Belly (1998/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: C     Film: C

 

 

As so many Music Video directors do, Hype Williams decided to go into feature films and the result was a mixed feature called Belly, which wanted to combine Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas (1990) with the visual aesthetics he has constantly used in his Videos, especially those inspired by Stanley Kubrick.  An ambitious film on the visual level, the narrative side is a good recreation at best, but Williams’ script never breaks free of the imitators and the result is eye candy.

 

I do like some of the shots and there is a pure cinematic sense at times thanks to Director of Photography Malik Sayeed’s work, but as this look has been more than played out in literally thousands of Hip Hop Videos since, the overall film has not aged well, though this Blu-ray edition could have played better.  The cast is convincing enough, but I had expected more then and a decade later, am re-reminded of how this sadly did not work out.

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 image is a little softer than it should be for how vivid this looks on film, though color is consistent, the softness is not good and can even be annoying like the flaws on the recent wave of Kubrick High Def releases.  The DTS 7.1 HD Master Audio (MA) Lossless track shows the limits of the recording and mix of the time, even one that lends itself to the bass-heavy Hip Hop genre.  Maybe too many tracks was pushing it.  Extras include a decent commentary by Williams, Music Video for the song Grand Finale, trailers, deleted scenes and Spoken Word featurette.

 

After all this, I wondered if Williams would do another feature.  Would it be in another genre?  We’ll see.

 

 

For more on Williams’ Music Video work, try this link:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/345/Hype+Williams+-+The+Videos+V.1

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo