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. 

CHARLES BRONSON - 4 MOVIE COLLECTION (1972-1975) (Blu-ray Review)

CHARLES BRONSON - 4 MOVIE COLLECTION (1972-1975) 

THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972) / THE STONE KILLER (1973) 

 BREAKOUT (1975) / HARD TIMES (1975)

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A (but possibly Region-Free)
Duration: 351 Minutes 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1,85:1),(2.35:1)
Audio: Uncompressed English PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Directors: Terence Young, Michael Winner, Tom Gries, Walter Hill 
Cast: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Martin Strother, Martin Balsam, Robery Duvall, Jill Ireland

THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972) 

Rating: PG
Duration: 126 Minutes
Audio:  English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Terrence Young 
Cast:  Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Joseph Wiseman, Walter Chiari, Gerald O’Loughlin, Amadeo Nazzari

Truth be told this was my first time watching any of these Bronson films, I have never been one to seek them out and they weren't part of my childhood the way horror and sci-fi films were. The two films I remember of his from my childhood were 10 To Midnight and The White Buffalo, but after seeing the Death Wish sequels as a rearly teen I sort of filed him away in the back of my mind as a past-his-prime tough-guy vigilante actor which just never appealed to me in my youth. In retrospect there's plenty to love about Bronson's later career, even the tough-guy cops stuff, but this four disc set has given me even more of an appreciation for his seventies output.

Directed by 007 director Terence Young (Dr. No, From Russia with Love - two of the BEST!) The Valachi Papers is based on a novel by Peter Maas and purports to tell the real-life story of crime family informant Joseph_Valachi, as played by Bronson. Valachi is a low-level criminal who works his way up through a crime family, the film opens in the 60's in prison where Valachi has been sent following some drug busts, his former boss thinks he's an informant and gives him the "kiss of death", Valachi tries to persuade the boss that he's not the guy who fingered him, but with few alternatives Valachi ironically turns informant to the feds for protection. During his interviews with the fed he relays his story from the 40's on through to the sixties leading up to his incarceration. The film is well done, the period settings are convincing, Bronson is tough-as-nails and the narrative is brutal with many gangland killings, including a gruesome castration sequence. At over two hours in length this one does have some occasional pacing issues, but the story and execution are enthralling. Bronson's wife Jill Ireland shows up as - what else? - his wife, in a typically lackluster performance but even she couldn't tarnish this otherwise engrossing crime story of honor, betrayal and mob justice.

THE STONE KILLER (1973) 

Rating: R
Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio:  English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Michael Winner
Cast: Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Jack Colvin, Paul Koslo, Norman Fell, David Sheiner, Stuart Margolin

The Stone Killer (1973) is the third of six hard-nosed cop thrillers that brought director Michael Winner and Charles Bronson together onscreen. Her we have a New York cop, Lieutenant Lou Torrey (Bronson), who at the start of the film guns down a teen in self defense, but the bad optics lead to a transfer to L.A., almost immediately he gets caught up in some strange mafia happening when a heroin addicted hit man he's transporting is gunned down. The story involves mafia boss Al Vescari (Martin Balsam, The Sentinel) who's hired a group of ex-military assassins to carryout a kill-list having to do with a decades old mafia-hit and his vengeance at those who ordered it. 

This one is fast-paced and intriguing, as the mystery unfolds I was rapt, filming gritty violence and action were Winner's strong suits in life and he was in fine form here, there's a fantastic chase scene of Bronson in a car chasing a culprit on a motorcycle that was a crash-bang-boom good time, and Bronson is in prime silent-but-deadly mode throughout, cracking wise occasionally. There's a lot of colorful mob associated characters here, and be on the lookout for future Three's Company alum Norman Fell (Charley Varrick) and John Ritter (It) as L.A. cops! 

