7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In the 1980s, ruthless Colombian cocaine barons invaded Miami with a brand of violence unseen in this country since Prohibition-era Chicago - and it put the city on the map. "Cocaine Cowboys" is the true story of how Miami became the drug, murder and cash capital of the United States, told by the people who made it all happen.
Starring: Jon Pernell Roberts, Mickey Munday, Jorge “Rivi” Ayala, Al SingletonCrime | 100% |
Documentary | 18% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
After premiering at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, Billy Corben's documentary Cocaine Cowboys was picked up by Magnolia Pictures, which released the film according to its usual multi-platform strategy in theaters, on-demand and on DVD. The film's meticulous research and precise construction left a memorable impression on anyone who saw it. The subtitle for the documentary's German release summed it up best: "The True History Behind Scarface and Miami Vice". Indeed, to make sure no one missed the connection, Corben and his producing partner, Alfred Spellman, persuaded Jan Hammer, composer of the Miami Vice theme, to supply the film's soundtrack. Hammer's driving, relentless synthesizer score, coupled with the inherent drama of Corben's tale of cash, killings and chaos, gave his film a propulsive energy that few documentaries—indeed, few dramas—could match. Magnolia is now releasing the film on Blu-ray for the first time. As compensation for the eight-year delay, they are offering an extended and re-edited version (hence "Reloaded") that runs approximately thirty-six minutes longer than the original release, including updated developments on some of the key players. Many have since died from causes both natural and otherwise. In the interim, Corben and Smallwood also released Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin' with the Godmother (2008), a companion piece about a "disciple" of one the key players in Cocaine Cowboys. Here's hoping Magnolia brings it to Blu-ray in the near future. According to director Corben, almost an hour of Reloaded is new footage, which means that some parts of the original Cocaine Cowboys have been replaced with different material. A detailed comparison was not available, but you would never know from the experience of watching Reloaded that an earlier version existed. The original movie was carved out of 150 hours of interviews, 50 hours of archival footage and 1000 stills. With the benefit of hindsight and time for reflection, Corben has obviously had time to consider other approaches to telling his story, and there must have been plenty of material worth adding—so much so that the Reloaded Blu-ray even contains deleted scenes, all of them worthwhile.
Cocaine Cowboys was shot on a combination of consumer digital video and 35mm film; the director of photography was Armando Salas. However, so much of the documentary consists of standard-definition archival footage that the usual standards for evaluating a Blu-ray image barely apply. These portions are VHS quality and will never look particularly good. Moreover, some of these segments suffer from obvious damage, but their importance as factual material outweighs any concern for their prettiness. Some of the best-looking images in Cocaine Cowboys come from high-resolution still photographs, mostly black-and-white. These take full advantage of the 1080p resolution on Magnolia Home Entertainment's AVC-encoded Blu-ray. Interviews filmed in 35mm also show good sharpness and detail, despite some obvious processing via a digital intermediate in an effort to blend the new filmed footage with the archival sources. The standard definition DV footage is adequate but is limited by its low-res origins. At an average bitrate of 28.49 Mbps, Magnolia has provided enough bandwidth to deal with all the visual oddities created by the disparate sources from which Corben has drawn.
Like the original Cocaine Cowboys, Reloaded has a 5.1 sound mix, presented here in lossless DTS-HD MA. This being a documentary, the focus is on the interview subjects and their dialogue in the front, but that doesn't mean the surround array goes to waste. Jan Hammer's pulsing score is a constant presence, even when it's dialed down into the background so that the current speaker can be heard more distinctly. With its twanging guitar and pulsating drive, Hammer's score conveys the restless energy of Miami's drug entrepreneurs and their dangerous lives, and also the dogged pursuit of the few determined cops who managed to remain committed to the ideal of law and order. (As Corben recounts, many police officers simply gave up and changed careers.) The track has wide dynamic range and deep bass extension, and Hammer's instrumentals make the most of its capabilities.
Cocaine Cowboys, either original or Reloaded, won't provide support for either side in the war on drugs. Yes, the inability to stop the illegal drug trade did turn a previously peaceful American city into a perpetual gunfight at the O.K. Corral. But figures like Roberts and Munday raise serious questions about whether a popular recreational substance can ever be banned without disastrous consequences, just as Prohibition demonstrated the deadly cost of banning alcohol. Corben steers clear of such policy thickets. He just tells the story, and the real-life criminals who emerge are every bit as colorful and intriguing as the movie and TV characters they inspired. Great stories are defined by their villains, which is why Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded is highly recommended.
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