Gorky Park Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Gorky Park Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 8, 2024

Michael Apted's "Gorky Park" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Michael Apted and vintage trailers and TV spots. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

It is hard to imagine that Dennis Potter could have delivered a more ridiculous screenplay, and it is even harder to believe that the same screenplay was used to make a film with several terrific actors. The screenplay is based on the equally ridiculous book by Martin Cruz Smith that became a bestseller, though it must be said that there are some pretty dramatic differences between the two.

The story that is told in Michael Apted’s Gorky Park begins on the scene of a gruesome triple murder in the heart of Moscow. Local detective Arkadi Renko (William Hurt) takes on the case and quickly realizes that the KGB has a special interest in it and will closely monitor his progress. Because all three victims have had their faces removed, Renko reaches out to a medical expert who is famous for producing extremely accurate reconstructions of disfigured heads while working with very little. As Renko waits for the medical expert to complete his work and guesses how the victims might have been related, he comes in contact with Irina Asanova (Joanna Pacula), a young girl with a complicated past, and William Kirwill (Brian Dennehy), an American cop searching for answers as well. Then, as bits of meaningful information begin to emerge, Renko engages a frequent American visitor (Lee Marvin) with connections in the higher echelons of the Soviet government.

Gorky Park has many serious problems, but the biggest and most consequential one is its poor grasp of Soviet reality. (The same is true about Smith’s bestseller, too). For example, it is beyond ridiculous to speculate that the KGB would have allowed an American cop to roam the streets of Moscow and investigate a murder case on his own. Consider this: The KGB had a massive network of spies that monitored all activities by all Soviet citizens and international visitors, and because its leadership and top Party figures were so paranoid, it had created a second, phantom network of spies that monitored all activities of the spies from the first network. This is why for decades many Russians joked that they had at least one secret spy in their families -- everyone was spying on everyone, which is how the Party was so successful in eliminating its critics. In Gorky Park, Dennehy claims immunity from this practice because his mother was Russian, and at the right time begins working with Hurt. It is an impossible scenario.

A big portion of Gorky Park is dedicated to Hurt’s relationship with Pacula, who has openly criticized the Party’s regime while communicating with a foreigner from the other side of the Iron Curtain. This is an impossible scenario, too. The KGB dealt with people like Pacula in two ways. They were promptly arrested and sent to a labor camp somewhere in Siberia, or instantly eliminated. Or, if they had established a public profile, they were assigned a permanent agent to document every minute of their existence. (For reference, one of the most visible and influential Soviet artists, Vladimir Vysotsky, who enjoyed unprecedented freedom of expression, had multiple agents monitoring him and everyone he maintained a close relationship with). If they became impossible to tolerate, they were neutralized in staged accidents or medical emergencies. In other words, all the crucial developments that materialize because of Hurt’s relationship with Pacula are unrealistic.

The existence of a character like the one Marvin plays is impossible to defend as well. The Party had a lot of corrupt members, but they were not reckless enough to engage in damaging business relationships with foreigners like Marvin. They accepted small sums of cash, imported gifts, etc. When they traveled to a friendly communist state, they enjoyed free meals, the company of beautiful women, etc. The KGB knew all of them and controlled their habits, too, so they were never given a chance to damage the Party from within.

The smaller problems range from badly scripted dialog to awful foreign accents to odd, utterly incompatible with Soviet reality locations. An appropriately strange synth-pop soundtrack erodes the desired atmosphere as well.

Gorky Park 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, Gorky Park arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Gorky Park made its high-definition debut with this release, also from Kino Lorber, in 2014. The original release and this recent release are sourced from the same old master that was supplied by MGM, but the technical presentation of the film is different. What is different? The recent release is encoded with proper gamma levels. Also, unlike the previous release, the recent release uses a dual-layer disc.

Are there any noticeable upgrades in quality? The old master has some obvious limitations. For example, in most footage where daylight is present, highlights produce light blooming that impacts the perception of depth. In darker areas, grain frequently begins to look noisy, and this change also impacts the perception of depth. Color balance is stable, but saturation levels on select primaries and supporting nuances can be better. From time to time, tiny nicks and blemishes emerge as well. In other words, there is room for some meaningful improvements. However, now various areas of the film produce visuals with a superior dynamic range. The difference is not striking, but on a large screen the superiority of these visuals is rather easy to appreciate. I think that there are even areas where the superior encode leaves the impression that density levels are better. Ultimately, this recent release offers the best technical presentation of Gorky Park, but if the film is properly restored in 2K or 4K, it will look quite a bit better. (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).

Gorky Park 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 provided for the main feature.

I think that the current lossless track is very solid. If you turn up the volume of your system, you will hear very clear, sharp, and stable dialog. While the soundtrack is quite odd, it produces plenty of good dynamic contrasts as well. So, is there any room for meaningful improvements? If in the future the audio is fully remastered, I have to speculate that if there are any improvements they will be cosmetic. The current lossless track does not reveal any signs of aging, in any of its registers, so any future improvements will likely address balance and the roundness/fullness of the audio.

Gorky Park Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Director Michael Apted - in this archival program, Michael Apted recalls some of the obstacles that had to be overcome before and during the production of Gorky Park, and addresses some of the film's themes and the reality they in which its characters exist. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Gorky Park. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Teaser Trailer - a vintage teaser trailer for Gorky Park. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• TV Spots - presented here a couple of TV spots for Gorky Park. Sourced from a VHS. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Gorky Park Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gorky Park uses as a foundation for its story an extremely poor grasp of Soviet reality, which is why its characters and the drama it produces are very problematic. It unites several very talented actors that make it appear like a legitimately ambitious project, but the truth is that it is not any better than some of the historically inaccurate films Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus funded for the Cannon Group. Its disappointing box office receipts were well-deserved. This recent reissue offers a slightly better technical presentation of the film, but you will probably need a very big screen to easily appreciate the difference in quality.