6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Freebie and Bean are mismatched San Francisco cops who bird-dog a notorious mobster as if auditioning for a demolition derby, cutting loose with bullets and wisecracks all the way.
Starring: Alan Arkin, James Caan, Loretta Swit, Jack Kruschen, Mike KellinDark humor | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Pick your favorite pair of buddy cops: Riggs and Murtagh? Carter and Lee? Mike Lowrey and
Marcus Burnett? Starsky and Hutch? Cagney and Lacey? All of them owe something to the 1974
surprise hit Freebie and the Bean, starring James Caan and Alan Arkin as a pair of feuding San Francisco
detectives for whom the art of investigation resembles a demolition derby followed by a barroom
brawl. Produced and directed by Richard Rush (The Stunt
Man) from a story by Floyd Mutrux
(Mulholland Falls) and a script by Robert
Kaufman (Love at First Bite),
Freebie is a do-it-yourself-guide for bad police work. It exists in an alternative universe where "serve and protect"
has become "search and destroy".
Like many Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive Collection, Freebie is a cult classic,
retaining a devoted following in the three-plus decades since the film first played in theaters.
WAC has rewarded fans' devotion with a new 1080p presentation that offers Rush's elaborately
choreographed chaosshot on location on the streets of San Franciscoin all its anarchic (and
politically incorrect) insanity.
Freebie and the Bean was shot by the great László Kovács, whose achievements in cinematography range from the documentary realism of Easy Rider to the fantastical spirits of the original Ghostbusters. For this 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, a new scan of an interpositive was performed at 2K by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility, followed by appropriate color-correction and cleanup. The resulting image isn't anyone's idea of pretty, with its dull urban palette, but it's an accurate reproduction of Freebie's location photography. The film is filled with San Francisco landmarks like the Transamerica Pyramid and the City Lights bookstore (now, sadly, gone), but Freebie's version of the City by the Bay doesn't attempt to glamorize it. The cityscape through which Freebie and Bean pursue and get pursued features the overcast skies and dim surroundings characteristic of everyday S.F., especially in the depths of the Seventies. Though shot with anamorphic lenses, Freebie's image is surprisingly sharp and detailed for the era, revealing nuanced textures in faces, period wardrobe (yikes!) and gritty metropolitan surroundings. The image is so finely resolved that it sometimes reveals the artifice of the stunt vehicles, with their breakaway glass and bodywork designed to be crumpled. Nightime scenes feature solid blacks, and the film's grain pattern is naturally rendered and visible but not obtrusive. WAC has mastered Freebie at its usual high average bitrate, here 34.99 Mbps.
Freebie's original mono soundtrack has been taken from the magnetic master, cleaned of any age-related defects and encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0. The dialogue is frequently buried in the mix, as Freebie and Bean talk (and bellow) over each other, and an occasional line, usually from Alan Arkin, overloads and distorts. I have been assured that these issues are inherent in the source and reflect director Richard Rush's intentions (or perhaps his indifference, since the dialogue is secondary to the stunts and physical comedy). The track's dynamic range is sufficient to support the action sequences, although no one would ever mistake the sound editing for a modern production. The incongruously jocular score is by Dominic Frontiere, and its style and themes anticipate the composer's future collaboration with Rush on The Stunt Man.
The sole extra is a trailer, which has been remastered in 1080p. WAC's 2009 DVD of Freebie and the Bean was similarly bare.
Alan Arkin reportedly dismissed Freebie as "garbage", but the film has garnered some
prestigious fans over the years, including Stanley Kubrick (though some dispute this) and Peter O'Toole. The latter's
admiration for Freebie made him willing to talk to Rush about The Stunt Man, and the result was
a casting coup that netted O'Toole an Oscar nomination and helped make Rush's best film the
idiosyncratic masterpiece it is. Freebie was never a film for everyone's taste, and that's even
more true today when treating police misconduct as a joke is a tougher sell. But the film's energy
is infectious and its influence is indisputable. WAC's Blu-ray presentation is superior and
recommended.
Collector's Edition
1988
Warner Archive Collection
1990
1978
1990
1993
1995
1942
Limited Edition Reissue
1974
Amazon Manufactured on Demand
1955
1994
1984
1970
1951
1975
Limited Edition to 3000
1973
1977
1998
Limited Edition to 3000
1972
1971
1975