Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Legal Eagles Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 17, 2020

Ivan Reitman's "Legal Eagles" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include a vintage trailer for the film as well as an archival featurette. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

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Forget about the suspense, it is not what makes this film interesting. The legal battles, if you can call them that, won’t keep you on the edge of your seat either. In fact, they could give a real attorney a pretty decent headache. So, what’s left? Well, pure old-fashioned romance. The type that can temporarily make you forget how complicated your life has become, and then maybe even inspire you to finally ask that nice coworker to have dinner with you. (Oops, red flag. The ‘80s are long gone, so proceed with caution). Ivan Reitman’s Legal Eagles is that kind of an unpretentious, genuine romantic charmer. Keep this in mind if you have not seen it before and are trying to decide if you should, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

The film opens with a short prologue in which the posh apartment of a famous artist catches fire and his little girl, Chelsea Deardon, sees him getting crushed by a pile of rubble. During the chaos, the artist’s most expensive paintings are also destroyed.

Nearly two decades later, Chelsea (Daryl Hannah) is arrested while trying to steal a painting from the wealthy collector Robert Forrester (John McMartin). Ambitious attorney Laura Kelly (Debra Winger) agrees to defend Chelsea, who insists that the painting was a personal gift her father gave her on the night when he perished in the fire, and proceeds to seek the cooperation of Assistant District Attorney Tom Logan (Robert Redford). Rather reluctantly, Logan then agrees to take a look at the case, but shortly after Forrester unexpectedly withdraws his complaint and instead trades the painting for a very expensive Picasso from the large collection of museum owner Victor Taft (Terence Stamp). When Kelly and Logan discover that Forrester and Taft were business associates of Chelsea’s late father they promptly conclude that the withdrawal makes perfect sense and therefore the case is effectively closed, but a veteran detective (Brian Dennehy) who years ago investigated the tragedy in the apartment provides them with a large folder with business documents that quickly force them to change their minds.

The narrative utilizes a good number of twists that are supposed to strengthen the suspense, but as a crime thriller this film is fairly average. After the prologue, which makes it obvious that the big fire in the apartment wasn’t accidental, the film basically begins clarifying why certain characters are connected to it and produces revelations that are fairly straightforward.

The romantic buildup between the leads and their eventual powerplay is where all the magic happens. Indeed, the chemistry between Redford and Winger is so good that seemingly casual looks and smiles they exchange while competing or assisting each other end up producing far greater thrills than the scripted twists. The positive energy that emerges from their chemistry then floods the rest of the film and makes it unbelievably attractive. Hannah’s performance is lovely as well, though she plays a more complex character whose emotional ups and downs require that she operates with a different type of energy.

The final third is where the script produces the weakest material. The film attempts to switch gears and become darker, perhaps even sinister, but does not have a good idea how to counter the positive energy, which is why the temporary shifts look very tacky. There is one particular sequence where a loony assassin goes to work that basically moves it in the same area that Brian De Palma’s early thrillers like to visit, but the experiment is quickly and rightfully abandoned.

The great László Kovács lensed the film for Reitman, but here it is a lot easier to praise the manner in which his camera catches the smaller details (smiles, glances, touches) rather than the big panoramic vistas from around the city.

Legal Eagles Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Legal Eagles arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older master that was provided by Universal Pictures. Fortunately, it is a decent one, at times even looking rather strong.

The best news is that the entire master is free of the harshness and smeary flatness that other such older masters that emerge from the major's vaults are plagued with. Predictably, depth and clarity range from good to very good, plus density levels remain quite strong as well. Some of the indoor/darker footage reveals extremely light black crush, but this is a common limitation. Still, overall delineation is quite good, and on a larger screen there are plenty of smaller nuances that appear nicely exposed. Color balance is good. The primaries do not show any signs of fading and the supporting nuances look quite healthy. However, a proper new 2K/4K master will rebalance the blacks and almost certainly expand the existing nuances. I noticed a few shaky frames as well, so overall image stability can be strengthened as well. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Legal Eagles 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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio is stable and clean. Perhaps it could be slightly fuller, but I am unsure if a new remaster would produce an all-around better quality because it is pretty easy to tell that at some point in the past efforts were made to optimize it. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report.

Legal Eagles Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Featurette - an archival featurette promoting the production of Legal Eagles. Clips from archival interviews with Ivan Reitman and cast members are included. In English, not subtitled. (9 min, 480/60i).

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Legal Eagles. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. Once Upon a Crime...
  2. Blame It on Rio
  3. The Woman in Red

Legal Eagles Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As odd as it may sound, the spirit of old Hollywood lives in Legal Eagles. I actually think that its script is rather rough, but the chemistry between its stars is second to none, and this is essentially what makes the entire film irresistibly attractive. It sounds simple, perhaps even cliched, but if you do a direct comparison between Legal Eagles and any film with 'issues' that you saw last year, you will quickly realize that this is precisely what is missing there -- the truly special chemistry that makes the ordinary look extraordinary. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but good master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. RECOMMENDED.