The
Killer Elite (1975/United
Artists/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Once
Upon A Time In America: Extended Director's Cut
(1984/Warner Blu-ray)/Villain
(1971/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)/Wolf
(2013/MPI/IFC DVD)
Picture:
B/B/C/C Sound: C+/B/C/C+ Extras: B/C/D/C+ Films:
B/A-/B-/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Killer Elite
is only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is limited to
only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last. Villain
is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive
series and both can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
a set of crime dramas for you to know about, including an outright
classic, two other near classics of note and a new foreign release
that has its moments...
Sam
Peckinpah's The Killer Elite
(1975) is an action thriller that predates the mostly bad actioners
of the 1980s while trying to do something different. James Caan and
Robert Duvall co-star has them doing deadly work for the CIA when
Duvall turns on Caan, nearly killing him during an assignment. Caan
has to take some serious time to recover, but will do anything to
finally get revenge and find out why and what happened. We know some
of it, but not all and this becomes partly a character study
co-written by Stirling Silliphant.
Following
in the mode of assassination thrillers like The
Mechanic, Three
Days Of The Condor and
even the Bond films (which were in need of a serious revival at this
point that they eventually got) which were influencing more than a
few of the more serious thrillers of this time, the film is not a
pure Peckinpah film, but it still works well just the same thanks to
its cast that also includes Mako, Arthur Hill, Gig Young, Victor Sen
Yung and Burt Young.
The
martial arts elements are usually good and meld well with the film,
though the ninja segment (trying to update the You
Only Live Twice take, but
succeeding as much as The
Yakuza) yielded mixed
results then and comes across as odd still today. Otherwise, it is
an underrated film that deserves rediscovery and you should get your
copy while supplies last.
Extras
reliably include yet another nicely illustrated booklet on the film
including informative text and another thorough essay by Julie Kirgo,
while the Blu-ray adds TV & Radio Spots, the Original Theatrical
Trailer, a brand new feature length audio commentary track by
film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons & Nick Redmond that
is very thorough about the film, featurettes
Promoting The Killer Elite
and Passion & Poetry:
Sam's Killer and an
amazing bonus in Noon
Wine, a 1966 TV
adaptation of the Katherine Ann Porter novella with no less than
Jason Robards, Olivia de Havilland and Theodore Bikel. The same trio
of gentlemen supplying the film's commentary do one for this show as
well. What a great Special Edition!
Sergio
Leone's Once Upon A Time
In America: Extended Director's Cut
(1984) finally sees the complete release of the film as Leone
envisioned, even if it is long after his passing, 30 years later and
with the missing footage in substandard shape. Unnecessarily
tampered with upon its original release to squeeze more money out of
it, scathing reviews followed and efforts followed for a longer
version to be released. However, this is the first time we can see
it all and having seen the other versions, this one at 251 minutes is
definitive, brilliant and about as great a film as Leone ever made.
Based
on the book The Hoods
by Harry Grey, the complex narrative traces the rise and fall of five
young Jewish teens who become gangsters, crooks and thieves in
Depression-era New York City though happenstance, opportunity and
luck. The story gets especially interesting with the friendship of
David Aaronson (played in later years by Robert DeNiro) and Max
Bercovicz (James Woods in some of the best work of his career) who
are great friends until a heist of a federal treasury building that
David wants to skip seems to go wrong, getting Max and the gang
killed. However, something else may have happened.
The
film open as we join an older David in an opium den, cradled like a
child at a dead end. Then, he thinks he hears or recognizes
something and suddenly, someone (maybe more than one) have found him
there and he is lucky enough to awake and escape. It is from there
that the script goes between its various timelines and tells what
really is an epic story of the rise of America from a darker side.
This is very advanced, fancy storytelling that never fails and is
compelling form the first scene. It also has plenty of mysteries,
including how much of this David is imagining and how much of it is
real, yet enough of it holds together that we know at least some
truth is being told. I expect it is more.
The
result is a gangster saga as sprawling at The
Godfather, The
Sopranos, Scarface,
Prince Of The City,
GoodFellas/Casino
or any others in the genre, especially now that it has been saved as
much as possible. Production design, costumes, sets and the way it
is shot are exemplary, the music is great and the rest of the cast is
as well including Burt Young, Joe Pesci, Tuesday Weld, Elizabeth
McGovern, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello, William Forsythe, James
Russo, a young Jennifer Connelly in earlier flashback sequences and
Louise Fletcher in an interesting turn that was totally cut form the
film until now.
The
film never holds back on the sex, violence, vice, language and
suspense. Some moments are so creepy, you'll be pleasantly
surprised. One moment is so freaky towards the end that it seems to
have influenced an important chunk of Kubrick's Eyes
Wide Shut (1999) in the
best possible way. Gaining an increasingly better reputation over
the years, there is no excuse to not recognize it as the masterwork
it is. After much amazing work from the terrific Film Foundation,
Warner and other partners, Once Upon A Time In America finally sees
the light of day as Leone originally intended.
Don't miss it!!!
Extras
include excerpts from the documentary Once
Upon A Time: Sergio Leone
and Original Theatrical Trailers.
