RICHARD PRYOR: HERE AND NOW (1983)
Label: Sony
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 94 Minutes 44 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1:85:1)
Director: Richard Pryor
Cast: Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor...Here and Now (1983) is the third concert film from stand-up legend Pryor, doing his thing on Bourbon Street in the Big Easy, opening with fanfare and appreciations from fans, a behind-the-scenes peak behind the curtain before the curtains go up, the comedy legend says he's seven months sober, and he does appear to be a different man than he was in Live on the Sunset Strip, still at the top of his game, a commanding presence, comes off as raw and off the cuff, charismatic as ever, and doing quite a bit of crowd work, effortlessly interacting with the rowdy crowd throughout the entire performance, even accepting a live crab which he incorporates into the set, and when an audience member shouts out about Pryor's mother he threatens to slap him in the face with his dick! Throughout he slips in and out of characters, including "Mudbone" telling a riotous story about crabs and low-hanging testicles, and a poignant turn as someone shooting heroin in the street and nodding off, talking about how drugs are not truly an epidemic until it effects white people, and making some patented non-PC observations about sex, big-dick encounters at the urinal, the funny sounds you make when you're drunk, marriage and divorce, and more personal tales about his trip to Zimbabwe where he witnessed lions in their natural habitat, meeting President Ronald Reagan at the White House, and so much more. It's a classic stand-up routine, perhaps not my personal favorite, but any Pryor stand-up is typically superior to 99.9% of any other stand-up, so it's still friggin' comedy gold!
Audio/Video: The concert film arrives on region-free 4k Ultra HD from Sony, presented in 2160p Ultra HD with Dolby Vision color-grade, so how's it look? Better than ever, with some caveats. I've always understood this to have been shot on video from various angles, then transferred to film for it's theatrical run. I'm not 100% percent on the accuracy of this belief, but watching the 4K that's plausible. Texture and detail is not a strong suite here, and if it has been shot on film I would expect better resolved fine detail and texture, and it'd just not here. The 4K resolution resolves the film grain just fine, it has a filmic texture, but it cannot enhance textures and detail not present in the video original source. That said the Dolby Vision does good work with the highlights of clothing, particularly the red of Pryor's shirt, and some additional color when the cameras pan the crowd, and the opening fan testimonies of concert goers. Audio comes by way of uncompressed DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles, the tracks sounds terrific, Pryor's routines in nicely balanced with sounds of heckling, cheering and uproarious laughter from the sold out crowd.
The single disc 4K UHD arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork. Inside there is a redemption code for a 4k digital copy of the film. A Slipcover with the same artwork as the wrap accompanies the first-pressing of this release.
Special Features:
- None
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