately, it provides almost literally nothing to make this conceit work.

And by “almost literally nothing”, I can’t find a single positive element related to this film. Okay, maybe the plot comes with some basic potential, but as executed for the screen, everything about Gone fails.

Willis and Chiklis bring some star power, but neither bothers to break a sweat here. Actually, Willis spends little time on screen, so this feels like a paycheck movie that only required him to work for a day or two.

As the lead, Chiklis dominates, but he never really attempts to do much with the part. He sputters and blusters his way through the cheap tough guy dialogue and fails to find anything in his role.

Not that I can blame Chiklis too much, as he finds himself stuck with such a terrible script. Gone leaves no crime flick clichés unturned, and it doesn’t generate any life or creativity.

Any viewer over the age of 12 will have seen all this material before – and seen it done much better. Toss in a “revelatory twist” that becomes obvious 10 minutes into the movie and you’ll find no surprises or drama here.

Director Brian A. Miller tries desperately to develop thrills here, and he succeeds – in looking desperate, that is. With a slew of trite cinematic techniques on display, Miller demonstrates no confidence in himself or the material, as he relies on strident methods to attempt excitement.

As such, we find a camera that spins, spins, and spins some more. No matter what the scenario, that camera just won’t sit still, and this feels like a lame attempt to convey movement and vivacity.

In the same vein, composer Josh Atchley’s score becomes a constant companion – and an irritating one. The strident music practically begs us to feel various emotions, but it flops, as it just seems tiresome.

The lack of filmmaker confidence really remains the issue, as Gone seems to possess no faith that it can entertain on a basic level. Instead, it forces overwrought cinematic methods on us that seem more likely to cause migraines than entertainment.

10 Minutes Gone appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. I found an attractive transfer here.

Sharpness seemed fine. Only mild instances of softness materialized in a few interiors, so I viewed most of the film as a tight, distinctive image.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects occurred, and I witnessed no edge haloes. Print flaws failed to mar the presentation.

In terms of colors, Gone went with a teal feel accompanied by plenty of orange/amber. This was expected from a modern thriller, so it’s unoriginal but typical of the genre circa 2019. The hues worked fine within those limitations.

Blacks seemed deep enough, and shadows showed good smoothness. I felt pleased by this well-rendered image.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack fit the material. It used all the channels to give us music, and appropriate effects cropped up around the spectrum in a convincing manner.

Those elements meshed together in a concise way and helped give us a vivid sense of places and events. When the track used the surrounds and sides in a lively way – mainly via gunfire and a few explosions - it did so well.

Audio quality satisfied. Music was bright and bold, while speech came across as natural and distinctive.

Effects seemed accurate and dynamic, with clean highs and deep lows. The track worked fine for the material.

Minor extras flesh out the disc, and we find a featurette called The Making of 10 Minutes Gone. It fills seven minutes, 19 seconds with notes from director Brian A. Miller and actors Michael Chiklis, Kyle Schmid, Swen Temmel and Meadow Williams.

“Making” looks at story, characters, cast and performances, and Miller’s impact on the shoot. This reel gives us basic promo fluff.

A collection of Cast/Crew Interviews ensues. We get segments with Miller (3:13), Chiklis (5:44), Williams (9:32), Temmel (3:45) and Schmid (6:27).

In these interviews, the director and actors discuss the same topics from “Making”, and the comments come from the same sessions. That means that if you watch the interviews, you don’t need to bother with the redundant “Making”.

Though we find expanded comments, we still don’t learn a ton about the movie. The interviews lean toward puffery and remain superficial.

The disc opens with ads for Escape Plan: The Extractors, Tracker, Killers Anonymous and Reprisal. We also find a trailer for Gone.

No one expects much from cheap direct-to-video thrillers, but 10 Minutes Gone can’t even live up to those reduced hopes. The movie fails on all possible levels. The Blu-ray brings good picture and audio along with superficial bonus materials. This becomes a bad film.