Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

No Mercy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 17, 2023

Richard Pearce's "No Mercy" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include an exclusive new program with actor Jeroen Krabbe and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

If you go asking questions in Algiers, they’ll cut your tongue out and throw it in the river.

Werner Herzog is probably a big fan of Richard Pearce’s film No Mercy. In fact, I am convinced he is because what Herzog does in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is almost exactly what Pearce does in his film. The two filmmakers enter the underbelly of an iconic city with a rich history and then utilize its dark aura as a foundation of the stories their films tell. Herzog was the more curious visitor but he also had a major advantage, which was that he was able to shoot in New Orleans shortly after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. It is why his film has such an incredibly heavy atmosphere -- he was lucky to see the city without the veil that hides its true identity from the crowds of tourists that keep its economy going. Pearce went there at a different time and even used a different route, which means that he had to do a lot of extra work to see what Herzog did.

After he is busted, a small-time hustler confesses to Chicago cop Eddie Jillette (Richard Gere) and his partner Joe Collins (Gary Basaraba) that he was approached with an offer to kill an important man in New Orleans. In a fancy bistro on the outskirts of the city, Jillette meets the hustler’s contact, Paul Deveneux (Terry Kinney), pretending to be the hitman he is waiting for, and after he quickly impresses him the two decide to take a ride in his car to figure out the details of the job. Joe is told to escort Deveneux’s girl, Michel Duval (Kim Basinger), back to her hotel room and wait there until they return. However, shortly after a crew of heavily-armed killers ambushes Deveneux and Jillette, and only the latter escapes alive. Back in the hotel Joe also dies while trying to protect Michel.

With the reluctant blessing of Captain Stemkowski (George Dzundza), Jillette arrives in New Orleans determined to identify the killers of his partner and bring them to justice. After a quick visit to the Deveneux family, however, he rubs some very important people the wrong way and the local authorities put him behind bars. A fuming Stemkowski reappears and negotiates his release, but a local colleague with an attitude (Bruce McGill) warns the visitors that under the circumstances they have less than twenty-four hours to get back to the Windy City. However, the warning has the exact opposite effect on Jillette, and with a special gift from Stemkowski, he heads to Algiers, hoping to track down Michel and have her lead him to the killers.

No Mercy maintains the typical for most Hollywood action thrillers from the ‘80s fast tempo but manages to build a very fine dark atmosphere that ultimately makes it attractive. On top of this, it’s got a macho attitude that forces its two big stars to shine in a rather unexpected way, which is the main reason why back in the day it disappointed folks that expected it to be a romantic tearjerker with a few gunshots.

Gere is particularly good as an angry cop on the warpath and his performance infuses the film with some quite admirable energy of the kind that was common during the ‘70s. A case can easily be made that the final third of the film evokes the spirit of Rolling Thunder, where William Devane‘s war vet also becomes unhinged and destroys some really, really bad characters. Here the biggest meanie is played by Dutch star Jeroen Krabbe, who also looks entirely legit. Bassinger’s performance is solid, but it is a bit difficult to accept her as the stunning beauty that is ‘owned’ by the sadistic nutjob because she routinely looks a lot more elegant and unquestionably smarter than she should. (An illiterate girl would not behave as she does while visiting Chicago).

Pearce and cinematographer Michel Brault must have had terrific communication because the film’s steady tempo and rich dark atmosphere come together wonderfully well. A lush synth-rock soundtrack from Alan Silvestri adds a touch of ‘80s class as well.

No Mercy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, No Mercy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

A couple of years ago, we reviewed this this release of No Mercy, which was produced by Mill Creek Entertainment. The master that was used to produce the release was older and was supplied by Sony Pictures.

This release is sourced from the same master and, quite predictably, reveals the same limitations. For example, it is very easy to tell that delineation, clarity, and depth could be more convincing. On my system, the bulk of the darker footage looked most convincing, though it is where grain usually looks pretty loose as well. The outdoor footage where natural light produces some unique highlights is the least convincing one, so I think that some very particular encoding optimizations could have rebalanced it quite well. (Unfortunately, this release simply provides more space for the entire film because it uses a dual-layer disc). I took screencaptures #7 and 17 because these are the areas where the encoding optimizations could have made a difference. While dated, elsewhere the visuals typically look either decent or good. (For what it's worth, a player that upscales to 4K can strengthen quite well virtually all of the shaky areas -- at least mine did so). Colors are stable, but saturation and balance could and should be better. Image stability is good. I noticed a few nicks and dirt spots, but there are no distracting large cuts, debris, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

No Mercy 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.

I think that the lossless track is pretty solid. The action can be quite intense at times and on my system dynamic intensity was always satisfying. Is there any room for improvement? As far as any substantial improvements are concerned, my answer would be no because the folks at Sony Pictures have already properly transferred the original audio. I think that they would have to create one of those new Dolby Atmos tracks to impress folks that may demand more. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

No Mercy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Fire with Fire - in this exclusive new program, actor Jeroen Krabbe, who plays the vicious killer Losado, explains how he attempted and failed to find work in Hollywood after the success of Soldier of Orange, and how later The 4th Man accomplished precisely that. Mr. Krabbe also discusses in great detail how he 'accidentally' got his part in No Mercy, what it was like to work with director Dick Pearce, and his first American review. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for No Mercy. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

No Mercy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

No Mercy is a very, very solid action thriller with a killer soundtrack by Alan Silvestri that works perfectly for its chosen dark atmosphere. It is one of three Richard Gere films that I enjoy tremendously -- the other two are American Gigolo and Breathless -- and would pay big bucks to have on 4K Blu-ray. If one day it is properly remastered in 4K, many people will discover that it is quite the visual stunner. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from the same old master that Mill Creek Entertainment received from Sony Pictures and used to produce this Blu-ray release a few years ago, but has a very nice exclusive new interview with actor Jeroen Krabbe. RECOMMENDED.