7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.7 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Keen young Raymond Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady.
Starring: Richard Gere, Andy Garcia, Laurie Metcalf, Nancy Travis, Richard BradfordThriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
Mono=2.0
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Internal Affairs was the first American film by English director Mike Figgis, and it retains the lush, noir-ish texture of his previous film, the British crime drama Stormy Monday. Nominally, Henry Bean's (The Believer) script is about that old standby subject of police thrillers, corruption in the L.A.P.D. In Figgis' hands, however, and with invaluable assistance from his two leads, Richard Gere and Andy Garcia (who reportedly didn't get along during production), it becomes something else: a sexually charged turf battle between two alpha males who sniff out each other on their first encounter, then never lose the scent. Their hunting ground may be Los Angeles instead of the jungle, but the way Figgis depicts L.A., the differences aren't that important. The film was moderately successful when it was released in January 1990, an era when January was still viewed as the dumping ground for movies for which the studios had no expectations. Gere in particular received a much-needed shot of career-reviving adrenaline, after a string of flops, notably the disastrous 1985 King David. As corrupt cop Dennis Peck, Gere shed his Officer and a Gentleman image as a romantic lead to reveal a heart of darkness scarier than that of latter day successors like The Shield's Vic Mackey. At least Mackey always knew he was doing something wrong and that he might someday have to account for his sins. In Gere's portrayal, Peck never seemed to care. He actually enjoyed what he was doing, as if corrupting those around him were an end in itself, a pleasure more satisfying than all the money and sexual indulgence that came with it. Internal Affairs is one of the Paramount catalog titles covered by Warner's three-year licensing deal, which is why Warner is releasing it on Blu-ray in the U.S. and Canada.
Internal Affairs was photographed by the late John A. Alonzo, who shot Chinatown, one of the greatest L.A. noirs of all time. Regarded as one of the best handheld cameramen in the business, Alonzo's skill is demonstrated in many of Internal Affairs's most intense scenes, where close encounters between individuals seethe with the potential for violence (and often erupt). Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray (from a Paramount transfer) is something of a mixed bag. It has wonderful color saturation and deep blacks and blues, which are essential in a film where patrolmen in "black and whites" are a constant presence. As director Brian De Palma has said many times, corruption always looks fantastic, and Alonzo (who shot Scarface for De Palma) makes Dennis Peck's world look warm and inviting, in contrast to the troubled household of Van Stretch or the chilly mansion of the Arrocas (John Kapelos and Katherine Borowitz), a wealthy couple who hire Peck for some dirty work and get more than they bargained for. Where the image falls short is in the area of sharpness and detail. It's difficult to determine whether the issue is source-based or a product of transfer and/or mastering. Despite having started in TV and, late in his career, pioneered filming in HD, Alonzo shot films for the big screen, and he would have had no patience for the current Blu-ray enthusiasts' preoccupation for flyspecking screenshots. Still, there are undeniably shots and scenes in Internal Affairs that appear softer than they should be, and it is troubling to see Warner crowd this 115-minute film onto a BD-25 with an unusually low average bitrate of 19.43 Mbps. No compression artifacts leap out, which leads one to question whether some judicious detail stripping might have occurred, but there's no way to be sure.
Internal Affairs was released to theaters in Dolby Stereo, but the soundtrack was remixed for 5.1 when the film was released on DVD in 1999. The Blu-ray appears to contain the same remix, presented in lossless DTS-HD MA. It's a largely front-oriented mix, but it has never sounded better, with a truly impressive presentation of the film's dynamic and atmospheric score composed by Figgis, Brian Banks (Young Guns) and Anthony Marinelli (the underrated 2 Days in the Valley). As the music shifts from brooding detective noir to Latin beats to suspense mode to sudden short bursts of action rhythms, it almost feels like the film's narrator. On the Blu-ray's track, the left and right front speakers carry most of the score's weight, with the surrounds used as support. The dynamic range is wide, and the instruments are clear and distinct. The dialogue is also clear, and the ambiance of various environments can be heard, when it is not being overpowered (deliberately) in the mix by the musical accompaniment. Several scenes involve gunplay, and the shots have impact without being overwhelming. This is a psychological thriller, not an action movie.
The Blu-ray has no extras. Neither did Paramount's 1999 DVD.
With Figgis having now exiled himself from Hollywood and Gere and Garcia having moved to new phases of their careers, it's unlikely that Internal Affairs will ever be supported with any supplements to provide insight into its making. This Blu-ray is probably the best version we're likely to see (unless Paramount offers a different version in another region not covered by the Warner licensing deal). The film remains one of Figgis' best efforts and, especially with its revelatory soundtrack, the Blu-ray is recommended.
Limited Edition to 3000
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