6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
An experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.
Starring: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso, Randy Brooks, Grand L. BushThriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
1704 kbps
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A few years ago, my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov reviewed the global Blu-ray debut of COLORS (1988) courtesy of UK-based Second Sight.
Shout Select has released a "Collector's Edition" BD of Dennis Hopper's film that integrates additional footage from the TV cut and international
version.
At a pre-production meeting in the mid eighties, Orion Pictures Vice President Mike Medavoy and Sean Penn met with aspiring screenwriter Michael
Schiffer to discuss a new project at the studio. Medavoy and Penn were discussing a story treatment that looked at the country's fledgling gangs in
the inner cites and asked Schiffer what kind of characters and narrative arc his script could center around. Without knowing anything about gangs,
Schiffer abruptly responded that it would be about a senior police officer and rookie cop aiming to take down a community's most notorious gangs.
Initially to be set in Chicago, Schiffer relocated the action to Los Angeles where the LAPD were combating gangs with a historically high drug
epidemic. Schiffer road along with a photographer and gang unit, putting in fourteen-hour days worth of ethnographic research. In his fourth film
as a director, Hopper brought high-octane energy and a hard edge to the material. The movie also saw Hopper reunite with fellow Apocalypse
Now alum, Robert Duvall, although Colors was actually the third film that the two were involved in. The brash Danny McGavin seems
like a role tailor-made for Penn, who embraces it with rugged individualism. It is important to remember that Penn staked his reputation for playing
anti-authoritarian figures in such films as Bad Boys (1983)
and The Falcon and the
Snowman (1985).
Duvall and Penn play off each other's antics and jokes very well. (I don't want to spoil any for viewers who haven't seen the film.) Officers Bob
Hodges (Duvall) and McGavin (Penn) are assigned as partners to cover the South and Central bureaus as part of the LAPD's newly implemented
C.R.A.S.H. initiative. (The acronym stands for Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums.) Hodges and McGavin's first case together is to
investigate the drive-by shooting of (Brian Davis), a member of the Bloods gang. McGavin discovers that it's difficult to ferret information out of the
youth gang members. He prefers to instigate brute force on suspects and accomplices, which differs from the more restrained and systematic
means of intelligence gathering that Hodges has long practiced. McGavin's role in C.R.A.S.H. gets complicated when he becomes romantically
involved with the attractive Hispanic woman, Louisa Gomez (Maria Conchita Alonso), who turns out to have a cousin that McGavin interrogates.
Partners in crime.
Colors make its US debut courtesy of Shout Select (#12 in the catalog) on this AVC-encoded BD-50. The label presents the film in its original
theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, with an encode that carries an average video bitrate of 30993 kbps and a total bitrate of 34.50 mbps. Authoring and
compression are marginally better on this disc than the UK BD-50
that Svet reviewed in 2015. (The average bitrate was 29961 kbps.) When MGM released Colors on DVD in 2001, the transfer was solid but
Shout bests that and the others here. I was a little worried at the transfer's prospects when I spotted white speckles over the Orion Pictures logo.
During the main titles, there was some dirt and debris hovering around the credits, too. However, after the first reel, damage marks are kept to a
minimum. Grain is erratic throughout the film but the improved resolution shows in day-lit scenes where Hodges and McGavin are out on patrol. Skin
tones look natural and unmanipulated. Detail is good, if not exceptional.
Shout advertises this version as the "Unrated Cut" including scenes that were not released in theaters as well as additional scenes from the
international cut. Second Sight included over eight minutes of deleted scenes on its disc and the good news is that Shout has reintegrated them into
the film, presumably in original order from a longer cut. Four of the excised scenes on the UK disc were presented in 1.33:1 but Shout has restored
them to their original widescreen glory. There were some print defects on the UK's 1080p 1.85:1 cut scenes but Shout has cleaned those up. I have
uploaded several screenshots from scenes that were not in the US theatrical version. The only regret is that Shout did not include the original theatrical
cut of Colors along with an option for "seamless branching."
Unlike Second Sight, Shout has provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
Shout renders the film's original stereo as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The recording is also superior to Second Sight's sound track, which was LPCM 2.0 with an encode of 1536 kbps (16-bit). Shout's 24-bit recording edges ahead with 1704 kbps. With the exception of the songs, dialogue is front- heavy. Shout makes equal use of the center and front channels. Composer Herbie Hancock was hot coming off his Oscar-winning jazz score for 'Round Midnight (1986) and his keyboard-based score for Colors suits the onscreen action well, though it's repetitive. During the end credits, the background vocals of Ice-T's "Colors" provide accompaniment on the surround channels. Overall, the track is in very good shape.
Colors was already a very good film and the additional footage helps make a few modest improvements in character development. Although this is not a frame-by-frame restoration, the transfer for Colors looks quite sharp. Shout has also ported over the bonus materials from Second Sight's disc and retained the trailer from MGM's DVD. Fans of Hopper, Duvall, Penn, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler will want to indulge in this package. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
2001
The Dirty Harry Collection
1973
1999
4K Restoration
1972
Limited Edition Reissue
1974
2011
1992
Limited Edition to 3000
1973
1989
1983
2019
2015
2006
1995
2022
MVD Rewind Collection
1985
1990
Unrated Cut
2012
2014
2016