Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Fighting Back Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 29, 2023

As a longtime resident of one of the cities in the United States regularly held up as a prime example of the issue of out of control crime, namely Portland, I can say with some authority that there are a lot of people screaming about the (obvious) problems, but very few coming up with rational, implementable solutions. And that right there is the rub. How exactly are we law abiding types supposed to deal with rampant crime, whether or not it stems from someone long ensconced in such activity or, as seems to be the case in my hometown, at least sometimes the result of unbelievable hardships foisted on people due to the pandemic and its after effects, which then arguably push them toward their darker angels? They say that the fifty states in our country provide fifty laboratories for different ways of doing things, and in that regard, there are probably hundreds of relatively major population centers scattered throughout every region of the United States where crime is more or less out of control, and a number of these metropolises have tried any number of different strategies to confront various issues. And yet crime persists, again not to state the obvious. Fighting Back gives away its basic plot premise in its very title, and as hardscrabble and realistic as this Lewis Teague film obviously wants to be, the fact that it has a decidedly if intentionally ironically rosy ending with crime supposedly being eradicated may in fact push this story into the realm of the fairy tale, or so those prone to being cynical may argue. The fact that Fighting Back has by that point shown its focal hero John D'Angelo giving into his darker angels gives this film some supposed depth, but despite a really interesting cast and some effective writing, things never quite gel completely.

By the time we get to the point where John lives up to the film's title, he's been a veritable Job of sorts, enduring all kinds of trauma and tragedy that affect both his personal relationships and his ability to make a living on the mean streets of south Philadelphia. The redoubtable Patti LuPone plays John's wife Lisa, and a seemingly random confrontation with a bit of street crime involving a pimp named Eldorado (Pete Richardson) leads to some tragedy that introduces a fair amount of melodrama into the proceedings. John's own mother Vera (Gina DeAngelis) is also attacked in another random fit of street violence, and the entire ambience of the film is a claustrophobic urban nightmare that is being overrun by thugs, muggers, druggies and sex workers.

John decides to put together a Guardian Angels-esque neighborhood watch group called the People's Neighborhood Patrol, which instantly puts John on the simultaneous radars of both the police and those aforementioned bad types. John at least has the good fortune to have a longtime friend in policeman Vince Morelli (Michael Sarrazin), who helps to keep things calm between the "official" peacekeepers and John's quasi-vigilante squad. Rather fascinatingly and in one of the screenplay's more interesting angles, a racial component comes into play courtesy of the number of minorities John and his group are targeting, but even more provocatively when it turns out there's another vigilante group being run by a black man, Ivanhoe Washington (Yaphet Kotto).

The screenplay by Thomas Hedley Jr. and David Z. Goodman is both simultaneously intelligent but also kind of annoying in that it obviously wants to paint in shades of gray as virtually everyone in the film, both perceived "good guys" and "bad guys" have somewhat variable moral compasses. That's all well and good, but the film wants to wallow in needless melodrama (do we really need everything from miscarriages to amputations?), and then a kind of patently ridiculous climax that suddenly sees John going all Rambo, if only for a moment. It's perhaps salient to note that Goodman also wrote Straw Dogs, another film about an "everyday Joe" forced to become violent to protect his hearth and home.

Skerritt is quite good in this film, as are Sarrazin and Kotto. LuPone is also an appealing and sympathetic presence (it's Lisa's act of kindness toward a working girl that kind of sets everything in motion).

Fighting Back Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fighting Back is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following pretty generic information on the transfer:

Fighting Back is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with original mono sound. The high definition master was supplied by Paramount Pictures.

I'm not assigned to regularly cover Paramount's own Blu-ray releases, and so don't have a wealth of experience, though the few things from them that I have reviewed have generally offered solid technical merits, and that's once again the case here. A really healthy palette is one of this transfer's strengths, and everything from flesh tones to gritty urban environments have a very natural look. Detail levels are generally excellent, admittedly ebbing at times in some low light situations, which can also introduce a bit of crush and a noticeably chunkier grain field. There's no major damage of any kind to report.

Fighting Back Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fighting Back features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track that provides fine support for a soundtrack that is often rife with the clamor of a busy urban environment. Ambient environmental sounds reverberate believably and a kind of funky score by Piero Piccioni also sounds great. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Fighting Back Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Enough is Enough (HD; 29:00) is an appealing career spanning interview with Lewis Teague.


• DANNY-CAM with Daniele Nannuzzi (HD; 22:08) is an interview with camera operator Daniele Nannuzzi. This comes with a spoiler warning. Subtitled in English.


• UK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:27)


• US TV Spot (HD; 00:30)


• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, Arrow provides another very nicely appointed booklet with essays by Rob Skvarla and Walter Chaw and an "oral history" interview of Lewis Teague by Alison Kozberg, along with the usual cast and crew information and technical data. The keepcase also houses a folded mini poster. Packaging features a slipcover.

Fighting Back Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Look, I'll admit up front that I don't have any "easy answers" as to what to do about rampant crime, but I'm not sure becoming a vigilante and killing and/or maiming all sorts of people is the right way to go about things. That said, there is an undeniable visceral thrill to seeing some idiot criminal get his comeuppance, and that element recurs throughout Fighting Back. Fans of the cast may want to check this out despite any perceived flaws, and for anyone who may be considering making a purchase, technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable.