bigdaddyhorse
04-21-2004, 05:49 PM
I've been up on what horror movies are coming out on dvd, but missed hearing anything about this. I almost shit myself when I saw it at Best Buy yesterday, but held my bowels and quickly grabbed this.
For those who have never heard of this movie, I will try to explain it. IMO it's one of the best gang/mob/crime dramas ever made. Christopher Walken plays Frank White, fresh out of prison for drug charges. Upon his release, his loyal crew begin to take out other dealers. Frank is ready to get back in biz a big way, and the best way is to elimate the competition. His #1 man is Jump, played to perfection by Larry Fishburne (this was 1990, he wasn't Lawernce yet :D ).
As the body count rises, 2 young hot head cops (David Carusso and Wesley Snipes) are fed up with Frank's getting away with murder. Eventualy leading to them trying to take him down using Frank's own methods. Victor Argo is the vet cop who finally gives them the go-ahead after a night of drinking and reflecting. This turns into war between the gang and the cops.
I really don't know how to write about this film without giving away too much. Let me just say that it has an A-list cast, all in top form. You want blood, there's plenty. You want deep charcters, they all are. You want great quotes, they're here.
Director Abel Ferrerra made some amazing movies, and this is one the top of the list. Artisan (I thought they got bought out and were DOA) have put out one of their best dvds to date here.
First you have widescreen of fullscreen options (on different discs). The new widescreen version just crushes the old, now out of print dvd that used to be the only eay to see this movie in all it's glory. While framed at 1.85, it's clear that this was hard-matted so the FF is a hacked to shit pan and scan job. Although not mentioned anywhere on the cover, it is an anamorphic transfer and looked perfect on my set. There is also a new 5.1 soundtrack on this set. I haven't checked that out yet as I had to listen to Abel's commentray.
Anyone who's heard his comm. on Driller Killer knows that homeboy has some issues/problems/etc.
He seems to be in a bit better shape here, but far from out of the woods. One of his first comments is "they gave me $5,000 to do this" and sounded pissed off he had to. You can also constantly hear him tipping the bottle while he sometimes makes sense and sometimes doesn't. There is an uncredited voice in the background asking questions which keeps this track moving along by keeping Abel awake and talking. Not the total train wreck I expected. It really is baffling that this guy made some amazing movies, but he just comes off as some aloof junkie when you hear him talk. In a way it's sad, but in another way it's amusing. (I think it was on this site in a thread about best/worst commentaries ever, someone gave Abel both for Driller Killer and I couldn't agree more!)
"A short Film about the Long Career of Abel Ferrera" is also on disc one. This is a 47 minute doc. featuring almost everyone Abel used to work with, but no word or pics of Abel himself. It was O.K., but I doubt I'll ever watch it again.
Disc 2 has the better doc. "The Adventures of Schooly D: Snowboarder". For those who don't know, Schooly School was one of the pioneers of "gangsta" rap who has went on to scoring films. He's been the score of almost all Abel's movies since KONY. This doc. I found really interesting, well the whole Schooly interview part. It kinda broke in parts. It starts with some white dude from Vibe talking about gangsta rap with really annoying editing. Then it switches to the Schooly segment for the bulk of the 42 minutes, although it does go back for a few painfull minutes to the dork.
Schooly's video for "King Of New York", the trailer and tv spots round up the extras on this disc. There is also a second comm. track with the crew I plan to check out soon. I already get the feeling that their recollection on events in the making of this film will differ from Abel's, who sounded hostile and just seemed to want to prove the un-known voice wrong on his comm. track
For example:
Voice - so here the actors were improvising right, I've read and heard everywhere that this scene was improv.
Abel - Fuck that, all that shit was written. You can't improv shit like that. That was all me and Nick (writer Nicholas St. John, missing from all extra content but highly defended by Abel, who is only on the one comm. track).
If you've never seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to check it out. The new dvd is everywhere, and is only $10 + change at deepdiscountdvd. Here's the cover:
http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/586037h.jpg
http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/586037bh.jpg
There is a sticker on the front saying "Limited Edition / 2 disc set". Not sure just how limited that means, or if it's just the outer cover that's limited ala' Reservoir Dogs. But for just over $10, this dvd should find it's way into everyone's collection.