BREAKOUT (1975) 

Rating: PG
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles) 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Tom Gries
Cast: Charles Bronson, Robert DuVall, Randy Quaid, Jill Ireland

Breakout (1975) opens with Harris Wagner (John Huston, The Visitor) framing his grandson Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall) for a crime down in Mexico, the exact reason why he did this wasn't quite clear to me, but nonetheless he's sent to a Mexican prison, making his wife Ann (Jill Ireland, Hard Times) very unhappy. Jill seeks the help of a border town pilot-for-hire named Colton (Charles Bronson, Death Wish 3) and his somewhat dim partner Hawk (Randy Quaid, Christmas Vacation)to fly down to Mexico and rescue him, but she leaves out the fact that it's a prison-break! They arrives to a hail of gunfire and turn tail back to Texas, of course Colton is pissed-off that she didn't inform him they were breaking her husband out of a prison work detail, but drawn in by her charms he's undeterred, offering to try again, this time dressing up his partner Hawk as a woman to break her husband out of prison, but it seems the prison officials were forewarned that a break was about to happen and Hawk is beaten to a pulp by the prison guards. 

While Ann seems oblivious to the fact that someone is tipping off the Mexican authorities Colton latches onto that idea and keeps his next plan a bit closer to the vest, learning to (kind of sort of) fly a helicopter to perform a surgical prison yard extraction, a plan that requires bringing in an old flame named Mirna (Sheree North, Charley Varick) to pose as a rape victim to distract the prison guards! 

A fun and breezy affair this is a somewhat light-hearted prison break romp - rape jokes aside - with a surprisingly gruesome finale out on the runway, a nasty bit of business involving an airplane prop literally obliterating someone - which was surprising for a PG film in addition to the rape humor! This is probably the lightest fare of the bunch on this set, which isn't to say it wasn't entertaining, because it was quite a bit of fun, and it was good to see Bronson playing with humor throughout, not his usual sandbox to play in. It was also interesting to see him and wife Jill Ireland playing against each other, she married to Duvall's character but there's some sexual tension flying between her and Colton, too. 

HARD TIMES (1975)

Rating: PG
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Walter Hill
Cast: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Jill Ireland, Strother Martin

The crown jewel of this Bronson four-pack is Hard Times (1975), set in Depression era New Orleans Walter Hill's directorial debut opens with a train-hopping wanderer named Chaney (Charles Bronson, Master of the World) arriving in The Big Easy. With only six bucks to his name and looking for some quick cash he wanders into a local bare-knuckles brawl-contest where he easily defeats the night's best fighter with one punch, earning him some dough and the eye of local fast-talking promoter Speed (James Coburn, In Like Flint) who quickly aligns himself with the middle-aged brawler. Chaney clears a path through the local fisticuffs champs with the aid of his new manager and an opium-addicted cutman named Poe, played with a lazy Southern charm by Strother Martin (The Brotherhood of Evil). The film follows the trio through a series of fights which Chaney wins handily, developing a reputation around town as a man to be reckoned with. When one Cajun promoter refuses to pay after a win he chases the rightful winners off with a gun, but that night they track him down to his gin joint and Chaney causes a ruckus, a one-man wrecking crew destroying the promoter's henchman and his bar in the process, and definitely getting the money owed to him. 

One of the first contenders to give Chaney some serious fight-back is the local undefeated champ, a bald-headed brawler named Jim Henry (Robert Tessier, Starcrash), but in the end Chaney's smarts outdo the man's brute strength and notorious knuckle-crushing hard-head. With Chaney crowned the new king around town one of the local promoters brings in a fighter from Chicago in hopes of regaining the throne. 

Along the way Chaney befriends and unsuccessfully courts a local hard luck prostitute played by - who else - Jill Ireland, who is fairly innocuous here in a small role that doesn't ask much. Meanwhile, the fast-talking Speed sinks deeper into debt due to a degenerate gambling habit, which the crooked promoter uses to leverage a new title fight. 

Walter Hill's no stranger to making manly movies about tough guys doing tough things, and this is no different, right out of the gate with his first film it bares his trademarks, Bronson is perfectly suited for the role - a quietly cool man with honor and integrity, and when called upon, his brute strength and a tactical mind serve him well with his brawling pursuits, if not so much when it comes to the ladies.  

