Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season (2012/HBO Blu-rays w/DVDs)/The Krays (1990/Universal/Umbrella Entertainment PAL Region 4 DVD
Import)
Picture:
B & C+/C+ Sound: B & B-/C+ Extras: B/D Episodes/Film: B
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be operated
on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Two/4 PAL
format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at
the website address provided at the end of the review.
You hear
so much about gangsters and “gangstas” in modern times that it is now (hard to
believe if you have been around long enough) hard for many to believe the genre
and tales of said crimes were big and wide-ranging in the 1920s to the 1960s in
what might be considered the glamour period by fans. The following more recent releases remind us
of how great those tales can be.
The
Martin Scorsese/Mark Wahlberg-produced HBO hit Boardwalk Empire continues with its Complete Second Season (2011) and though the first debut season was
a hard one to follow-up, this is a very strong sophomore outing that has more
twists and surprises than expected. If
you are unfamiliar with the tales of criminal doings in Atlantic City, start with our coverage of The Complete First Season Blu-ray at
this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11412/Boardwalk+Empire:+The+Complete+F
“Nucky”
Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is still the king in running things, but there are new
challenges and new threats to his growing empire and this includes changes in
the life of Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) could land up complicating things in
ways no one could imagine. I do not want
to give away much more and strongly suggest you start at the beginning, but the
quality of what remains one of the best shows on TV (yes, it is as good as The Sopranos) continues to hold and in
all the violence (there is more blood and gore this season than expected) and back-stabbing,
it still manages to be a beautiful (but deadly) period piece like nothing TV
has seen before.
Michael
Shannon is still disturbing as the FBI agent gone mad and Kelly MacDonald (who
just added here voice for the Disney/Pixar hit Brave) is the character least likely to be involved and in the
places she is throughout the show. I
don’t know what the next season is going to be like, but I am enjoying the show
very much and once you start watching, you cannot stop. That is great television.
Extras
include Digital Copy for PC and PC portable devices, Secrets Of the Past: Storytelling In Episode II featurette, Living In 1921 featurette, Character
Dossier section, Back To The Boardwalk
recap, New Characters, Season Two Promo Spot, Updates Of The Boardwalk featurette and The Money Decade
featurette.
Not to be
outdone, Peter Medak’s The Krays (1990)
was one of the most underrated gangster films of its time and in a watershed
year that included Scorsese’s GoodFellas
and The Coen Brothers’ Miller’s Crossing
(which makes for a nice companion to Boardwalk
Empire) taking place in England and telling the story of the title
characters. Though there was no Mob per
se in the U.K., there have been deadly crime figures and brothers Ronald and
Reggie Kemp (played by real life brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, best known as
founding members of the New Romantics/New Wave band Spandau Ballet) are more
than convincing (this much really is true) as the deadly brothers who love
their mom (Billie Whitelaw) and will kill anyone in their way to having power.
This is
also as brutal and violent as any gangster film you will see, has some
hilarious moments that only a British film could deliver and holds up
incredibly well 22 years later and counting.
One is calm, the other gay and a psychotic killer, it is a fascinating
story and the film (with a screenplay by Philip Ridley) is as much a biography
as anything tracing the duo from their birth to their rise to power. The Kemps give amazing performances and it
may be one of the most underrated gangster films ever made (which we will
include State Of Grace, also from
the same year, reviewed elsewhere on this site) so if you missed this one, go
out of your way to catchy it.
Unfortunately,
there are no extras.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on the Empire Blu-rays are the visual champs here, looking as fine as the
first set (which my fellow writer liked even more than I did) and show the
money on the screen as well as delivering the action and the fine performances
throughout. The anamorphically enhanced
DVD versions are not awful, but weak and no match for the performance in High
Definition on the Blus. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Krays is the equal of the Empire DVDs
looking good but having its own style suggesting the past, but there is some
intended softness from the brilliant, late, great Director of Photography Alex
Thompson (Alien 3, Year Of The Dragon), B.S.C., who
totally enhances an already compelling film visually throughout.
The DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on the Empire Blu-rays also sound great and have solid soundfields
throughout every single episode, with a warmth and fullness still rare for TV
and increasingly, for many recent theatrical releases. Again my college was even more impressed, but
any serious home theater system will find demo material here. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD
versions have good surrounds, but are no match for the DTS here. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Krays has some surrounds when you play
it back in Pro Logic mode, as the film was issued theatrically in Dolby A-type
analog stereo. This deserves a 5.1
upgrade at some point, possibly when it gets to Blu-ray. Wonder if Criterion would license this from
Universal?
As noted
above, you can order this PAL DVD import of The Krays exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