Michael
Tuchner's Villain
(1971) is one of the stronger British Gangster films from the late
1960s/early 1970s cycle that included the original Get
Carter among others and
has Richard Burton in one of the darkest performances of his career
as the title character Vic Dakin, a murderous, woman-hating, gay
gangster that wants everyone to be frightened of him and will stop at
nothing to get wants he wants, when he wants it or else. Ian McShane
is his bisexual lover who sleeps with many woman and Nigel Davenport
is the cop who wants to stop him. He plans a serious heist that will
only increase his money and power, but he has more enemies than ever.
I
am impressed with how gutsy this all was and still is, still seems.
Everyone is good in it and the script by the hit-and-miss team of
Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais is some of the best work they ever
turned out. Some points never worked, others hold up well, this is
well shot (see more below) and is a gritty British big screen
experience with ironic gloss often. Vic is supposed to be the
mother-obsessed real life gangster Ronnie Kray, minus his equally
deadly brother, but that liberty is somewhat forgivable. Ben
Kingsley was trying to do what Burton was doing here in Sexy
Beast (reviewed elsewhere
on this site) to some degree of success, if not as deadly.
It
is still a key gangster film few (especially fans of the genre in the
U.S.) have seen. Nice to see it on an official DVD. T.P. McKenna,
Donald Sinden, Joss Ackland, Cathleen Nesbitt, Elizabeth Knight,
Brook Williams and Clive Francis also star.
There
are sadly no extras, but this was roughly remade only a year later as
Sitting Target,
reviewed elsewhere on this site.
The
newcomer on the list is Jim Taihutti's Wolf
(2013), a Dutch entry about the title character (Marwan Kenzari) with
a good younger brother he is trying to help, a father who is not
happy with him, a mother who is powerless to do much about it and
street friends up to no good including a best friend we join stealing
motorcycles from a dealership in the middle of the night. After
showing up a fighter at a local gym, its owner offers him the chance
to make some serious, honest money fighting, but does he have the
discipline to do it? Also, more of the criminal element is around
including a Turkish gangster head who would like him to throw the
fight.
Though
we have seen some of this before, this is well done, consistent, with
few off moments (a montage set to a bad Hip Hop song where the
narrative practically stops while they enjoy selling and partying on
the proceeds of some illegal drugs is a mistake) holds this back from
being great, but it has enough moments that it deserves a wider
audience. There is some comedy here too, not necessarily dark.
Extras
include a Music Documentary, Making
Of piece, Wolf
Training by Marwan Kenzari,
Original Theatrical Trailer, Music Video and Behind The Scenes
featurette.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Elite is
really nice and consistent throughout, looking as good as I have ever
seen it, save that sometimes it seems the color range and light might
be a bit more subdued than it should be in many shots versus how this
film ought to look. Otherwise, you will be very surprised. The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on America
has the newly added materials looking color and detailed-challenged,
but that was the only condition they sadly survived in. Both films
can show the age of the materials used, but are meant to be seen on a
big screen and hold up extremely well on that front.
Director
of Photography Philip H. Lathrop (Point
Blank, the original Pink
Panther, They
Shoot Horses, Don't They?,
The Americanization Of
Emily (see the Blu-ray
elsewhere on this site), The
Driver) shot the film in
real 35mm anamorphic Panavision, then it was processed in DeLuxe
Color. Grain is just fine without being a problem as if it were
second-generation and there are some interesting shots throughout.
Leone's
longtime Director of Photography Tonino Delli Colli, A.I.C., delivers
some of the greatest work of his career on America, even more
apparent from the footage in rough shape, where you can see what he
was going for with Leone and what a true loss the original footage in
top shape actually is. Here is also an example of where the look is
styled down, but intelligently, versus so many bad shoots (especially
HD of late) that have no point. Amazing!
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Villain was lensed
by Director of Photography Christopher Callis, B.S.C., who more than
proved how he could push the scope from on Donen's Arabesque (1967,
reviewed elsewhere on this site) and not that fancy, we still get our
share of amazing and deceptively easy shots that most cameramen could
not pull off. Also shot in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision and
issued in three-strip, dye-transfer Technicolor, this copy is softer
than I would have liked and looks more like a MetroColor print. This
deserves a Blu-ray!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 black and white image on Wolf
may be an HD shoot, but someone knew what they were doing and got it
to look good, like Kodak Tri-X or Plus-X film, making it one of the
best b/w HD shoots I have seen to date, if lacking detail and
definition. Wonder how this would look in 1080p?
Both
Blu-ray films were theatrical monophonic releases, with the DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 1.0 Mono lossless mix on Elite
a bit rougher and more strident than expected, despite the fact that
the Isolated Music Score by the
great Jerry Fielding is in stereo and sounds really good. The sound
needs an upgrade if possible. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on America
does what it can with
the original sound, having gone back to the original sound elements,
it is a sometimes quiet film and some dialogue recording shows its
age, even with some distortion. This was the last major epic film
issued with monophonic sound, but Ennio Morricone's great score is
here in stereo in the mix.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Villain
is the weakest-sounding film here, with the audio sounding down a
generation. I know this can sound better. The lossy Dolby Digital
5.1 on Wolf
is not bad and joins America
in the middle sonically of the three, with its surrounds kicking in
at times and landing up quiet at others. Its budget limits show a
bit.
You
can order
The
Killer Elite
limited edition Blu-ray among other exclusive releases while supplies
last at this link:
www.screenarchives.com
… and
to order the Villain
Warner Archive DVD, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
