Laws of Gravity Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Laws of Gravity Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 9, 2023

Nick Gomez's " Laws of Gravity" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary with Nick Gomez and critic Daniel Kremer as well as vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Brooklyn thieves

Even if the obvious connection between Laws of Gravity and Mean Streets was not intended it is impossible to ignore. Mean Streets is too popular and covers virtually all material any film like Laws of Gravity might tackle, so even not-so-knowledgeable film buffs would instantly recognize the similarities. Genuinely groundbreaking films can do this -- they can cast a shadow so big that many films that come after them cannot avoid it.

Can smaller films do the same? Can they appear connected to other films, some influential in their own way, as Laws of Gravity and Mean Streets are? Yes. However, the connection usually becomes visible primarily to film buffs that go through hundreds of different films each year. For example, consider La Haine, a controversial foreign film that was released a couple of years after Laws of Gravity. If you tweak a few crucial details in the identities of its three characters and their environment, you are essentially looking at a story that is very, very similar to the one that is told in Laws of Gravity. Is there a legit connection between Laws of Gravity and La Haine, then? No, but there are undeniable similarities in the stories they tell as well as their visual styles. It is irrelevant whether they are intentional, they are there and at the right time someone will acknowledge them.

Nick Gomez’s directorial debut, Laws of Gravity, is in many ways the same experimental project that Marty Scorsese and Mathieu Kassovitz’s films were but without the proper management of the raw energy that made them special. This is a crucial detail because in Mean Streets and La Haine this raw energy very quickly becomes more important than their stories.

The energy generator in Laws of Gravity is turned on in an area of Brooklyn where amateur thieves Jimmy (Peter Greene) and Jon (Adam Trese) are active. The two work as a team and do very small jobs that barely provide them with enough cash to cover their daily needs, so they are constantly multitasking. A chance to break the routine comes their way when another thief, Frankie (Paul Schulze), returns from Florida with a bag full of stolen guns. Jimmy and Jon team up with Frankie to sell the guns to the right people in the area, but while marketing their product their relationship begins to deteriorate. Another local troublemaker, Sal (Saul Stein), also alleges that Frankie has compromised mutual ‘friends’ and suggests that Jimmy and Jon should be careful while working with him. Instead of distancing themselves from Frankie, however, Jimmy and Jon turn on each other.

Like Mean Streets and La Haine, Laws of Gravity does not have a conventional beginning and finale. It abruptly cuts into the reality of its characters and begins following them around while absorbing their emotions and feelings. Because the camera is constantly moving and trying to pick the best angle, it feels like it is another silent character whose presence is never acknowledged.

Unfortunately, the energy that materializes in Laws of Gravity is of the exact opposite kind that emerges in Mean Streets and La Haine. Indeed, it is a byproduct of artificial chaos -- different characters spend their time talking over each other and screaming in improvised situations that nine out of ten times are utterly meaningless -- that destroys authenticity, which is exactly what Laws of Gravity is trying to sell. As a result, it quickly begins to look like everyone is participating in a very long and very uneven rehearsal rather than contributing to a complete film.

The editing feels completely random, too. Indeed, instead of helping strengthen Laws of Gravity it leaves the impression that someone did not have enough time or cared enough to do it right. Some of the abrupt cuts feel flat-out amateurish.

Laws of Gravity 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, Laws of Gravity arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Even though the master that was used to produce this release is older, at some point in the past the folks at MGM must have remastered Laws of Gravity. Excluding a few indoor areas where the grain does not hold particularly well -- and please keep in mind that the film does have a unique low-budget indie look -- the rest looks quite nice, often even very good. Of course, it does help quite a lot that the hand-held camera constantly moves and as a result some of the limitations of the master become very hard to identify, but the overall appearance of the film is pleasing. Depth and clarity, for instance, fluctuate but are either good or very good. Delineation is fine too, though you should prepare to see an indie film with a particular style, which means that often there are noticeable fluctuations. The master is very nicely graded. There is room for rebalancing improvements, but they will not be substantial (see screencapture 14). Image stability is good. I did not notice any large debris, cuts, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you need to have a Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Laws of Gravity 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.

Laws of Gravity does not have a conventional music score. Also, its soundtrack welcomes plenty of organic sounds and noises. This means that all dynamic contrasts are fairly modest as the film emphasizes realism. Clarity is good, but there is a lot of shouting and people talking over each other, so it is not always easy to hear everything as the camera moves around as well. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Laws of Gravity Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Laws of Gravity. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by director Nick Gomez and is moderated by critic Daniel Kremer.

Laws of Gravity Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you think that nauseating screaming and shouting are synonymous with cinematic realism, then you should not miss Nick Gomez's directorial debut, Laws of Gravity. I saw this film a long time ago and thought that it was pretty bad. It is still pretty bad. I think that it could have been one of those so-bad-it-is-actually-good indie films if Gomez had cast Michael Rapaport to play a bad guy that keeps sabotaging the work of the thieves. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an older but good master that was supplied by MGM.