U
Turn
(1997/Phoenix/TriStar/Sony/Twilight Time Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B+ Film: B+
PLEASE
NOTE:
This Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time,
is limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies
last from the link below.
Sean
Penn leads an incredible cast in Oliver Stone's off-kilter
masterpiece U
Turn.
Released here exceptionally by Twilight Time with an incredible new
transfer and sound mix accompanied with lots of great features and of
course, a collectible booklet, this is a new release that I highly
recommend you hunt down. With all the staples of a Film Noir
including backstabbing, a femme fatale, gangsters, broken fingers,
and a hell of a lot of money involved, U
Turn
is so beautifully put together that it hooks your eyes to the screen
by frame one. Personally, I liked this a whole lot better than
Natural
Born Killers,
as this may now be my favorite Oliver Stone movie.
With
a script by John Ridley based on his novel, is a sensationally trippy
Southwestern Neo-Noir - and yet another in Stone's series of
cinematic meditations on the American character. Not a pretty, but
always a fascinating picture, with standout performances from the
phenomenal likes of Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Nick Nolte, Powers
Boothe, Jennifer Lopez, Bo Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, and Claire Danes
in a role like you've never seen her before.
Shot,
in a dazzling variety of styles, by Robert Richardson (a longtime
Stone collaborator (of Django
Unchained)
whose prolific relationship ended on this film) and highlighted by a
score from maestro of maestros Ennio Morricone (The
Good, The Bad, and the Ugly).
It's like when you go to a restaurant and you see a delicious
combination of all your favorite foods on one plate and you can't
help but order it.
Though
at this point she had just begun her acting career, the performance I
am most impressed with was that of Jennifer Lopez. She is so sexy in
this and really pulls off the femme fatale. You never quite know
when you can and cannot trust her. Another highlight of the film is
Billy Bob Thorton, who plays a dirty mechanic who at one minute is
your best friend and the next a money hungry mongol.
My
favorite scene of the film, however, is the shootout scene in the gas
station where Sean Penn just happens to be in the wrong place at the
wrong time. Slow motion combined with point of view photography is
executed at expert level here and it may be the moment where Penn's
character is at his lowest point. It's just great filmmaking here.
As
I mentioned earlier, its incredible what Twilight Time has done with
the sound and picture transfer here. Captured in full 1080p high
definition with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a powerful,
lossless English 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, the quality here may even
outshine what it looked like originally in theaters! Shot on
beautiful 35mm stocks (including more reversal than the usual
negative stocks), the film transfer is grainy in the best way with
all of the desert scenes evenly colored out to the rich dark rainy
flashbacks, I was very impressed.
Extras
include a new booklet on the film, while the Blu-ray disc adds an
Isolated Score Track, Oliver
Stone Introduces U Turn,
feature-length Audio Commentary with Director Oliver Stone, new
shorter (but no less amazing, must-hear) Audio Commentary with
Producer/Production Executive Mike Medavoy, and Film Historian Nick
Redman and the Original Theatrical Trailer.
This
is highly recommended.
To
order this U
Turn
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusive releases
while supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
