RED HEAT (1988) (Lionsgate 4K UHD Review)

RED HEAT (1988)

Label: Lionsgate
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 104 Minutes
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: HDR, Dolby Vision, 2160p UltraHD & 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Walter Hill
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Belushi, Peter Boyle, Ed O’Ross, Laurence Fishburne, Gina Gershon, Brion James       

Walter Hill's East meets West buddy-cop actioner Red Heat (1988) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi has never been a film that got me particularly excited. It's always been a fairly lukewarm buddy-cop film that paled in comparison to Walter Hill's earlier and more superior 48 Hours (1982).

The story involves a stereotypically
emotionless Russian cop named Ivan Danko (Schwarzenegger, Terminator) who has been assigned by his superiors to travel to Chicago and apprehend notorious Russian drug-kingpin Viktor Rostavili (Ed O'Ross, The Hidden) who killed Danko's partner and then fled to the United States. Arriving in Chicago Danko is partnered-up with a loud-mouthed Chicago cop named Art Ridzik (James Belushi, Thief). The pair begin tracking the drug-kingpin while trading insults, it's the usual buddy-cop sorta thing filtered through the then current East meets West Glasnost cultural exchange, and it's a decent enough watch, but it's no great shakes either, and not anywhere near the top of the list of my favorite films from either star Schwarzenegger or director Walter Hill. 

i think my lack of enthusiasm for this really comes down to three things: First, the film is very by-the-numbers and doesn't offer anything new to the buddy-cop genre. Second, there's zero chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Belushi, I think Arnold is a solid communist straight-man here but Belushi blow-hard cop is just obnoxious to the point of distraction. Three, and closely related to the former, I have never found James Belushi funny in any way whatsoever in any film. He has always been the not-as-funny younger brother of the legendarily hilarious John Belushi (Neighbors), and that's probably an unfair comparison it's how I feel about the guy, he's just not a funny, what he seems to think is comic timing and delivery is just being loud and obnoxious, but it's so tiresome.

Audio/Video: Red Heat (1988) arrives on 4K UltraHD+Blu-ray+Digital combo from Lionsgate framed in 2160p and 1080p HD framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen. There's no information about this being a new scan or what the source is but it looks very good, an impressive upgrade over the previous Blu-ray from Lionsgate. The new HDR and Dolby Vision color-grading offers a few dramatic differences over the past edition, colors are slightly warmer and more saturated, the blacks are deeper with more defined shadow detail, and white are noticeably brighter. The source elements are in great shape, I didn't notice any blemishes along the way, and there's a thin sheen of film grain throughout that looks natural. With that said I don't think that this presentation is gonna be a stunner of a 4K UHD, there's a lot of filtered lensing and scenes hazy with smoke and steam that sap the image of crispness in certain scenes, but in others there's impressive depth and clarity previously unseen on past home video releases. The screenshots in this review are sourced from the accompanying Blu-ray, not the UHD.

Audio on both discs comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. This is likely the same 5.1 that accompanied the previous Blu-ray release, no Atmos upgrade for this buddy-cop film. However, the existing 5.1 is decent with good use of the surrounds, dialogue is crisp and clean and the very 80's core from James Horner (Deadly Blessing) has some nice life in the mix. 

Onto the extras we get the archival stuff from the previous Blu-ray release plus a pair of new ones, though the new stuff is mostly fluff, including a 15-min Schwarzenegger
career retrospective/appreciation featuring Edward Pressman and Peter Hyams among others discussing working with the star, but no appearance from the star. There's also a 10-min discussion with Dave Saunders, author of 'Arnold Schwarzenegger And The Movies' who attempts to place some unnecessary political context onto the film. 

The 2-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray release arrives in a black eco-cutout keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork. Inside you will find the discs and a digital HD copy of the film. The accompanying Blu-ray represents the new transfer and not just Lionsgate repackaging the previous release, which I always appreciate. 

Special Features (UHD and Blu-ray): 
- Arnold Schwarzenegger – The Man Who Raised Hollywood (15 min) 
- Political Context of Red Heat (10 min) 
- East Meets West (10 min) 
- A Stunt Man for All Seasons (12 min) 
- I’m Not Russian, But I Play One on TV (5 min) 
- Making of Red Heat (18 min) 
- Original Trailer (2 min) 

Red Heat (1988) might struggle to impress as an 80's buddy-cop film but with Walter Hill in the director's seat it's a well made film with some good suspense and exciting action set-pieces including terrific game of chicken between a pair of passenger buses that culminates with a train crash and some gunplay, so it's at least entertaining. The film also has a great supporting cast that includes Peter Boyle (Where The Buffalo Roam) and Laurence 'Larry' Fishburne (The Matrix) as Chicago cops and sexy Gina Gershon (Bound) as Rostavili's American wife, plus Ed O'Ross is terrific as the villainous baddie, and Brion James (Red Scorpion) shows up for a brief scene as a scumbag. The new 4K UltraHD is a solid upgrade with over an hour's worth of extras, definitely worth picking up for the right price, and it's currently under $20 on amazon right now. 

