VIGILANTE (1983)
2-Disc Limited Edition 4K UltraHD + Blu-ray
Label: Blue Underground
Rating: Unrated
Region Code: Region-FREE
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (2.40);1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos; English: 5.1 DTS-HD; English: 2.0 DTS-HD; Français, Italiano, Deutsch: Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional Subtitles English SDH, Français, Español, Português Director: William Lustig
Cast: Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, Carol Lynley, Woody Strode, Joe Spinell, Willie Colon
New York City factory machinist Eddie Marino (Robert Forster, Alligator) is a solid citizen and regular working stiff. He works hard and loves his wife Vicki (Rutanya Alda, Amityville II: The Possession) and their young son Scott (Dante Joseph). One day while out and about Vicki defends a gas station attendant from an attack by street gang leader Rico (Salsa legend Willie Colón, The Last Fight), slapping him across the face, but before he can retaliate the altercation is cut short when a cop car cruises by.
In retaliation Rico and his gang follow Vicki and her son home, breaking into the house and brutally assault her. A gang member named Prago (Don Blakely, Shaft's Big Score) cold-bloodily blows the toddler's head off with a shotgun blast as he attempts to hide in the bathtub. In the aftermath Vicki is hospitalized and refuses to see Eddie, but he works with the assistant district attorney (Carol Lynley, The Poseidon Adventure) to bring the street gang leader to trial for murder. In court Rico's sleazeball lawyer, played to seedy perfection by Joe Spinell (Maniac), manages to get the lowlife off with only a slap on the wrist, thanks to the corrupt judge (Vincent Peck, Firepower). Enraged by the sham verdict Eddie lunges at Rico and then at the crooked judge, and in an ironic twist it is he that ends up being sent to prison for a thirty day stint for contempt of court. The not so street smart Eddie only just barely manages to survive his month long incarceration, and only then with the help of an older black inmate named Rake (Woody Strode, Spartacus) who steps in to protect him, saving him from being gang-raped in the shower.
Once freed from prison Eddie wastes little time teaming-up with an associate of his who is a known neighborhood vigilante, Nick (bad-ass Fred Williamson, From Dusk Till Dawn), whom throughout the film we have seen cleaning up the streets and avenging corrupt-verdicts with his like-minded partners Quinn (Henry Judd Baker, The Money Pit) and Burke (Richard Bright, Murray from The Ref!), who are not against breaking a few laws and skulls to clean-up the neighborhood. Together they partner up and raise Hell on the gang members responsible for the death of his son, culminating with a action-packed car chase through a neighborhood and showdown at a construction site, which brought to mind the conclusion of Cleopatra Jones (1973).
William Lustig's Vigilante (1983) is a hard-hitting slice of exploitation that has a great lead role from Forster who sells the simple man turned vigilante after a horrific loss goes unpunished by the criminal justice system. Opposite of that you have bad-add Fred Williams being a bad-ass vigilante, not a lot of depth but he does seem to register a modicum of regret when he is forced to gun down a woman who pulls gun. Add to that the super-sleazy turns from Don Blakely as Willie Colón heartless baddies, Joe Spinell a slimy defense attorney and you have got all the fixings for a raw and for a bad-ass vigilante flick.
The flick is well directed by William Lustig (Maniac Cop), the story is not too deep, but it gets the job done, coming off as a more visceral and blue-collar version of Death Wish (1974) but not as grisly or exploitative as something like The Exterminator (1980), but it is still plenty seedy and has some great early-eighties NYC imagery, back when it was a hot zone for crime and corruption. Lustig has always had an eye for the darker side of The Big Apple and he captures all of it's grittiness thanks in no small part to cinematographer James Lemmo (Madman, Ms. 45), plus we get a fantastic score from composer Jay Chattaway (Maniac Cop 2) who adds a western
tinge to the synth driven score.
tinge to the synth driven score.
Audio/Video: Vigilante (1983) arrives on 4K UHD from Blue Underground in 2160p UHD and framed in 2.40:1 widescreen. Once more Blue Underground give us a stunner of a 4K presentation, we get a brand new restoration scanned in 4K 16-bit from the original 35mm camera negative, the grain level throughout is velvety looking and filmic with fantastic fine detail visible in close-ups and textures. the city has rarely looked grittier, only to be outdone by Lustig's previous film Maniac. The Dolby Vision HDR color-grading gives us impressively deep blacks that enhance depth and and contrast, and the primaries have increased color depth that even the accompanying Blu-ray, as technically strong as it is, cannot compete with. Vigilante's urban dinginess has never looked better on home video, Blue Underground continue to impress with their UHD offerings.
Audio comes by way of English Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0 and French, Italian, German Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The Atmos track is well-balanced, and rich with depth with the more action-packed sequences spring to life with sharp punctuation, and the Jay Chattaway score sounds great. Likewise the DTS-HD MA 2.0 is solid with excellent dialogue reproduction and there are no issues with hiss or distortion, a fantastic audio presentation on both fronts.
Extras begin with a pair of archival audio commentaries, the first with co-producer/director William Lustig and co-producer Andrew Garroni, the second with co-producer/director William Lustig and actors Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Frank Pesce. We also get a brand new commentary from Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson who team-up for an informative track with the pair getting into where this entry fits in the vigilante/revenger film cycle of the early eighties films, the look and feel of the film, the locations, and the cast and crew.
We also get two brand new featurettes; the 25-minute 'Blue Collar Death Wish' with interviews from writer Richard Vetere, star Rutanya Alda, associate producer/First A.D./Actor Randy Jurgensen among others, all of whom get into the genesis of the film and what inspired it, the grittiness of NYC at the time, what it was like shooting a low-budget vigilante film.
We also get a 26-minute interview with composter Jay Chattaway (Maniac Cop) who gives an overview of his early career and how he ended up scoring films, beginning with the film Firepower and getting into how he came to score for William Lustig. Sadly we do not get a CD soundtrack on this limited edition release, this is because because the original masters which were held by the now defunct Fania Records are lost, this is addressed in the interview with Chattaway on the disc. The extras are buttoned up with a promo reel, trailers, TV spots, radio spots and galleries containing behind-the-scenes images, promo shots, lobby cards, posters, home video releases and more.
The 2-disc Blu-ray+UHD release arrives in a Criterion-style Scanovo clear keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the vintage poster artwork as well as what looks to be a new illustration. I like that each artwork option offers a different spine logo as well. The discs inside feature key artwork from the new illustration, plus we get a cool-looking holographic lenticular slipcover featuring the new artwork. Inside there's a 20-page illustrated collector's booklet with new writing on the film by Michael Gingold that gets into the production history, the myriad of inspiration that inspired the story, the true-life crime in New York City at the time, the movie's reception as well as the problematic distribution history of the flick. The booklet also contains cast and crew credits, chapter selections, and a brief tribute to the late Robert Forster.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary 1 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and Co-Producer Andrew Garroni
- Audio Commentary 2 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and Stars Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Frank Pesce
- NEW! Audio Commentary #3 with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
- NEW! Blue Collar DEATH WISH – Interviews with Writer Richard Vetere, Star Rutanya Alda, Associate Producer/First A.D./Actor Randy Jurgensen, and others (25 min)
- NEW! Urban Western - Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway (26 min)
- U.S. Trailer (4K Restoration) (2 min)
- Radio Spot (1 min)
- Promotional Reel (4 min)
- Still Gallery (4 min)
- Audio Commentary 1 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and Co-Producer Andrew Garroni
- Audio Commentary 2 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and Stars Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Frank Pesce
- NEW! Audio Commentary #3 with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
- NEW! Blue Collar DEATH WISH – Interviews with Writer Richard Vetere, Star Rutanya Alda, Associate Producer/First A.D./Actor Randy Jurgensen, and others (25 min)
- NEW! Urban Western - Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway (26 min)
- U.S. Trailer (4K Restoration) (2 min)
- International Trailer (2 min)
- British Trailer One (2 min)
- British Trailer Two (2 min)
- German Trailer (2 min)
- Italian Trailer (3 min)
- French Trailer (2 min)
- TV Spots (2 min) - Radio Spot (1 min)
- Promotional Reel (4 min)
- Still Gallery (4 min)
- Poster and Still Gallery 2
- BONUS! 20-Page Collectible Booklet with new essay by Michael Gingold
Vigilante (1983) looks fantastic on 4K UltraHD, more so than I had imagined possible, but I should have known better, Blue Underground's UHD catalog has top-notch without exception. This urban avenger flick is solidly entertaining from start to finish, from the gritty visuals to the unsavory violence, it's a bad-ass watch, and this is an ass-kicking package.
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
Extras:
