Sea Of Love (HD-DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C+     Film: C+

 

 

After Scarface (1983) did not do well initially and Revolution (1986) was a big bomb, Al Pacino was lost to Hollywood for a too-brief period of time, more interested in pretentious junk and commercial candy films for malls than anything with substance and a point.  Harold Becker’s Sea Of Love (1989) was a thriller tasking advantage of the impetus of Fatal Attraction (1987) and became a comeback hit for Pacino.

 

He plays a detective looking for a serial killer, working with a dedicated detective (John Goodman) and getting involved with a sexy and sexually aggressive suspect (Ellen Barkin) who may be guilty… of something but Frank (Pacino) moves on with the investigation continues and the results could be fatal.  Of course, this sounds like Basic Instinct, which outdid this film for shear audacity, but Sea Of Love (using the famous 1959 Phil Phillips with The Twilights classic often) has not dated well despite its impressive performances and occasional suspense.  Of course, it brought back Pacino and that alone made it all worthwhile.

 

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 VC-1 digital High Definition image joins Lethal Weapon 1 and In Good Company as the worst video transfers in this format.  What gives?  I remember seeing this in 35mm and was reminded of how decent it looked in its time, pre-digital and all, but this HD-DVD is just a wreck.  It reminded me of seeing an older DVD with a bad transfer, even when it had its HD moments.  The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is pulled too much to the center, made worse by the fact that it is not such a hot upgrade of the analog Dolby A-type theatrical sound to begin with, down to the Trevor Jones score.

 

Extras include the original theatrical trailer, deleted scenes, feature length audio commentary by Harold Becker and a making of featurette.  Like the transfer, this could have used something new in the extras department.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo