Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 20, 2013

Bill Lustig's "Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailer for the film; deleted and extended scenes; making of featurette; poster and still gallery; and original synopsis for the film presented in text-format. In English, with optional yellow English SDH, French (Canadian), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, French (Parisian), German, Italian, Mandarin (Traditional), Mandarin (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, and Russian subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It can't be done.

Beautiful Police Officer Kate Sullivan (Gretchen Becker, Ed Wood, The Elevator) is seriously wounded during a hostage situation. The entire incident is captured on video by a TV crew, but later on only a portion of it is broadcast. While in a coma, Sullivan becomes the target of a smear campaign that angers her best friend, Detective Sean McKinney ((Robert Davi, City Heat, Raw Deal). It also brings back from the dead Mat Cordell, the "Maniac Cop" (Robert Z'Dar, Tango & Cash, Shadow of the Dragon).

In the hospital where Sullivan and the man who shot her are kept, someone kills a cocky doctor and an administrator who has agreed to stop her life support. Assisted by a third, much nicer doctor (Caitlin Dulany, Spike Lee's Oldboy), McKinney begins searching for clues to solve the killings and soon after ends up in the hospital’s massive basement. There he meets a strange character named Houngan (Julius Harris, King Kong, Live and Let Die), who knows a thing or two about black magic.

This film really is quite wild, but it is nowhere near close to being the total disaster director Bill Lustig insists it is. (Watch the long and truly fascinating featurette included on this release to find out why Mr. Lustig dislikes it so much). Yes, it is easy to tell that different people with different ideas worked on it, but the final result is very much on par with the material in the previous two Manic Cop films.

The most 'problematic' aspect of the film is the new atmosphere. Unlike Maniac Cop and Maniac Cop 2, both intense action films with an attitude, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence is a very gloomy film that almost feels like it might have been inspired by Fernando De Leo’s Slaughter Hotel and Alan Parker’s Angel Heart. Indeed, there are large portions of the film where the long shadows and spooky noises seem far more important than the sporadic action sequences.

The final third, however, effectively reminds that one is still watching a Maniac Cop film. Indeed, the stunt work in the last chase sequence is actually far more complex and effective than that seen in the Sing Sing sequence from the second film. According to producer Joel Soisson (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), the work that was done here was so challenging and so dangerous that even the smallest mistake could have easily collapsed the entire project.

Ultimately, it is difficult not to agree that the narrative is a bit uneven and that there are obvious plot holes, but these are flaws the first two films also have. Frankly, the darker and more subdued tone of this film actually makes it look far less dated. In fact, my feeling is that if the rumored Maniac Cop remake materializes soon -- Mr. Lustig is on record now that he will be teaming up with Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn and will likely produce it -- it will share many of the same qualities Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence has.

There is good chemistry between Davi and Dulany. Some of the supporting actors, however, do not look overly convincing in front of the camera. Doug Savant, in particular, who plays one of the two doctors that meet Cordell, looks and sounds terrible.

Note: During the shooting of Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence, Mr. Lustig and producer Soisson repeatedly confronted each other. Eventually, Mr. Lustig walked off the set, and all of the additional photography was completed by producer Soisson.

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.

Similar to Maniac Cop 2, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence transitions to Blu-ray with a brand new high-definition transfer struck from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. Unsurprisingly, the film looks very, very healthy. Depth and clarity are very good despite the fact that large portions of the film were shot either at night or with restricted light. The well-lit footage from the hospital looks sharp and vibrant. Color reproduction is also very good, though the range of colors here is quite different from that seen in Maniac Cop 2. There is a wider range of warmer but darker colors. There are absolutely no traces of problematic denoising adjustments. Problematic sharpening corrections also have not been applied. Overall image stability is truly outstanding - from start to finish the film remains tight around the edges and pleasingly vibrant. Lastly, there are no damage marks, cuts, debris, scratches, flecks, or stains to report in this review. All in all, like Maniac Cop 2, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence looks terrific on Blu-ray, undoubtedly the best it ever has on any home video format. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location).

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Blue Underground have provided optional yellow English SDH, French (Canadian), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, French (Parisian), German, Italian, Mandarin (Traditional), Mandarin (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, and Russian subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track is very aggressive. The final third of the film, in particular, has a couple of sequences that could be used to hear how good one's audio system is (see the car chase). Joel Goldsmith's soundtrack and some of eerie audio effects are also handled quite well. The dialog is consistently crisp, stable, free of hiss, and easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Wrong Arm of the Law: The Making of Maniac Cop 3 - an absolutely fascinating featurette which focuses on the very difficult production history of Maniac Cop 3. There are some illuminating comments by Bill Lustig addressing the funding of the film and his (at the time of shooting) displeasure with producer Joel Soisson. Mr. Lustig also mentions that there is a good chance that he will be teaming up with Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn on a brand new Maniac Cop film. Also included are interviews with writer Larry Cohen, director of photography Jacques Haitkin, stunt coordinator Spiro Razatos, actors Robert Davi, Robert Z'Dar, Caitlin Dulany, and Gretchen Becker. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

• Deleted and Extended Scenes - in English, not subtitled. (1080p).
  
  1. Hospital Hallway (1 min)
  2. A Statement (2 min)
  3. Chinese Restaurant (2 min)
  4. Wedding Nightmare (2 min)
  5. Defibrillator (2 min)
  6. Perverted Justice (2 min)
  7. Motives for Murder (2 min)

• Trailer - original trailer for Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Poster & Still Gallery - a collection of posters, DVD covers, and color stills. The gallery was compiled by Gregory Chick. (1080p).

• Original Synopsis - original synopsis for the film. In text-format.

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There have been a lot of harsh words for Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence, but I think that it actually has the best atmosphere in the trilogy. Seen very late at night, it can be quite effective. As it was the case with Maniac Cop 2, Blue Underground's technical presentation is outstanding. Buy with confidence, folks. RECOMMENDED.