8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A Puerto Rican ex-con, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence—despite the pressure around him—and lead a better life outside New York City.
Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Ingrid RogersCrime | 100% |
Drama | 92% |
Period | 36% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS:X
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Arrow is revisiting Carlito's Way with another handsomely packaged release that offers a good deal of on disc bonus content and
additional swag. Over a decade ago (!) I reviewed Universal's first 1080 Blu-ray release of the film, and for convenience sake, parts of that review
are reprinted here, along with new technical analyses and lists of supplements. Those interested may also want to check out Martin Liebman's
Carlito's Way 4K Blu-ray review of Universal's 4K
release from a couple of years ago.
There’s a fine line between crafting an hommage and outright ripping someone off. Probably no director has suffered the slings and arrows
of both categories than Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock was so distinctive in both technique and subject matter that whole generations of directors
have come along to mimic his style and narrative proclivities. Sometimes they’ve just outright aped him, as in Gus Van Sant’s intellectually
interesting but artistically hollow remake of Psycho, a film that literally copied (more or less, with a couple of notable exceptions) every
shot, angle and supposed nuance of Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece. All that was missing was the terror and subtext which Hitchcock alone seemed
to be able to effortlessly bring to not just this particular film, but all of his great achievements. Sometimes the copying has been a little more
subtle, as in the case of Brian De Palma, who visited the often twisted psychological landscape of Hitchcock in several films (notably
Obsession, Body Double and, perhaps, Dressed to Kill), while at least touching tangentially on several major themes of
the Master of Suspense in other films like Carrie and Sisters. De Palma has in fact made no secret of his love of not just
Hitchcock, but a whole gallery of iconic filmmakers, often quoting their set pieces outright or indicating his sources without much obfuscation. You
might get Eisenstein in The Untouchables or Antonioni in Blow Out. And so one is left to wonder if a director can actually rip
himself off when he’s spent so much of his career unabashedly imitating other directors’ set pieces and overall styles. Carlito’s
Way is in many ways a retread of De Palma’s previous effort with Pacino, Scarface (itself a remake of sorts, of course), covering the
same gangster ethos as that other film, but with a perhaps grittier psychological subtext made especially visceral as a result of the
flashback technique of the narrative.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc included with this release.
Carlito's Way is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HVEC / H. 265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert
booklet
provides a minimal amount of technical information about the transfer, to whit:
Carlito's Way is presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with DTS:X / DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and 5.1 audio.I'll start out by noting in passing that Arrow's 1080 disc in this package is encoded via AVC rather than the old VC-1 encode on the Universal disc, and as can probably be gleaned from the screenshots accompanying this review, even that presentation is a bit brighter and arguably slightly warmer than the old Universal 1080 release, two qualities that I would say port over to the 4K UHD version. Detail levels enjoy at least minor improvement, and I'd argue that in some selected scenes, notably some of the more brightly lit moments like the early courtroom sequence, they really pop with considerable authority even when stacked up against an already generally excellent 1080 presentation. The palette here struck me as just slightly skewed toward warmer tones, especially with HDR, so that things have a slightly purplish-red cast at times. The black and white moments are especially striking and offer really sumptuous contrast. As Marty noted in his review of Universal's own 4K UHD release, there are some moments of passing softness, and I'd go further to state that a few dark scenes in particular aren't especially aided by HDR in terms of revealing new information, but on the whole I found this to be a really nicely upgraded version. My score is 4.25.
The UHD presents the film graded in HDR10, while the Blu-ray presents the film graded in standard dynamic range.
The film was restored and supplied in 4K by NBC Universal.
All audio mixes were remastered by NBC Universal.
The 1080 disc in this package replicates the Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (along with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 option), while the 4K UHD disc ups the ante with a really nicely rendered DTS:X track. As Marty mentioned with regard to the Universal DTS:X track, this isn't particularly "showy", but I was perhaps a bit more satisfied overall than Marty was with regard to some really nicely placed ambient environmental effects and a gorgeously spacious accounting of Patrick Doyle's beautiful score, which as I mentioned in my long ago review of Universal's 1080 release, features some elegiac string writing which is very redolent of Barber's "Adagio for Strings" and Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis." Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.
4K UHD Disc
- Audio Commentary with Matt Zoller Seitz
- Select Scene Commentary with Dr. Douglas Keesey
- Audio Commentary with Matt Zoller Seitz
- Select Scene Commentary with Dr. Douglas Keesey
- Carlito & The Judge (HD; 12:32) is an interview with Judge Edwin Torres, author of Carlito's Way and After Hours, both of which provided source material for the film.
- Cutting Carlito's Way (HD; 17:22) features editors Bill Pankow and Kristina Boden.
- De Palma on Carlito's Way (HD; 5:28) offers an archival interview with the director.
- Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:46)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:46)
Brian De Palma manages to helm a film that delivers a lot of cinematic sweep while also offering uniformly excellent performances by Pacino, Miller, a great supporting cast, and most especially Penn in one of his most unusual interpretations. It's dour and unrelenting, but Carlito's Way is never less than fully involving. This Arrow release does the film proud both in terms of providing solid technical merits, while offering a glut of both on disc and "extracurricular" supplements. Highly recommended.
Original Artwork | Limited Edition
1993
1993
1993
Remastered Edition
1993
1993
1993
1993
1990
1972
2016
1974
1973
2013
1990
1994
1995
2019
1990
1991
2013
Director's Cut
1993
Theatrical Edition
1997
2008
2002
Extended Director's Cut
1984
2000
25th Anniversary Edition
1998