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Category:    Home > Reviews > Thriller > Murder > Mystery > Detective > Crime > Heist > Con Artists > Comedy > Fantasy > Action > Drugs > Spy > The First Deadly Sin (1980/Warner Archive DVD)/Focus (2015/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Ladyhawke (1985/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Sol Madrid (1967/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)

The First Deadly Sin (1980/Warner Archive DVD)/Focus (2015/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Ladyhawke (1985/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Sol Madrid (1967/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)



Picture: C/B- & C/B/C+ Sound: C/B & B-/B/C Extras: D/C-/C-/C- Films: B-/C-/C/B-



PLEASE NOTE: All releases here, save Focus, are now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series. All can be ordered from the link below.



When making a genre film, the question now more than ever is, how much comedy should be in the film. If it is too much, you get a live-action cartoon, though the idea since the 1980s is that people don't care and that's what they want. This has led to the decline of better commercial films being made. What follows are four films, two that take the silly route and two that don't and happen to be from the underrated director Brian G. Hutton (Kelly's Heroes, Where Eagles Dare) whose films deserve more attention.



Brian Hutton's The First Deadly Sin (1980) is a murder thriller with Frank Sinatra as a detective ready to retire, but he has a sick wife (Faye Dunaway) he worries about and a murder case he decides he will solve. The killer is going around using a device with a sharp edge to bash victims in the head with and kill them. This was shocking in its time and some were surprised Sinatra took this on, then when they saw the film, was shocked at the graphic language which the film seems to acknowledge as an in joke as not what anyone would ever expect from anything Sinatra would be involved it.


He does what he can to find the killer, more interesting than ever since technology has changed so much, but this can be a really intense thriller and any humor is not at the expense of tension and suspense. The cast is a plus and also includes James Whitmore, Brenda Vacarro, David Duke, Martin Gabel and Anthony Zerbe. The climax might have some issues, but the film is a must see at least once and I'm glad to see it in print.


There are sadly no extras.



It took Glenn Ficarra and John Requa to co-direct Focus (2015) with Will Smith, but why? It is awful and it either needed on stronger director, a third one of best of all, should have been shelved. Smith plays Nicky (what a name) who is a great con artist, thief, heist guy and even seducer, but he's about to run into unusual trouble in Buenos Aires that will lead to action, violence and... predictability.


Pretty as she is, Margot Robbie is supposed to be his equal, but I never bought neither of them in their roles and they never have any chemistry, though I don't totally blame them. Instead, this has all the glitz and glamour of an informercial and its 105 minutes length runs on and on and on in a digitally muddy way that makes this another dud for smith following the horrendous After Earth. Suicide Squad can only be a step up.


Extras include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices, while the discs add a pointless Alternate Opening, Deleted Scenes and three Making Of featurettes.



Richard Donner's Ladyhawke (1985) arrived at a time when Fantasy genre films still took their audiences and subject matter serious since suspending disbelief is so hard in such a no-bounds world. In an odd move that turned out to be influential in the worst way, the title character (Michelle Pfeiffer), a pickpocket and prison escapee (Matthew Broderick) and a knight (Rutger Hauer) land up taking on evil and an evil ruler and bishop (John Wood) who is ruining everyone's life.


That sounds good, but it is done with such silly humor and a music score by Andrew Powell (produced by Alan Parsons, his partner in The Alan Parsons Project) that is hellbent on sounding like typical synthesized 1980s music no matter how out of place or ill-fitting it is. Queen was doing the same thing at about the same time with Highlander (and with the 1980 Flash Gordon in a different way if you think about it), but that work gels better with those films and this film is more of an outright Fantasy fiction work.


As a result, this was not a big hit and has almost become a cult item. I am no fan and many who remembered it were not fans, but it is at least an ambitious miss of a production and its influence to make later Fantasy films infantile (Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit film included) is far from the best development in genre filmmaking in the last 35 years. Leo McKern and Alfred Molina also star, but this is only for the most curious only.


An Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra.



Last but not least at the other end of the spectrum is Brian G. Hutton's Sol Madrid (1967) with David McCallum as the title character, a government agent going to Mexico with a lady of the night (Stella Stevens) to take on a drug distributor (Telly Savalas) and main mobster (Rip Torn) in what is an often brutal crime action drama that is still pretty violent by today's standards and the film holds up very well as a result. It shows how likable and able McCallum (NSIC, the original Man From U.N.C.L.E.) was as a lead actor and though his exchanges with Stevens can be too shrill, this film has a solid pace.


The new realism in cinema is here on display and though it does not go as far as Bonnie & Clyde the same year, it is more than worthy of that classic. The location shoot is another plus, supporting turns by Paul Lukas, Michael Conrad, Ricardo Montalban, Perry Lopez and Michael Ansara gives the film even more impact. If you like Quentin Tarantino's type of hardcore filmmaking, you should see this and as a plus, any humor is very limited, making this one worth going out of your way for.


An Original Theatrical Trailer is sadly the only extra.



The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Sin is not very clear despite good color, has halos and aliasing errors, yet you can see what a fine film shoot this was and remains. Some shots are outright stunning too. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Focus Blu-ray mixes dark moments that still look too lite for their own good (really bad as compared to Sin) and also wants to be glamourous with all the generic bells and whistles of the plot and money. Unfortunately, it is very flat, dull, poor, forgettable and the anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 DVD version is the poorest performer here.


The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Ladyhawke is easily the best performer on the list, coming from a new HD master originated by Fox, shot in real anamorphic 35mm Technovision (and underrated format) by legendary Director of Photography Vittorio Storaro and looks amazing... even if you are a non-fan. It was also issued in 70mm blow-up prints and you can see that would work with all the detail, depth and character here.


The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Madrid may not be as beautiful, but it was also shot in the real anamorphic 35mm format Panavision with MetroColor and I think it actually is a more effective use of the scope frame despite how good Ladyhawke looks. The best-looking of the three DVDs covered here, Director of Photography Fred J. Koenekamp, A.S.C., was always an underrated DP (Doc Savage, Towering Inferno, Billy Jack, Patton) and really delivers here in some impressive work throughout.


As for sound, the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Sin and Madrid are a little too low, compressed and aged, both needing sound upgrades, though they are always interesting to hear. Be careful of volume switching and high playback on both.


The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix on Focus is not bad and is well recorded and mixed, but is not that impressive overall, so the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Ladyhawke can more than compete and is a nice upgrade and restoration from its original 70mm Dolby Surround 4.1, 6-track magnetic sound presentations. Both have good soundfields, but neither are sonic classics. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Focus DVD is weaker than either, but passable.



To order any of the releases above, go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases at:


https://www.warnerarchive.com/



- Nicholas Sheffo


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