Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

American Gigolo 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 18, 2024

If you're old enough to remember it, what does the decade of the eighties mean to you? Big hair? Big shoulder pads? Silly soap operatic television like Dynasty (a show which featured big hair and big shoulder pads in abundance)? The advent of compact discs and/or the fledgling attempts to create what is now called the internet (the horror)? Commentator Adrian Martin makes the case that American Gigolo is one of those films that either advertently or inadvertently captured the zeitgeist of an era, and if 1987's Wall Street summed up the decade's emphasis on socioeconomic issues with the iconic statement "greed is good", this 1980 film might offer a refutation of sorts (even if it debuted first) by stating, "Yeah, well, greed and sex are even better!" American Gigolo is something of an oddity when seen through the prism of hindsight, but it is undeniably stylish, and it provides a star making opportunity for Richard Gere, who rather famously and/or infamously has a brief "full frontal" scene in the film which was something of a cause célèbre in its day. While Martin among many others draws parallels between American Gigolo and what would become known as "neo noir", American Gigolo may succeed more as a character study than a murder mystery or even a portrait of a hapless man being led down the veritable garden path by nefarious schemers. Rather interestingly, it turns out not to be this film's perceived femme fatale who may be the most dangerous nemesis for "paid escort" (read male prostitute) Julian Kay (Richard Gere), a guy who probably is about as far from "hapless" as possible, at least in terms of accoutrements like Giorgio Armani suits to wear (when clothed, anyway) and Mercedes Benz convertible coupes to drive.

American Gigolo was released on Blu-ray over a decade ago by its home studio Paramount Pictures, and those interested in a plot summary are encouraged to read Svet Atanasov's American Gigolo Blu- ray review of that edition. Svet's review is also a good resource for screenshot comparisons, for those so inclined. While I don't think many will quibble about this Arrow release offering superior technical merits, the Paramount release was bare bones, so one way or the other this Arrow version is the clear winner in the supplements category.

American Gigolo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's standalone 1080 release of the film. As is typically the case with Arrow's 4K UHD releases, this does not include a 1080 presentation of the film, and so the 2K video score has intentionally been left blank.

American Gigolo is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet has the following information on the presentation:

American Gigolo has been exclusively rematered by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ration of 1.85:1 with its original mono, stereo, and 5.1 audio.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at Fotokem, Burbank. The film was restored in 4K and graded in SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision at Dragon DI, Wales.

Audio remastering was completed by Þorsteinn Gíslason.

Grading review and approval was completed at Company 3, New York.

All materials sourced for this project were made available by Paramount.

This newly remastered presentation of American Gigolo has been approved by Director Paul Schrader.

While this is yet another 4K UHD offering where some may end up preferring Arrow's 1080 version due to some pretty heavy grain, there's little doubt that this offers a noticeable improvement over the old Paramount 1080 offering, starting with the perhaps minimal but still commendable fact that this is in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 rather than 1.78:1. This 4K UHD version takes an already commendably expressive palette in Arrow's 1080 release and builds on that, though rather interestingly I'd argue that Dolby Vision / HDR actually cools this presentation down a bit from some of the more florid aspects of Arrow's 1080 version. While some of the outdoor material in particular boasts really warm tones, there's a somewhat tamped down, almost brown, undertone at times in this 4K version. HDR probably gets the most showy use in the extremely evocative orange tinted restaurant scene, which here has an almost hellish red skewing. Some of the third act material featuring almost Moonlight levels of blues and purples also resonate beautifully. There are still some noticeable and perhaps surprisingly wide variances in densities, saturation and clarity levels, all of which are probably unavoidably more noticeable in 4K UHD than in 1080, but even with that given, the overall appearance of this version is noticeably more consistent and convincing than the Paramount Blu-ray. Grain can be very heavy at times, and in the opening Paramount mastheads and optically printed credits sequence, almost overwhelmingly splotchy, blue and yellow. Things improve markedly once the credits end, but there can still be veritable waves of grain rippling through the frame, especially noticeable against some of the brighter backgrounds. My score is 4.25.

American Gigolo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

American Gigolo features LPCM Mono, LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options. The upgrade from mono to stereo is almost shocking if you toggle between the tracks, which may be so surprising that then toggling to the 5.1 track may seem like not that much of a change, though the surround track certainly opens up the commandingly fun Giorgio Moroder score*. Some of the outdoor material also benefits from the surround track's placement of side and rear ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

*I'm going to put my music theory geek hat on for a moment only because kind of hilariously this connection struck me for the first time when seeing this film again after so many years. Once you get past its thumping intro riff, the first eight measures of "Call Me" are remarkably similar to "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac in terms of both basic melody and underlying chord changes.

American Gigolo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Adrian Martin


• Interviews

  Below the Surface (HD; 19:37) is a 2024 interview with Paul Schrader.

  
  

  Six Ways to Sunday (HD; 10:46) is a 2023 interview with Hector Elizondo.

  
  

  The Business of Pleasure (HD; 15:26) is a 2023 interview with Bill Duke.

  
  

  Montages and Monologues (HD; 7:15) is a 2023 interview with editor Richard Halsey.

  
  

  The Non-Conformist (HD; 25:05) is a 2023 interview with camera operator King Baggot.

  
  

  Man Machine (HD; 15:03) is a 2023 interview with Dan Wilcox discussing Giorgio Moroder.

  
  

  American Icon (HD; 18:54) is a 2024 interview with Professor Jennifer Clark discussing the film's fashions.

• Trailer (HD; 1:57)


• Image Galleries

  Stills (HD)

  
  

  Posters and Press (HD)

  
  

  Lobby Cards (HD)

Additionally, this is another very handsomely packaged limited edition from Arrow. In a kind of nesting doll formation an O ring houses a slipbox which houses the keepcase, which has a reversible sleeve. The keepcase houses six postcard sized reproduction art cards. Also enclosed is a foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned art by Tommy Pocket. Arrow's typically well appointed insert booklet (more of a pamphlet this time) is also included, and offers writing by Neil Sinyard and other archival materials, along with the usual cast and crew and technical information.

American Gigolo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Parts of American Gigolo may admittedly not have aged all that well, but kind of curiously those elements may be more about the supposed "mystery" element than the deconstruction of Julian's character. Arrow provides a release with solid technical merits and outstanding supplements. Recommended.