BOUND (1996) (Olive Signature Blu-ray Review)

BOUND (1996)

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: R/Unrated
Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English 2.0 DTS_HD MA Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: The Wachowskis
Cast: Christopher Meloni, Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan

Before they hit the mega-big-time with sci-fi game-changer The Matrix (1999) writer/directors The Wachowskis made this little gem of a film, a neo-noir thriller with a lesbian tinge that dazzled me when it arrived in the cinema in the mid-90s and still manages to thrill me today. The woman-on-woman crime caper stars Gina Gershon (Showgirls) as Corky, an ex-con who takes a job doing some paint and plumbing in an apartment, which is where she meets the curvaceous sex-pot Violet (Jennifer Tilly, Bride of Chucky) who lives right next door with her mob-connected boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano, The Sopranos).

The women strike up a torrid affair that set my early-20s libido on fire when I caught in the cinema, before you know it the pair are lustfully entangled right under the nose of the unhinged - but painfully dimwitted - Caesar, plotting to lift two-million dollars in blood-stained cash that the mob money launderer has hidden away at his place. Should the plan go perfectly it will pit the money launderer against his nemesis, an even more unhinged mob bosses son (played with demented delight by Christopher Meloni from Law and Order: SVU), but like most of the best laid plans it doesn't go off without it's share of danger and violence, as the par seem to have under estimated just how unhinged Violet's man can be. 

The coupling of Tilly and Gershon is sexual perfection, with Tilly's sultry voice and Gershon's seductive lip-curl they are sexual dynamite, their sex scenes are way steamy, even more so on the unrated cut which is included on the disc, in addition to the R-rated version. The story is a deep-dive into Noir visuals with high-contrast cinematography (from Bill Pop of The Matrix trilogy) and striking shadow play, plus we have a cool cast of crime character including John P. Ryan (It's Alive) as one of the mobsters associated with Caesar. It all adds up to a whiz-bang of a debut film from The Wachowskis that has all the style and visual artistry they displayed in their next film, this one holds-up, if you haven't checked it out do yourself a favor, I think you'll be pleased you did.  

Audio/Video: Bound (1996) arrives on Blu-ray for as second time from distributor Olive Films, this time as part of the too-long dormant  Olive Signature collection, touted as a new "HD digital restoration", I am assuming from the same previous master with some restorative tweaking. Things here look good, grain is nicely managed, it's less soft that the previous 2012 release, colors look more saturated and dense with improved contrast. 

Audio comes by way of a robust 2.0 DTS-HD MA stereo track with optional English subtitles. Dialogue  crisp and clean with some nice oomph to it when called upon, the Don Davis (The Matrix Trilogy) sound great in the mix, as do the songs from Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Hail Marys and crooner Tom Jones. 

Looking at extras it looks like Olive licensed the audio commentary with writers/directors The Wachowskis; actors Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon; film editor Zach Staenberg; and technical consultant Susie Brightand from Arrow Video, the track is filled to the brim with technical and anecdotal info. 

Olive also carried-over some of the Arrow extras, beginning with the 10-min “Here’s Johnny!” interview with Christopher Meloni, the 27-min “Femme Fatales” with stars Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly and the 29-min “Modern Noir: The Sights & Sounds of Bound” with cinematographer Bill Pope, editor Zach Staenberg, and composer Don Davis, all of it great stuff. Olive also bring new extras to the table by way of the 7-min “Part and Parcel” with titles designer Patti Podesta, plus a 18-min discussion with academics Ruby Rich and Jen Moorman who speak about noir and the neo-noir movement in relation to Bound. The only extra not carried over from the UK release from Arrow is an interview with Joe Pantoliano, but it is erroneously listed on the slipcover and wrap sent our way for review. 

The single-disc release comes housed in a clear BLu-ray keepcase with 2-sided war, the reverse side featuring images from the film, it also includes a matte finish slipcover plus an 8=page booklet with writing on the film from Guinevere Turner, which is also available as a text-only extra on the disc.

Special Features: 
- New High-Definition Digital Restoration
- Audio commentary with writers/directors The Wachowskis; actors Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon; film editor Zach Staenberg; and technical consultant Susie Bright
- NEW! “Part and Parcel” – with titles designer Patti Podesta (7 min) HD
- NEW “The Difference Between You and Me” – with B. Ruby Rich and Jen Moorman (18 min) HD 
- “Here’s Johnny!” – with Christopher Meloni (10 min) HD 
- “Femme Fatales” – with Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly (27 min) HD 
- “Modern Noir: The Sights & Sounds of Bound” – with cinematographer Bill Pope, editor Zach Staenberg, and composer Don Davis (29 min) HHD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 
- 8-Page Booklet with Essay by Guinevere Turner

Bound (1996) is a seductive and compelling slice on 90's neo-noir, a stylish film loaded with crime, violence and lesbian-tinged thrills. The new Olive Signature Blu-ray is the best the film has looked on home video and loaded with archival and new extras that pack in the value, plus it has some nice shelf appeal.