Hudson Hawk Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Hudson Hawk Blu-ray Movie Review

He Knows a Hawk from a Hacksaw

Reviewed by Michael Reuben June 30, 2013

Hudson Hawk belongs to that reviled fraternity of Hollywood star vehicles that bellyflopped, after the industry and the press tagged them as "vanity projects" and the star obliged by involving himself so much in the creative process that self-sabotage became a self-fulfilling prophesy. Bruce Willis and producer Joel Silver were riding high at that point on the success of the first two Die Hard movies. Who did this former TV actor and upstart producer think they were? And Willis had co-written the original story featuring himself as a wise-cracking cat burglar with a smirk, a cappuccino addiction and a habit of singing old pop tunes while he carried out his intricate thefts. Could it get any more self-indulgent? When the movie finally hit theaters in June 1991, everyone piled on and the film was pronounced a dud.

But Hudson Hawk has refused to go quietly. It may not have been the blockbuster for which Silver Pictures is known, but it had "cult classic" written all over it. Over the years, viewers have generally divided into the love-it or hate-it variety. (If you haven't guessed by now, I'm in the former camp—and proud of it.) The director, Michael Lehmann, who has never again been given a massive budget, was best known for the darkly comic high school satire Heathers, where he routinely achieved the same kind of outrageous, did-someone-just-say-that? humor that often pops up in Hudson Hawk, but with a far more frugal budget. Not coincidentally, the screenwriter of Heathers, Daniel Waters, was one of the scribes hired to transform the original story by Willis and his composer buddy, Robert Kraft, into a script. (The other writer was Steven E. de Souza, a veteran of the Die Hard films.)

In Lehmann's hands, Hudson Hawk became one extended goof with occasional action scenes. It's not for everyone, but it's a unique brand of silliness that falls somewhere between Monty Python and Mel Brooks. What can you say about a film that frequently references Nintendo, then names its crime family the Mario Bros.? Like Andie MacDowell's dolphin impression, which comes out of nowhere, there's nothing quite like it.

A prologue narrated by the great William Conrad sets up the story. (It also includes a Mona Lisa joke so broad that you can't miss that the film is a comedy.) It turns out that Leonardo da Vinci really did discover the secret for turning lead into gold. He also perfected a flying machine, which will come in handy in the film's elaborate conclusion.

In the present, Hudson Hawk, also known as "Eddie" (Willis), is released from a ten-year stretch in Sing Sing, where he is met by his buddy and former partner, Tommy "Five-Tone" Messina (Danny Aiello). Hudson wants to go straight and stay out of trouble, but before he has even left the prison gates, his parole officer (Burtt Harris) has tried to involve him in a burglary on behalf of the Mario Bros., Cesar (Frank Stallone) and Mario (Carmine Zozzora), who are described as "New Jersey's third-largest crime family". All Hudson wants is a cappuccino, and one of the film's running jokes is that, whenever he's on the verge of getting one, he's interrupted.

A lot of shady characters want Hudson's skills, including a former CIA man with a name that Hitchcock fans should recognize, George Kaplan, and a face that fans of classic spy spoofs should enjoy (James Coburn's). Kaplan has four agents working for him, all of them code-named for candy bars: the very cynical Almond Joy (Lorraine Toussaint), the very arch Snickers (Don Harvey), the very stupid Butterfinger (Andrew Bryniarski) and the very spooky Kit Kat (David Caruso), who never says a word and is always disguised as someone else, including, at one point, a piece of Roman statuary. All roads in this conspiracy ultimately lead back to a wealthy and insane couple, Darwin and Minerva Mayflower (Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard), who perform every action and make every statement with cackling intensity. They're like Bond villains on steroids. "Every schmo has a fantasy that the planet revolves around them", says Minvera. "But for us, this isn't a fantasy. It is a reality."

The object of all these villains' interest is a group of da Vinci artifacts believed to contain the secret to his gold-making process, but of course the artifacts are priceless and held under strict security in places like a New York auction house, the Vatican and the Louvre. ("In Paris", adds Minerva Mayflower helpfully. "As opposed to the Louvre in Wisconsin?" replies Hudson.) Dispatched by the Vatican to protect these secrets is an agent posing as a da Vinci expert, Anna Baragli (MacDowell), who initially mistakes Hudson Hawk for one of the villains but gradually comes to see him as an innocent man wrongly accused. She also develops feelings for him, to the consternation of her superior, a Cardinal (Leonardo Cimino).

After numerous misadventures, the entire affair concludes in a display of pyrotechnics, acrobatics and mock violence that no one could possibly take seriously. (The fight between Willis and Coburn is much more Three Stooges than John McClane.) When the smoke clears and the dust settles, the forces of right have prevailed—and Hudson finally gets his cappuccino.

Hudson Hawk Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The distinguished cinematographer Dante Spinotti (Heat and L.A. Confidential, among many others) shot Hudson Hawk, which may be one reason why the scenes filmed in his native Italy have such an appealing glow (though Spinotti can make just about anything look good). In the film's first act, the veteran DP captures the cool fluorescence of the hip New York Eighties scene, and his lighting of the increasingly daft third act is almost cartoonish.

The master provided by Sony to Mill Creek comes from well-preserved source material with no noticeable damage, and this is one of the better transfers that Sony has outsourced. The image on Mill Creek's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray has detail, texture and grain, but it's a fine, natural grain pattern consistent with the look of a film from the early Nineties. Except for an occasional shot (usually an effects shot), the grain is rarely heavy, even in scenes set at night, where the blacks, gray and shadings of black and gray are accurately rendered. The colors range from the garish decor of Tommy's bar (which appalls Hudson when he enters) to the dingy shades of the ancient castle where the Mayflowers attempt to recreate da Vinci's machine.

If Hudson Hawk were the action film it was ill-advisedly advertised to be, the average bitrate of 21.99 Mbps might seem a little low, but so much of it consists of banter and repartee (both snappy and stupid) that the average seems about right. In any case, compression errors did not intrude.

Hudson Hawk Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

According to IMDb, some prints of Hudson Hawk included a soundtrack mixed for the short-lived CDS ("Cinema Digital Sound") multi- channel system, but most filmgoers saw the film in Dolby Surround. That track is used here, encoded as DTS-HD MA 2.0. It's an interesting track, because the sound effects often give the impression of having been mixed for the inhabitants of Roger Rabbit's Toon Town, but it fits with the spirit of the film. The dialogue is generally clear, although there are moments when you can't believe what you just heard. (Example, from two bored security guards as Hudson and Tommy sneak by them: "673 Wongs in the phone book." "Hmmm. Helluva lotta Wong numbers.") The surrounds are used for general ambiance, a few big effects like the gold "machine" and to expand the soundstage for the musical score, which is credited to both co-writer Robert Kraft and Die Hard composer Michael Kamen. The latter's signature is unmistakable.

(Note: Early pressings of this disc reportedly contained a mono 2.0 track for Hudson Hawk. This error was reported to Mill Creek when the disc was first released as a Wal-Mart exclusive, and the error appears to have been corrected by the time the disc was released for general sale.)

Hudson Hawk Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The disc has no extras for Hudson Hawk. Sony's 1999 DVD contained a director's commentary and trailers for other Bruce Willis films (though not for Hudson Hawk). Sony released a "special edition" in 2007 with the commentary, deleted scenes, a trivia track, featurettes with Willis and Bernhard, and a music video featuring Dr. John. If you have either of these DVDs, hold onto them.

Hudson Hawk Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Among its other pleasures, Hudson Hawk is full of inside jokes, such as when Bruce Willis, as Hudson, tells Frank Stallone, Sylvester's little bro', that he's given directions so simple that "even your brother can understand". Some people find this sort of thing obnoxious, but I have a soft spot in my heart for any script that can make room for an obscure Firesign Theater reference to "Betty Jo Bialowski", which was the name of Hudson's prom date. (Everyone knew her as Nancy.) Highly recommended if you're a fan of Hudson Hawk or think you might be so inclined. Just be sure to keep any DVD version you already have.