Mad As Hell Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Mad As Hell Blu-ray Movie Review

And I'll Say So by Any Means Necessary

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 22, 2015

Director Andrew Napier's Mad as Hell is both a documentary about The Young Turks ("TYT") news commentary program and internet network, and a biography of its founder and the original Young Turk, Cenk Uygur. The two subjects are virtually inseparable. Indeed, one of the themes that runs through Napier's film is the degree to which the ever-expanding operation that comprises TYT revolves around Cenk and his instincts, values and decisions (or, as detractors might say, his tantrums, temper and whims). In interview after interview, friends and colleagues speak of Cenk in tones of puzzlement and wonder, as if they were describing an inscrutable oracle rather than a longtime friend and colleague. For the most part, though, they remain loyal adherents.

Mad as Hell premiered in April 2014 at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it won the Conscious Media Award. After a limited theatrical run in November 2014, it is being released by Oscilloscope Labs on Blu-ray and DVD.

Napier spent four years as a producer and director for TYT, and his familiarity with both the people and the organization is reflected in Mad as Hell's narrative fluency. The film skips nimbly through Cenk Uygur's arrival in America at age 8, when his family emigrated from Turkey, followed by what appears to be a happy childhood, a good education, law school and a stint at a prestigious Washington law firm. But humbly serving corporate clients was not the life Cenk envisioned for himself, even though it paid well. By his own admission, he has a big ego, an intense conviction that he's always right and an insatiable desire to tell the world about it—which, for Cenk, meant being on TV. A friend wryly compares Cenk's initial efforts on public access television to Wayne's World, and the comparison seems all too apt in a vintage clip with a group of local fans who have written a rock theme song for Cenk's early call-in show.

Gradually, Cenk amasses the core group that would become TYT. Each one has his or her story, some more unlikely than others, but all share the common thread of being drawn in by Cenk Uygur's irresistible faith in his destiny. (Never underestimate the attraction of utter self-confidence.) TYT began as a talk show on Sirius Radio in 2002, but the real breakthrough came in 2006 when it moved to live streaming on the internet. The timing was ideal, because a new service called "YouTube" was just taking hold, and TYT became one of its most popular channels. YouTube was the making of TYT, giving them access to a young and impressionable fan base that was immediately receptive to Cenk's brand of unscripted and unvarnished commentary. Even some of Cenk's fellow Turks did not realize at first just how much of an impact they were having. As Cenk's former co-host, Ben Mankiewicz, ruefully notes, he lived at the center of a media revolution, but somehow managed to miss it altogether.

The most intriguing, and also the most frustrating, portion of Napier's film traces the collision between Cenk and the world of "mainstream media" during a lengthy flirtation with MSNBC, as the cable network tried to figure out how to expand its audience to include Cenk's youthful followers. Napier can only provide Cenk's side of the story, presumably because the key parties at MSNBC would not speak to him. He also doesn not include (and perhaps could not obtain the necessary clearances for) sufficient excerpts from Cenk's MSNBC appearances to demonstrate the kind of confrontational style of commentary that the network wanted the original Young Turk to "tone down" in exchange for a lucrative contract. The upshot, at least in Cenk's version, was that he rejected the network's money so that he could retain his independence.

From September 2011 through August 2013, TYT ran a show on the Current TV network co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, as well as its web show. Mad as Hell concludes just after the sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera America, which discontinued the TYT broadcast. As Cenk and his cohorts move into temporary quarters in the YouTube Space in Los Angeles, they are glad to be getting back to their internet "roots" and focusing on what they have realized they do best. As a reminder of where their popularity lies, they are informed that they've reached their billionth view on YouTube. Three months later, they are moving into their own L.A. studio.

Mad As Hell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Detailed information about the shooting format of Mad as Hell was not available, but it was obviously photographed on hi-def video, which has been combined with photographs, recordings of webcasts and VHS tapes from Cenk Uygur's early public access shows. The credited cinematographers are director Napier and Daniel Katz, who has worked extensively on camera and lighting crews of both studio and independent productions. Oscilloscope's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray features a clear, clean and sharply defined image that finely renders the hi-def footage and provides acceptable upconversion of the material in standard definition. Black levels and contrast are correct, and colors are natural. The average bitrate of 18.26 Mbps would be low for a feature film, but for a "talking head" documentary, it's perfectly adequate. Artifacts were not an issue.

Mad As Hell Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with most documentaries, the focus of Mad as Hell's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is on the voices of the interview subjects in the front center, although Napier can occasionally be heard off-camera asking a question. Ambient environmental noise is minimal, but there is a subtle musical score by Ronen Landa (At the Devil's Door) that adds to the mood.

A PCM 2.0 track is also included.

Mad As Hell Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the extras carry a notation that more extras are available at www.MadAsHellFilm.com.

• "Mad as Hell: The Series"—Untold and expanded stories (1080p; 1.78:1)


• Channel 69 (11:05): An expanded account of Cenk's first TV job in Miami, where he met Ben Mankiewicz.
• To Live and Almost Die in L.A. (6:18): Cenk's battle with a life-threatening auto-immune disease shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles.
• Dave Koller's America (8:19): An expanded portrait of an eccentric Young Turk who has known Cenk since they were children.
• Sex, Cenk and Videotape (9:08): Cenk's largely unsuccessful efforts, before marriage, to use his celebrity to woo women.
• What Is Love? (7:32): How Cenk met his wife, got married and started a family, after years of insisting that he wasn't the marrying kind.
• Full Norma (Series Teaser) (2:29): Norma was a regular caller to Cenk's public access show.



• The Oldies—Early featurettes by director Andrew Napier about The Young Turks (2002-2009) (1080p)
• A Brief History of the Young Turks (1.33:1; 5:03)
• Who Is Cenk Uygur? (1.78:1; 3:35)
• Who Are the Young Turks? (1.78:1; 3:37)
• Cenk Goes Ballistic (1.78:1; 2:48)



• TYT Cribs—A look at Cenk's homes and workplaces (1080p)
• The Wilshire Studio (1.33:1; 2:31)
• New York Apartment (1.78:1; 1:44)
• Cenk's New Jersey Home (1.78:1; 3:12)



• Oscilloscope Releases: The disc includes the following trailers (none of them for films released on Blu-ray, unfortunately), plus an introductory trailer for Oscilloscope Labs.
• Burma VJ
• No Impact Man
• William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
• Rebirth

Mad As Hell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even if you're not familiar with Cenk Uygur or TYT and are not a political junkie (or if you are, but don't share any of Cenk's opinions), Mad as Hell offers a fascinating perspective on the rapidly changing face of mass communications in the digital world. It's also an object lesson in the ability of someone with the right combination of talent, moxie, hard work and luck to reach and influence a huge audience. Love him or hate him, you come away from Mad as Hell with an understanding that there's more, much more, to Cenk Uygur than just a loudmouth. Recommended.