The Bass Player & The Blonde (1978/Network U.K.
Region Two Import DVD Set) + Callan: Wet
Job (1981/Network U.K.
Region Two Import DVD) + Demob (1993/British
Mini-Series/Acorn DVD Set) + Street
Kings 2: Motor City – Unrated (2011/Fox Blu-ray 2/DVD)
Picture:
C/C/C/B- & C+ Sound: C/C/C+/B
& B- Extras: D/C-/D/C- Main Programs: C+/C+/B-/C-
PLEASE NOTE: The Bass Player and Callan DVDs
are Region 2/PAL format, can only be operated on machines capable of playing
back that combination and can be ordered exclusively from our friends at Network
U.K.
at the website addresses provided at the end of the review.
And now a
look at drama/comedies that for the most part have a comic side and also
revisit and continue franchises in a few cases.
The late
great Edward Woodward is best-known in the U.S. for playing McCall on The Equalizer, but he is a great actor
who did much more and had more talent than you might imagine. Our first two releases feature Woodward,
including in a return to the role that inspired The Equalizer.
First is
the mini-series drama The Bass Player
& The Blonde (1978) with Woodward as the older musician of the title
still holding on to his dreams of making music despite having empty pockets and
falling for a young woman named Terry (Jane Wymark) half his age and she is as
interested. Melodramatic but realistic,
it is a good program, but it has problems justifying its length. However, Woodward makes it very watchable
showing his range and there is an odd chemistry between the leads that makes it
interesting viewing beyond its flaws. A
series that deserves to be on DVD, I was glad to see it.
Before The Equalizer, Woodward played the
cold, deadly assassin David Callan in a TV series as brutally realistic as any
spy TV series ever made. The show began
in black and white, which you can read more about at this link of the DVD set
from Network U.K.:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9599/Callan+%E2%80%93+The+Monochrom
Those
episodes (the ones that survived) were followed by more great shows shot in
color. Here are the two complete volumes
as issued in the U.S. by
Acorn but also available from Network U.K.:
Set 1
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8724/Callan+%E2%80%93+Set+One+(1970
Set 2
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9470/Callan+%E2%80%93+Set+Two+(1971
When the
show ended, it was still a hit and people were surprised that Thames
did not continue the series. Despite the
fan following and protests, that was the end, though a feature film was
released in 1974 that tried to relaunch the character with Woodward reprising
the role, but that did not lead to a movie series in the year that The Man With The Golden Gun became one
of the few James Bond films to bomb. The
spy genre was in a down cycle.
Seven
years later, ATV and creator James Mitchell decided to try one more story and
the result was a telefilm – Callan: Wet
Job (1981) which finds Callan under a new name with a new life. However, the Cold War continues and a new
case is so pressing that the new Hunter (Hugh Waters) contacts him and gets him
out of retirement for a special mission involving the KGB. Wet Job is a KGB term for assassination.
Callan
contacts his old friend Lonely (Russell Hunter) who is an expert thief and
shadow, but he too has tried to move on and is about to get married. A group of young people are more involved
than they realize with the KGB, but they are being used to help them get
Callan. They have befriended an older
operative (George Sewell) whose trap is very deadly. Callan has a new assassin partner and has to
get his edge back to finish the job.
Though
some of the 90 minutes work, the script has some errors (Hunter notes how many
previous Hunters Callan has worked with, but not that Callan was Hunter at one
point) and the energy and chemistry from the original series is lacking
here. It was too long between Woodward
and Hunter playing their roles and ATV does not have the rights to the original
theme music or credits of the Thames
show. It makes it like watching Never Say Never Again (1983) in this
respect.
Still, it
is worth a look, especially after seeing the original series (it makes more
sense when you know the show) and would be the last time Woodward explicitly
played Callan. Of course, many suggest
his McCall is Callan on The Equalizer
and you can compare all these shows to Season
One of that hit series in these DVD sets:
Universal U.S. NTSC DVD
set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6922/The+Equalizer+%E2%80%93+Season
Umbrella Region 4 PAL DVD set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10875/The+Equalizer+%E2%80%93+Season
Reaching
further back into British military history, Demob (1993) is a comedy about the men who have to integrate back
into civilian life when WWII ends. Two
of the returning men (Martin Clunes, Griff Rhys Jones) were entertainers who
are bored with peacetime and decide to give showbiz on the live stage a new
lease on life. This is nicely acted,
written and has good production design.
It is the kind of mini-series British TV was producing more often
earlier, but always feels like it is part of the period it takes place in. Les Dawson (a comic legend in England we have
reviewed the work of before) gives one of his last performances here as an
aging performer and Clunes is impressive in this earlier work.
Amanda
Redman, Simon Williams, Samantha Janus and James Faulkner are among those
rounding out the cast and those interested will not be disappointed if they
seek this one out. It is the best of the
four titles here.
That
leaves the poorest, the strange in-name-only sequel to Street Kings, Street Kings
2: Motor City – Unrated (2011) switches the city and fails badly. For those not familiar with the first film,
here is the link to our coverage of the 2008 film:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7431/Street+Kings+(2008/20th+Century+Fo
I was
less impressed than my colleague, but this new variant is an unfortunate
dud. Ray Liotta is a cop who may or may
not be dirty, paired with an honest cop (Shawn Hotosy, who is very impressive
for being stuck with a pretty bad script) investigating a series of cop
killings. A formula script directed with
a very standard approach by Chris Fisher, we get so many clichés that I lost
track. We get more 1970s cars than you
would likely find in real life, some of the dialogue (from the awful Ed
Gonzalez/Jeremy Halt script) is laughable and any opportunity to do something
new or different is ignored in this HD-shot practically-a-TV-movie that is on
automatic dead end drive all the way.
Realism is not a priority either and in the end, it does not even know
how to wrap up. Except for some nice
shots and good actors, this is another unnecessary franchise product.
The 1.33
X 1 image on all three of the DVDs are in color, but all are softer than expected
and a little disappointing. The Network
U.K. titles are from the ATV catalog and do not have the restoration of their
PAL tape sources ATV’s owners applied to the great DVD box set Madman
Entertainment issued of Brian Clemens’
Thriller, reviewed elsewhere on this site.
As a result, flaws include staircasing, aliasing, some video noise,
video banding, some tape scratching, tape damage and even PAL cross color. Acorn has a small print disclaimer about Demob being from masters of limited
quality and that was shot on film, but it is still as soft as these PAL-taped
productions which sometimes used 16mm film.
That
leaves Kings 2 in both formats. The 1080p 1.78 X 1 AVC @ 19 MBPS digital High
Definition image can have some good shots and good color, but the HD also has
its share of noise, color limits and motion blur. The anamorphically enhanced DVD version is
even worse with more blur, poorer color and weaker Video Black, barley looking
better than the other DVDs covered here.
The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray is the
default highlight on the Blu-ray with a good soundfield and it is recorded well
enough, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is weaker, barely holding its soundfield.
Extras only
appear on two of the titles here with Callan
having a brief stills sections and Kings
2 has four features, Blu-ray exclusive Weapons Check: Interactive
Personality Profiles and two deleted scenes of no consequence.
As noted
above, you can order the Bass Player
and Callan DVD imports exclusively
from Network U.K.
at:
http://www.networkdvd.net/
or
www.networkdvd.co.uk
- Nicholas Sheffo
