Fatal Beauty Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Fatal Beauty Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 23, 2016

Tom Holland's "Fatal Beauty" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Cops

Rita Rizzoli (Whoopi Goldberg, The Player) seems to be the only detective that actually realizes that LA has been flooded with cheap drugs and that someone needs to do something quick before the city destroys itself. She does her best to put the bad guys behind bars, but there are so many of them that she can’t make a difference.

When a powerful new synthetic drug called Fatal Beauty leaves piles of bodies in different parts of the city, Rizzoli goes straight to the man (Harris Yulin, Scarface) everyone believes is its creator. In his lavish villa she is confronted by his right-hand man, Mike (Sam Elliott, The Big Lebowski), who finds her toughness unusually attractive. After that the two repeatedly clash and eventually begin seeing each other.

Meanwhile, some of the city’s biggest pushers decide to redistribute its most profitable areas but fail to agree how to do it. In the ensuing bloody war, Rizzoli sees an opportunity to do some serious damage and crumble the empire of their powerful supplier.

Fatal Beauty is a difficult film to like. There is a fairly large chunk of it that wants to be a gritty cop thriller and deliver a serious message about LA and the apparently thriving drug business there. The film argues that cops like Rizzoli are supposedly the city’s only hope but they don’t have the support they need to be even remotely successful while trying to make a difference. An even bigger chunk of the film, however, wants to be a realistic romantic drama. It turns out that Rizzoli and Mike desperately need some romance in their lives and that they are ready to make some surprising compromises in order to get it. Amidst the bloody shootouts they slowly warm up to each other and eventually figure out that they may actually have a future together. How bizarre.

Occasionally there is decent chemistry between Goldberg and Elliot, but the film’s dual identity is seriously flawed. Frankly, the switches are so awkward that more often than not it feels like the film was scripted by two different writers who had entirely different ideas about the direction it should follow and then edited by someone who never bothered to discuss it with them. Not surprisingly, when these switches occur the whole thing begins to look a bit like a parody in which the stars are experimenting with a wide range of contrasting personalities.

The action sequences are also full of perplexing contrasts. For example, there is one very silly sequence in which a thug crushes a bottle with his teeth to make his boss’ opponent change his mind that would have been very effective in Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire. And elsewhere, in a very graphic sequence that would have been perfect for Dennis Hopper’s Colors, the body of a giant drug addict is literally destroyed by Rizzoli and her colleagues after he pulls out a gun.

Some diehard fans of Goldberg and Elliott may find this film mildly entertaining, but there is no doubt that both actors have done much better work. Action junkies are unlikely to be thrilled with this film either.

Fatal Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Tom Holland's Fatal Beauty arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

Occasionally some of the darker footage could appear a bit flat -- there is light black crush and grain isn't as well resolved as it should be. The color scheme also lacks some nuances that further affect fluidity and balance. The good news here is that there are no traces of recent digital manipulations. This does make a difference because despite the various limitations the film still has a fairly decent appearance. Image stability is very good. Also, there are no large damage marks, debris, cuts, stains, or other common age-related anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Fatal Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

Clarity and depth are quite good. There are a number of action sequences where the dynamic intensity is also rather impressive (see the shootout in the store). There are no balance issues, though it is worth mentioning that there are a couple of outdoor sequences with some prominent random noises. There are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, or digital distortions to report.

Fatal Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Fatal Beauty. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Fatal Beauty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is possible that Tom Holland's Fatal Beauty will be enjoyed by some diehard fans of its two stars, but everyone else I think would find it incredibly underwhelming. The weakest link seems to be the script, which has borrowed from a lot of different places without having a clear idea what to do with the material. Olive Films' technical presentation of the film is rather good, but there are no meaningful supplemental features on the Blu-ray. RENT IT.