Beast
Of The City
(1932/MGM*)/A
History Of Violence 4K
(2005/New Line/Warner/Criterion 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/I
Died A Thousand Times
(1955*)/Mission
Impossible: The Final Reckoning 4K
(2025/Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/The
Racket
(1951/RKO/*all Warner Archive Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B Sound: C+/B/B-/B+/B-
Extras: C-/B/C/C/B Films: B-/B/C+/C+/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Beast
Of The City,
I Died
A Thousand Times
and The
Racket
Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through their
Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the links below.
The
following intersect crime and action thrillers...
Charles
Brabin's Beast
Of The City
(1932) has Jean Harlow as a gal who hangs with too many local
mobsters too often, which becomes a problem when the police start
stepping up their attacks on them, with er almost in the middle.
When she gets involved with the younger brother (Wallace Ford) of the
police chief, you know it is only going to get wilder. Already
logging up hits and classics like Hell's
Angels,
Public
Enemy
and Platinum
Blonde
among other hits, she steals every scene she is in in this
semi-pre-code gem that has aged pretty well.
Walter
Huston is the top cop out to mop up the mob and for a film, that has
a pro-police forward, this is not propaganda film, safe film or
police procedural. It is all out in all kinds of ways and bolder
than you might expect. Well helmed by Brabin (Mask
Of Fu Manchu,
A
Wicked Woman,
Sporting
Blood
and more than a few silent films) backed by supporting performances
by Jean Hersholt, Dorothy Peterson, Tully Marshall, Warner Richmond,
John Miljan, Emmett Corrigan and J. Carrol Naish, you'll be pleased
with how bold this gangster crime drama is, worthy of Scarface
(1932 and
1983) with one of MGM's gutsiest films of the period. Nice to have
it restored so well.
Extras
include two black and white animated, classic Warner Bros. cartoons:
Goopy
Geer
and Bosko
and Bruno.
David
Cronenberg's A
History Of Violence 4K
(2005) is one of the director's better films and is not as
well-remembered as it ought to be with Viggo Mortensen as a man with
a family, but a past that is about to come back at the worst time. A
gangster/crime tale with edge, we reviewed it in its older Blu-ray
edition at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8242/A+History+Of+Violence+(2005/New+Line+Blu-ray
I
was very pleased how well it held up, though I expected it to and it
has a companion in Cronenberg's Eastern
Promises
(see elsewhere on this site) that is no sequel, but just as hard
hitting. For all the love of the Gangster genre, why both are not
more discussed is odd, but it holds up as well as its counterparts
and Ed Harris is a solid mob boss here without imitating or
duplicating his similar great work on State
Of Grace
(1990, also reviewed elsewhere on this site) which is even more
underrated than these Cronenberg Films. All are highly recommended
and this new version of Violence
is a special edition indeed.
Extras
include
an essay by critic Nathan Lee in the illustrated paper pullout
included with the disc set, while the discs feature:
• In
the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby
Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio
commentary featuring Cronenberg
• New
interview with screenwriter Josh Olson, conducted by writer-producer
Tom Bernardo
• Excerpts
of Cronenberg and actor Viggo Mortensen in conversation at the 2014
Toronto International Film Festival
• Acts
of Violence,
a documentary on the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes
footage
• Three
featurettes
• Deleted
scene with commentary by Cronenberg
• and
an Original Theatrical Trailer.
Stuart
Heisler's I
Died A Thousand Times
(1955) is a remake of the 1941 Raoul Walsh Film Noir thriller with
Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. The new version of a group planning
a heist with an insider helping at a ritzy Las Vegas hotel has Jack
Palance, Shelley Winters, Lee Marvin, Earl Holliman, Perry Lopez,
Pedro Gonzales Gonzales, Howard St. John, Richard Davalos, Ralph
Moody, uncredited turns by future B-movie star Nick Adams &
Dennis Hopper and Lon Chaney Jr. as the big boss. Though not as
effective as the original, it still gets creepy.
It
also has a little more humor than it should have, playing like a sort
of compromise to having color and widescreen, yet it also has enough
Noir elements and dark moments to be worth a look. Winters is able
to get a little wild too and the ins and outs of the story still are
convincing and dark enough.