For those who have never heard of this movie, I will try to explain it. IMO it's one of the best gang/mob/crime dramas ever made. Christopher Walken plays Frank White, fresh out of prison for drug charges. Upon his release, his loyal crew begin to take out other dealers. Frank is ready to get back in biz a big way, and the best way is to elimate the competition. His #1 man is Jump, played to perfection by Larry Fishburne (this was 1990, he wasn't Lawernce yet :D ).
As the body count rises, 2 young hot head cops (David Carusso and Wesley Snipes) are fed up with Frank's getting away with murder. Eventualy leading to them trying to take him down using Frank's own methods. Victor Argo is the vet cop who finally gives them the go-ahead after a night of drinking and reflecting. This turns into war between the gang and the cops.
I really don't know how to write about this film without giving away too much. Let me just say that it has an A-list cast, all in top form. You want blood, there's plenty. You want deep charcters, they all are. You want great quotes, they're here.
Director Abel Ferrerra made some amazing movies, and this is one the top of the list. Artisan (I thought they got bought out and were DOA) have put out one of their best dvds to date here.
First you have widescreen of fullscreen options (on different discs). The new widescreen version just crushes the old, now out of print dvd that used to be the only eay to see this movie in all it's glory. While framed at 1.85, it's clear that this was hard-matted so the FF is a hacked to shit pan and scan job. Although not mentioned anywhere on the cover, it is an anamorphic transfer and looked perfect on my set. There is also a new 5.1 soundtrack on this set. I haven't checked that out yet as I had to listen to Abel's commentray.
Anyone who's heard his comm. on Driller Killer knows that homeboy has some issues/problems/etc.
He seems to be in a bit better shape here, but far from out of the woods. One of his first comments is "they gave me $5,000 to do this" and sounded pissed off he had to. You can also constantly hear him tipping the bottle while he sometimes makes sense and sometimes doesn't. There is an uncredited voice in the background asking questions which keeps this track moving along by keeping Abel awake and talking. Not the total train wreck I expected. It really is baffling that this guy made some amazing movies, but he just comes off as some aloof junkie when you hear him talk. In a way it's sad, but in another way it's amusing. (I think it was on this site in a thread about best/worst commentaries ever, someone gave Abel both for Driller Killer and I couldn't agree more!)
"A short Film about the Long Career of Abel Ferrera" is also on disc one. This is a 47 minute doc. featuring almost everyone Abel used to work with, but no word or pics of Abel himself. It was O.K., but I doubt I'll ever watch it again.
Disc 2 has the better doc. "The Adventures of Schooly D: Snowboarder". For those who don't know, Schooly School was one of the pioneers of "gangsta" rap who has went on to scoring films. He's been the score of almost all Abel's movies since KONY. This doc. I found really interesting, well the whole Schooly interview part. It kinda broke in parts. It starts with some white dude from Vibe talking about gangsta rap with really annoying editing. Then it switches to the Schooly segment for the bulk of the 42 minutes, although it does go back for a few painfull minutes to the dork.
Schooly's video for "King Of New York", the trailer and tv spots round up the extras on this disc. There is also a second comm. track with the crew I plan to check out soon. I already get the feeling that their recollection on events in the making of this film will differ from Abel's, who sounded hostile and just seemed to want to prove the un-known voice wrong on his comm. track
For example:
Voice - so here the actors were improvising right, I've read and heard everywhere that this scene was improv.
Abel - Fuck that, all that shit was written. You can't improv shit like that. That was all me and Nick (writer Nicholas St. John, missing from all extra content but highly defended by Abel, who is only on the one comm. track).
If you've never seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to check it out. The new dvd is everywhere, and is only $10 + change at deepdiscountdvd. Here's the cover:
http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/586037h.jpg
http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/586037bh.jpg
There is a sticker on the front saying "Limited Edition / 2 disc set". Not sure just how limited that means, or if it's just the outer cover that's limited ala' Reservoir Dogs. But for just over $10, this dvd should find it's way into everyone's collection.