Last Exit to Brooklyn Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Last Exit to Brooklyn Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 30, 2012

Winner of Outstanding Feature Film and Best Direction Awards at the German Film Awards, Uli Edel's "Last Exit to Brooklyn" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Summit Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include a standard making of featurette and an audio commentary with director Uli Edel and screenwriter Desmond Nakano. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

On strike

The film is set in the early 1950s and follows a number of colorful characters who live in an area of Brooklyn where life is cheap. Tralala (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Single White Female) is a beautiful but naive prostitute who regularly gets drunk and fights with the local bad boys - Vinnie (Peter Dobson, Zigs), Sal (Stephen Baldwin, The Usual Suspects), Freddy (James Lorinz, Frankenhooker), Al (Sam Rockwell, Moon) and Tony (Jason Andrews, Grind). The boys often go after soldiers who spend their last days in Brooklyn before they are shipped to exotic places from which they may never return. When they get bored, the boys also like teasing Georgette (Alexis Arquette), who wears tight pants and always puts on enough lipstick to make sure that no one visiting the neighborhood assumes that he is straight. Occasionally, the boys also visit the tiny office of Harry Black (Stephen Lang, Niagara, Niagara), a local union guy who keeps telling everyone that he could buy anything he wants because the union takes care of his bills. From time to time, Big Joe (Burt Young, Rocky), who has just found out that his daughter (Ricki Lake) is no longer a virgin because ‘Tommy with the bike’ has had some fun with her, also visits the place to get the latest news on the ongoing strike that has paralyzed the city.

After a quick fight with a group of drunk soldiers, Tralala and the boys decide that it is time to team up and make some real money, Harry Black falls madly in love with Georgette, and Big Joe goes after ‘Tommy with the bike’ to make sure that he marries his daughter.

Last Exit to Brooklyn is based on Hubert Selby Jr.’s controversial book and directed by German helmer Uli Edel, who is probably best known for the cult Christiane F., a gritty and disturbingly realistic film about a young girl who becomes a prostitute to support her drug habit in West Berlin during the 70s. More recently Edel also directed the excellent The Baader Meinhof Complex, which takes an in-depth look at the notorious left-wing military group that terrorized West Germany during the 70s and 80s.

Like Christiane F., Last Exit to Brooklyn is a gritty, stripped of political correctness film that enters a dangerous area of Brooklyn where basically everything goes. There is a specific direction it follows but what the main characters do and where they end up by the time the final credits roll is unimportant. The film, like the book, focuses on their reality, a strange mix of brutal violence, utterly depressing poverty, and political machinations.

Another interesting aspect of the film is its unusual sense of humor. Almost always the funny is directly linked to violence. Sex is also a constant theme in the film. During the second half, in particular, the funny has a tendency to very quickly become ugly and disturbing.

The film’s wild swings in tone make for a very intense viewing experience. However, at times its cynicism does feel a bit overwhelming. The fact that without exception all of the main protagonists are seriously compromised also makes it difficult to care about triumphs and failures.

The cast is very good. Lang is spectacular as the union lackey who cannot come to terms with his sexuality. Orbach’s time in front of the camera is limited but he makes the most of it. His speech in the factory is legendary. Unsurprisingly, Young is also terrific to watch as the angry father who must vindicate his daughter’s honor. The real star of the film, however, is Leigh, whose performance is indescribably bold.

Last Exit to Brooklyn is complimented by a beautiful soundtrack courtesy of ex-Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler.

Last Exit to Brooklyn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.84:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Uli Edel's Last Exit to Brooklyn arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Summit Entertainment.

The majority of the film looks uncharacteristically flat. There are entire sections where clarity suffers tremendously while colors are disappointingly anemic - and this has virtually nothing to do with Stefan Czapsky's lensing. There are traces of moderate to strong filtering (see screencapture #9), which routinely destabilize the image, as well as a layer of light machine noise that overwhelms the little grain that has been retained (see screencapture #5). Also, light halo effects could be seen all over the film. Strong edge-enhancement does not plague the high-definition transfer, but as mentioned earlier there are other serious issues that are just as damaging. Perhaps the only good news here is that definition is still decent, which is why short portions of the film where light is in abundance tend to hold up rather well (see screencapture #1). Lastly, there are no large cuts, damage marks, or debris. All in all, Summit Entertainment's presentation of Last Exit to Brooklyn is average at best. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Last Exit to Brooklyn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Summit Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

There is a good range of nuanced dynamics. Naturally, there are portions of the film that open up quite well (see the explosion and clash sequences). More importantly, Mark Knopfler's score gets a strong boost and adds greatly to the period atmosphere. The overall intensity of the audio, however, never reaches the levels witnessed in most recent big-budget productions. The dialog is crisp, clean, and easy to follow. There are no problematic audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review either.

Last Exit to Brooklyn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of - a wonderful making of featurette that focuses on the controversial novel that inspired Last Exit to Brooklyn as well the production history of the film. German director Uli Edel and members of his tech crew also discuss some of the obstacles that had to be overcome while shooting on location in Brooklyn. The real characters that are portrayed in the film are also interviewed. In English, not subtitled. (45 min, 480/60i).

• Commentary - an audio commentary with director Uli Edel and screenwriter Desmond Nakano. This s the same audio commentary that appears on the R2 Special Edition of Last Exit to Brooklyn which Metrodome Distribution released in the UK back in 2006.

Last Exit to Brooklyn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Uli Edel's Last Exit to Brooklyn is a bleak and often disturbingly violent period film based on the very controversial book by Hubert Selby Jr. If I recall correctly, the film never appeared on DVD in the United States. Summit Entertainment's Blu-ray release is clearly better than the R2 SE DVD I have in my library, but their presentation leaves a lot to be desired. In my opinion, the film is not only worth seeing but also worth owning, but my advice to you is to RENT IT first and decide for yourself whether you wish to have a copy of it in your collection.