Former
editor Heisler
had become a very able-bodied journeyman director at this point and
with films like The
Star,
Journey
Into Light,
The
Monster & The Girl
and more than a few TV credits. He handles this as well as possible,
with a good budget, a fine cast and a notable early entry into
widescreen scope filmmaking. Palance is in decent tough guy form and
the film is worth a look for those interested, though it makes me
want to see High
Sierra
again.
Extras
include
the Original Theatrical Trailer and two animated, classic Warner
Bros. cartoons: Hare
Brush
and Sahara
Hare.
Christopher
McQuarrie's Mission
Impossible: The Final Reckoning 4K
(2025) brings the second-longest big budget spy franchise to a
conclusion that tries to wrap up everything after eight films. The
conflict with former Paramount owner Sumner Redstone and bad timing
of the last film's theatrical release date cut into the consistency
of the series, its momentum and the releases, but they finally made
it. As this
is a second part to the last film, you can reads more about Mission:
Impossible Dead Reckoning, Part One 4K
(2023) at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16361/A+Bullet+For+Sandoval+(1970/UMC/MVD/VCI+Blu-ray
Not
only does it try to finish that narrative from the previous film, but
it picks up pieces from every single film since the very first one
and takes almost 170 minutes to do it. You do not need to see all
the films to enjoy this, but it helps to get more out of it all and
the various action, stunt and set pieces stand on their own very
well, but both the film and the end of this series just took a little
too long to get to where they were going. At least they ambitiously
go all out to do it all to their credit, but the results are mixed.
Along
with the money on the screen and a capable director, the cast is a
much-needed plus including Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell,
Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Shea
Whigham, Mark Gatiss, Cary Elwes and Angela Bassett as the President
of the United States, a casting that has a odd context it did not
when they started shooting the film.
So
it is a high quality send off with some solid moments, but I was
disappointed more than a few times throughout despite all that worked
and you might feel the same way to, fan or not. In the meantime,
we'll be seeing a Jason Bourne revival as the Bond series marches on
with a new reboot itself, but we'll see if M:I
ever comes back again. If not, they left no stone unturned.
Extras
include Digital Movie, while the discs add an isolated
music score track, the following BEHIND THE SCENES statuettes:
Taking
Flight:
Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie take you through the
biplanes stunt. Witness them push things to the next level to
capture these incredible flight sequences.
To
The Depths:
Dive in with Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie to
explore every detail of the water tank/moving gimbal, the special
masks/water suits, and the rigorous planning and execution of this
one-of-a-kind stunt.
To
The North:
Journey with the cast and crew to see how they filmed in extreme
conditions to create the breathtaking sequence in the high Arctic of
Svalbard.
Through
the Mine:
Explore the Middleton Mine as the team highlights the risks,
challenges, and practical elements to pull off this incredible
action sequence.
The
Score:
A behind-the-scenes look at the original music composed for the
film.
EDITORIAL
CONTENT
Deleted
Footage Montage with Optional Commentary by Director Christopher
McQuarrie: Director Christopher McQuarrie shares some of the
stunning, never-before-seen deleted shots that did not make the
final film.
Olifants
River Canyon with Optional Commentary by Director Christopher
McQuarrie: Director Christopher McQuarrie details the difficulties
of shooting the dangerous, low level flying sequence through the
Olifants River Canyon in South Africa.
Biplane
Transfer with Optional Commentary by Director Christopher McQuarrie
and Tom Cruise: Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie
discuss the challenges of filming the highly technical and extremely
dangerous biplane transfer stunt at high altitudes.
COMMENTARIES
Commentary
by Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise: Enjoy a
compelling, in-depth discussion with Christopher McQuarrie and Tom
Cruise.
Commentary
by Director Christopher McQuarrie, Editor Eddie Hamilton, and First
Assistant Director Mary Boulding: Experience the film with riveting
insights and analysis from these acclaimed filmmakers.
Commentary
by Composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey, and Score Producer Cecile
Tournesac: Hear from the artists who enhance the action with
thrilling music.
PROMO
SPOTS
Parachute
Burn:
Watch Tom Cruise earn a Guinness World Record for the most burning
parachute jumps by an individual.
Snorri
Rig Camera:
Survival is in the details. See the unique camera set up for Tom as
he does his parachute jump.
Jump
Flip:
Witness Tom's epic jump.
Long
Wing:
See Tom hang on to the wing of the biplane mid-flight.
STILL
GALLERIES
Last
but definitely not least, John Cromwell's The
Racket
(1951) is a Howard Hughes/RKO vehicle with Robert Mitchum, but this
time as an older-styled policeman out to stop old-school gangster
Robert Ryan in a fit match. A reunion of the actors, the tale is
about them and the changing and increasingly corrupt world they live
in. Nicholas Ray even directed a few scenes of this film Hughes did
in the silent era, though this one is much grittier. Lizbeth Scott,
William Conrad and Ray Collins are among the supporting cast that
makes this another winner with another interesting Noir conclusion.
Extras
include the
Original Theatrical Trailer and a really fine
audio commentary by Eddie Mueller up to the high standards of this
set, but in standard definition because they could not sync up his
audio with the new HD restoration and make it work.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on A
History Of Violence 4K
looks good as as good as the film is likely to ever look on home
video, but offers an unusual situation where the film is part of a
'new 4K
digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Peter
Suschitzky and approved by director David Cronenberg' despite the
film originally being finished in 2K after a 35mm shoot. So if they
remastered form the 2K master, this is an upscale, so unlike the
press release, the notes on the transfer in the illustrated paper
pullout suggest they decided not to try to recreate the entire look
of the film from start to finish. That's fine, but I wondered if it
could have benefitted from all that extra hard work or was it
impossible to recreate.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the regular Blu-ray
is also not bad, if slightly lacking the better visual features of
the 4K disc, but both are much better than the problematic Blu-ray we
reviewed many years ago. Then both have the same DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes of original soundtrack at its
best and the film will never sound better. The restoration work was
worth it.
However, some are commenting since we first posted this that some of
the color is off or mastered badly/wrongly. I am fine with this one,
but if there are more specific issues, it is either from mastering
errors and/or doing a 4K disc from a 2K master despite the fact that
the film is shot in 35mm.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1/1.90 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Mission:
Impossible 4K
is also good looking for much of its time, though you get softer
points from so much digital work and then it has a certain darker
look to begin with in many shots in keeping with the series.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the regular Blu-ray
does not resolve all this as well, but is passable and the
lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems)
sound on both versions has its moments, but is not bombastic all the
time. I though some sound mix choices were better than others, but
its the best-sounding film on the list as expected.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfers on Beast
Of The City
and The
Racket
may come from different times and even eras, but both look great for
their time. Beast
is the oldest film here, but it has some fine depth, detail, Video
Black and Video White that can get ivory, especially for Harlow's
hair. The images are a mix of glamour and seediness that works and
holds up very well for being (WOW) 93 years old and counting!
However, MGM knew how to put the money in their films and it shows
here. Director of Photography Norbert Brodine, A.S.C., delivers as
he did on Libeled
Lady,
Of
Mice & Men
(1939,) The
Awful Truth,
The
House On 92nd Street,
Kiss
Of Death,
13 Rue
Madeline,
I Was
A Male War Bride
and the
original Topper
films. His is up top his best work and looks really good here.
Racket
has comparatively more light sensitive 35mm film stock and happens in
the middle of the Film Noir era, so it has smoother darkness and
Video Black and has a very consistent transfer that certainly outdoes
the old DVD we reviewed many years ago.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix show their age a bit
and are going to be sonically limited as is the case for films their
age, but this is the best these film will ever sound as well.
The
1080p 2.55 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on I
Died A Thousand Times
(can show
the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a transfer to
all previous releases of the film despite flaws in how they were shot
(from the old CinemaScope lens system) and in the color system
(WarnerColor is their answer to Kodak color developing, which could
be good, but not as good as Technicolor) when the format was wider
for its first few years. It looks good for the most part, well shot
by Ted D. McCord, A.S.C. (Treasure
Of The Sierra Madre,
She
Couldn't Say No,
Johnny
Belinda,
East
Of Eden,
A Fine
Madness,
The
Sound Of Music)
with an interesting use of canted angles (filming sideways buy
tilting the camera) Film Noir had become famous for. He goes for
broke on one shot.
Since
the film had no optical soundtrack, it was originally issue in
4-track magnetic stereo with traveling dialogue and sound effects,
but the version here is only a stereo mixdown on the disc in lossless
DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo. It still sounds good for what it is, but
it made me wonder how much better the original mix must have been.
The combination of the two is still very watchable and its more solid
work from the restoration team at Warner.
To
order
the Beast
Of The City,
I Died
A Thousand Times
and/or The
Racket
Warner Archive Blu-rays, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo
