Bad Lieutenant 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

Bad Lieutenant 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 8, 2024

Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant" (1992) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with cinematographer Ken Kelsch; archival audio commentary by Abel Ferrara and Ken Kelsch; documentary on the genesis and production of the film; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Double my bet. I am a cop.

If you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you. This famous statement comes from the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It can be translated from German to English slightly differently, but all of its variations convey the same message. The message describes perfectly what happens to characters like the one Harvey Keitel plays in Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, which is extremely similar to the one James Caan played a few decades earlier in Karel Reisz’s The Gambler.

Keitel’s character wears a police badge in New York City but does not represent the law. He constantly bends and breaks it, and the more he does it, the more intense his desire becomes to do it yet again. He is a junkie, sex addict, and gambler who spends virtually all of his time in the gutter. He steals confiscated drugs and sells them to the pushers. He scams his colleagues and bets their money with the bookies. He gets free tricks from prostitutes who are trying to make ends meet without a pimp.

Two unrelated events speed up the inevitable self-destruction of Keitel’s character. The first is the highly anticipated collision between the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Keitel’s character repeatedly bets large sums of money on the losing team and becomes a target for one of the city’s biggest bookies by the time the series ends. The second is the brutal rape of a young nun (Frankie Thorn) somewhere in Spanish Harlem. Keitel’s character reluctantly begins working on the case and eventually tracks down two small-time criminals hiding in a rundown apartment, but is shocked to discover that the nun has forgiven them. While struggling to rationalize the nun’s decision, Keitel’s character is overwhelmed by unbridled anger that resets his entire system of beliefs.

The strength of Bad Lieutenant comes from Ferrara’s refusal to protect the audience from the ugly. Keitel goes all in, too. As a result, while not a miserabilist film that feels like an endurance test, Bad Lieutenant is a genuinely rough film that can be seriously unsettling.

The key similarity between Keitel and Caan’s characters is that they are both suicidal addicts by choice. The key difference between them is that Keitel’s character, unlike Caan’s, requires multiple fixes that dramatically accelerate his demise. It is why he always looks borderline unhinged and ready to implode. It is why the temporary mental clarity he experiences in the final act has such a profound effect on him, too. He is an unsavable human wreck.

What is the value of films that are as bleak and ugly as Bad Lieutenant? One cannot fight an addiction if one does not understand the pain and damage it is capable of causing. It is true that some of these films can unintentionally glorify an addiction, but Bad Lieutenant is not one of them. It is an eye-opener meant to leave a mental scar, reminding weak individuals how easy it is to reach the bottom of the abyss where Keitel’s character perishes.

Bad Lieutenant has had a complicated theatrical and home video distribution history. For example, it has been shown in two different versions, and even the unrated one is not the film Ferrara completed. (Some of the music featured in his original version is no longer in the unrated version). On the other side of the Atlantic, Bad Lieutenant was initially banned and then heavily cut. (One of the scenes that was cut features actress Zoe Lund injecting real heroin. Several years later, Lund died of a heroin overdose).

In 2009, Werner Herzog directed a remake of Bad Lieutenant with Nic Cage that was shot in New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. While a good film, Herzog’s remake has very little in common with Ferrara’s film.

Bad Lieutenant 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Bad Lieutenant is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures #1-18 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #21-29 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces a recent 4K makeover of Bad Lieutenant that can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. In native 4K, I chose to view the 4K makeover with Dolby Vision. However, I frequently switched to the 1080p presentation as well. I will explain why below.

In 2010, Lionsgate produced this Blu-ray release of Bad Lieutenant. It offers a good presentation of the film, but the new 4K makeover is an incredible revelation. In native 4K and 1080p, too. On my system, now the entire film has the healthy and lush appearance that makes all visuals, regardless of how much light/lighting they feature, look wonderful. The density of the visuals is much improved as well, so the darker footage tends to look noticeably better than it did in the past. Delineation, clarity, and depth are gravitating around reference levels, with close-ups typically looking the best. Color balance is fantastic. I always felt that previous home video releases struggled to accurately reproduce darker primaries and nuances, so darker footage typically appeared a bit anemic. This is no longer the case. I tend to prefer how some of these darker primaries and nuances look in 1080p, which is why I kept switching to observe the difference, but in the end both presentations are tremendous upgrades. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is outstanding. I did not encounter any damage or similar anomalies to report either.

Bad Lieutenant 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The previous Blu-ray release of Bad Lieutenant has only the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, so I decided to view the entire film with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. It is very good. In some areas, like the footage from the nightclub, the expansion is very easy to appreciate, but I would not describe it as a vastly superior track. Rather, I would say that it is a good option to have. The dialog was always clear, stable, and easy to follow. However, because of some of the many organic sounds and noises that flood the film, you should expect to notice some uneveness.

Bad Lieutenant 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Abel Ferrara and cinematographer Ken Kelsch. If you have not listened to it in the past -- it has been included on various Blu-ray and DVD releases of Bad Lieutenant -- you should plan to do so because Ferrara and Kelsch share a lot of interesting information with a fine dose of humor. As usual, Ferrara is a very honest commentator that accurately describes his home city, too, so there is plenty to learn about the bad lieutenant's playground.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Abel Ferrara and cinematographer Ken Kelsch. If you have not listened to it in the past -- it has been included on various Blu-ray and DVD releases of Bad Lieutenant -- you should plan to do so because Ferrara and Kelsch share a lot of interesting information with a fine dose of humor. As usual, Ferrara is a very honest commentator that accurately describes his home city, too, so there is plenty to learn about the bad lieutenant's playground.

• It All Happens Here: Abel Ferrara & the Making of Bad Lieutenant - this archival documentary takes a closer look at the genesis and production of Bad Lieutenant. Included in it are clips from interviews with Abel Ferrara, cinematographer Ken Kelsch, producer Randy Sabusawa, retired New York City police detective Bo Dietl, production designer Charles Lagola, and editor Anthony Redman, among others. The documentary has an interesting section about the discovery and tragic death of Zoe Lund as well. In English, not subtitled. (35 min).

• Bad Neighborhoods: The Locations of Bad Lieutenant - in this new program, critic and screenwriter Michael Gingold visits some of the locations in New York City where Abel Ferrara shot Bad Lieutenant. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Ken & Abel - in this new program, cinematographer Ken Kelsch recalls his first encounter with Abel Ferrara and what it was like to work on several of his films, including Bad Lieutenant. Also, there are some very interesting observations about Harvey Keitel's intense performance. Kelsch's professional relationship with Ferrara began shortly before The Driller Killer was greenlighted. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Bad Lieutenant. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

Bad Lieutenant 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Abel Ferrara is the last living great American auteur. Sadly, he has never been treated with the proper respect in America. Bad Lieutenant, arguably Ferrara's masterpiece, features a stunning Harvey Keitel playing a suicidal character that the 1970s should have produced. I have always wanted to see Bad Lieutenant properly restored and reintroduced on the home video market with a special release. This 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack is it. It offers an excellent presentation of Bad Lieutenant, with a good selection of exclusive new and archival bonus features. I will make sure that it appears on my Top Ten list at the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.