Audio/Video: These four 70's Charles Bronson film arrive on 2-disc Blu-ray from budget-minded distributor Mill Creek Entertainment, presented in 1080p HD widescreen in the original theatrical exhibition ratios, both The Valachi Papers and The Stone killer get the 1.85:1 framing while Breakout and Hard Times are presented in scope 2.35:1 widescreen. All four films have been licensed from Sony Pictures, and notably, with the exception of Breakout, were issued this past year on Blu-ray from Twilight Time, and as they licensed their releases from Sony as well this is most likely the same transfer, but with two crammed onto a single disc without the benefit of any extras whatsoever. I was a bit worried about compression issues with this one but am pleased to report that these discs looks to be nicely authored and don't suffer any compression I could detect. Audio on all four film comes by way of uncompressed PCM English 2.0, each sounding clean and well balanced, though there are no subtitle options for any of them.  

The 2-disc release comes housed in a standard 2-tray Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, the disc themselves are standard issue for Mill Creek, black with white lettering, no frills and low-cost. I did notice they misspelled James Coburn's name on the back cover, "Cobern", but aside from no trailers that's my only niggle.  

If you're just looking to buy these films without any extras this is a damn fine release, and at the time of this review you can pick it up for $10, which is a steal, previously just buying the three TT titles would have set you back $75 easily, and they weren't exactly dripping with extras aside from one commentary on The Stone Killer and isolated music scores and trailers, but I will say that TT staff writer Julie Kirgo does some great write-ups for the films in the booklets. That said, even trailers would have been appreciated, but if you just want good looking HD versions of the film here you go, $10, done deal! This economical Bronson package comes highly recommended, and I hope to see more classic Bronson on the way soon! 

SUPERNOVA (2000)

SUPERNOVA (2000) 

Label: Scream Factory 

Release Date: January 13th 2015

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p Widescreen (2:35:1)) 

Director: Walter Hill

Cast: Angela Bassett, James Spader, Lou Diamond Philips, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, Robert Forster, Wilson Cruz

Walter Hill directed a science fiction space thriller, damn this sounds like it might be a blast, but before you get your panties damp just keep in mind that Walter Hill abandoned the film after the initial filming when the studio would could not keep their hands off the project. When the studio demanded screen tests and re shoots the director left the project and the film went through he hands of two more directors before being dumped into the cinema at the turn of the century where it died a painful death, a ninety million dollar science fiction flop. Keeping in mind that good taste has never been my strong suite there just might be some fun to be had with this one, I do love a trashy b-movie if we cannot squeeze some enjoyment out of this one. 

Sometime in the 22nd century we have the medical vessel Nightingale patrolling the galaxy when they receive a distress transmission from an abandoned mining colony on the far side of the galaxy on a moon known as Titan 37. They make a hyperspace dimension jump to the location of the beacon only to be unexpectedly caught in the gravitational pull of a dying star. On top of that the captain of the ship (Robert Forster) dies a gristly death when his pod malfunction mid jump, his body fused to the inside of his pod. 

 On top of that they are caught in the gravitational pull of a dying blue sun and just barely escape. The co-pilot (Spader) manages to stabilizes the Nightingale and prevent it from being pulled into the sun but the ship is damaged and the fuel is lost. Their only way out is to make another hyperspace dimension jump but the ship needs fuel, and time to reset the hyper drive and it's only a matter of hours before things are going to get pretty hot on the ship, it's a race against time. 

The film has a decent cast, we have Captain Marley (Robert Forster) for about a minute, co-pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader), medical officer Kaela (Angela Bassett), medical technician Yerzy (Lou Diamond Phillips), rescue paramedic Danika (Robin Tunney), and computer technician Benjamin (Wilson Cruz) plus a survivor from the mining colony, played with some menace by Peter Facinelli.

The plot is pretty threadbare and the script doesn't offer a lot of meat for the actors to chew on, both Spader and Basset do what they can with the material but there's just not much to it. They both come across as intense and brooding but there's not much substance to any of the characters. The survivor from the mining colony is douche nozzle from the beginning and as he transforms he only gets worse. The survivor has brought with him an alien relic composed of ninth dimensional matter which not only has made him stronger but threatens to potentially destroy the entire damn galaxy as it turns out. 

Now the race is on to reset the hyperspace drive and recover fuel from the Titan 37 before the entire ship in is pulled into the giant blue sun, but the crew must also contend  with a killer on board who is killing them off one by one. Not the most original plot but this one should be pretty decent on paper - there's a lot of potential here and for the most part it's just pissed away. 

That ninth dimension thingamajig is affecting some of the crew, too. Mostly Lou Diamond Philips, who is becoming both obsessed and possessed by it's ambiguous sinister power. And let me just say that when Wilson Cruz is supposed to be a bad ass you know something ain't right in Denmark.  When he has to toughen up I just could not buy it on any level, a poor casting choice. Additionally Cruz's character is having a romantic courtship of sorts with the ships on board computer system, affectionately named Sweetie. The A.I, is not the only love interest, we also have an often nude Robin Tunney to distract with the occasional  anti-gravity sex scene, which is appreciated but even her gorgeous naked form cannot save this formless sci-fi flop from it's mediocre fate.

The effects are not too shabby for 2000, some nice use of miniatures and digital artistry make for a few decent shots of spacecraft but the cosmic backdrop is given short shrift in my opinion, this is not the most attractive space odyssey, you just never get a feel for the wonder of space and space travel. 

The film went through all sorts of development weirdness and director Walter Hill removed himself from the project when the studio demanded test screenings and re cuts, afterwards both Jack Sholder was brought in to do re shoots and Francis Ford Coppola was brought in to re-cut it, with so many cook in the kitchen it's no wonder this is a muddled mess. 

On the plus side James Spader proves to be a pretty decent hero in the film with some quiet intensity and there are a few decent action sequences, but much like Tunney's welcome and pointless nude scenes these few moments of fun don't add up to a very good film at the end of the day.

Blu-ray: The Blu-ray from Scream Factory features the extended R-rated cut and not the PG-13 theatrical version. The image is expectantly sharper and more detailed than the previous standard definition DVD with strong color saturation and a nice layer of fine film grain but it just doesn't have the depth and clarity of a big budget, modern science fiction film in my opinion.  

The audio offers up a choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo and a 5.1 surround option. Dialogue, score and effects are nicely balanced with some good atmospheric use of the surrounds. 

Onto the bonus content we have a making-of doc featuring interviews with producer Daniel Chuba, co-director Jack Sholder, and stars Robert Forster and Lou Diamond Phillips who all speak quite honestly of their experience making the film. Chuba explains the the film was originally intended as a low budget scrappy sci-fi thriller but that once it fell into the hands of the studio it became a big budget nightmare plagued by daily re writes and studio interference. Director Walter Hill eventually walking off the project, at which time Jack Sholder - director of THE HIDDEN -  was brought in to do re-shoots and re-edit the film. Apparently he didn't fare too well and just a few days into his re edits none other than Francis Ford Coppola (THE GODFATHER) was brought into finish the film. A pretty textbook example of too many cooks in the kitchen, and let me tell you this sci-fi bouillabaisse is just bland as can be. I only wish they could have got the participation of Walter Hill and Francis Ford Coppola to comment on their experiences, that would have been quite a watch. 

Perhaps providing some insight into the original intentions of director Walter Hill we are provided with fifteen minutes of deleted scenes that hint a darker film.  We have a tiny bit more of Robert Forster, an autopsy scene of a crew member, an extended sequences with Spader on the Titan where he encounters another survivor, and more of the final showdown on the Nightingale, nothing too fantastic. There is also alternate ending that is feverishly awful featuring a bit more of our villain and a slightly different outcome for our protagonists and a darker finish. 

Lastly we have a strange trailer that pitches the film as a sort comedy sci-fi thriller with a soundtrack featuring Sugar Ray and Three Dog Night, clearly the studio had no idea how to market this mess of a movie. 

Special Features
-The Making Of Supernova - New Interviews With Actors Lou Diamond Phillips And Robert Forster, Producer Daniel Chuba And Filmmaker Jack Sholder HD (25 Minutes)
- Deleted Scenes HD (15 Minutes)
- Alternate Ending HD
- Theatrical Trailer HD (2 Minutes) 

Verdict: Not an awful film but a very bland viewing experience and not one I would look forward to re visiting again anytime soon. I might re watch the making-of documentary again because the story behind the film is far superior to what ended up on the screen, not a film I can recommend. It's a bit of head scratcher why this was chosen to receive the coveted Scream Factory treatment over so many others. I think I would have preferred to see this released as a double feature disc paired with something else, on it's own it just doesn't do a lot for me.