6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The latest success by film-maker Giacomo Solaris is a crime thriller about a judge who gets too friendly with the Mafia and is murdered. A resentful Sicilian magistrate orders the film seized, but then he winds up dead, in a fashion just like that in Solaris's movie. Solaris realizes that corrupt political forces are pulling strings, for his friends begin to die in grisly ways. Will he learn the truth about the murder of the judge in time?
Starring: Franco Nero, Giancarlo Badessi, Ennio Balbo, Luciano Catenacci, Tano CimarosaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 48% |
Crime | 25% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani set from Radiance
Films.
Franco Nero is one of those huge international superstars who perhaps perplexingly never really seemed to make a consistent impact in the United
States market for whatever reason, though some have mentioned his lack of facility with English for having potentially contributed to that situation.
In
that
regard, it's at least arguable that the "average Joe" and/or "Joanne" filmgoer on this side of the pond would only be able
to point to Camelot, perhaps ironically even if they hadn't
actually seen it, simply because of the gossip column fodder that erupted courtesy of his burgeoning relationship with co-star Vanessa
Redgrave.
That said, Camelot and maybe, just maybe titles like The Bible: In the Beginning... and/or Die Hard 2: Die Harder might occur to some
stateside fans as offering Nero
performances they've seen, but of course his European popularity was unmatched in his heyday, spurred by his star making performance in Django. As is recounted in some of the supplements Radiance has
included with this three disc set, Nero matriculated from westerns in the sixties into some late sixties through seventies films that were at least
tangentially related to
Poliziotteschi, though often from the "flip side", i.e., focusing on the criminals rather than the good guys. Radiance has aggregated three of
those entries in this appealing set, which features productions ranging from 1968 to 1975 all directed by Damiano Damiani, and at least somewhat
interestingly only one of which features Nero as a policeman.
How to Kill a Judge is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Radiance's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:
How to Kill a Judge was scanned in 2K from the original camera negative and restored and colour graded by Augustus Color, Rome. Additional colour correction was performed by Radiance Films in 2023. The original Italian and English mono soundtracks were restored by Radiance Films in 2022.This is another generally great looking transfer that offers a nicely organic appearance, very few signs of age related wear and tear, and an often quite nicely suffused palette. While probably not at the levels in The Day of the Owl, this transfer can at least occasionally skew slightly toward yellows, though reds are secure (not verging toward oranges as in the other film), and flesh tones look natural. Detail levels are often impressive on things like the textures of fabrics. What I'm assuming may have been some second unit on location sequences can look just slightly softer than the bulk of the presentation.
How to Kill a Judge features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in either Italian or English. The Italian track is generally full bodied, but may not have quite the high end that the English track does. That said, that clearer high end on the English track can reveal hiss which is less evident on the Italian track. Both tracks offer dialogue cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.
The basic story in How to Kill a Judge is fascinating enough, but the background information imparted in some of the supplements on this disc really lends things considerable impact that may help the viewer to elide some of the more static aspects to the storytelling. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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