Prince of Broadway Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Prince of Broadway Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 24, 2025

Sean Baker is kind of an unprecedented "It" talent in the mainstream film industry courtesy of his recent quartet of Academy Award wins for Anora, the first time any one individual has managed to win in four separate categories for the same film. Even considering Baker's perceived conquering of the "mainstream" as evidenced by those Oscars, Anora was still kind of Baker's stock in trade of indie (or at least indie adjacent) fare, and in that regard it's kind of funny to note, as Baker himself gets into on a supplement on this disc, that Baker kind of stumbled into being an "Indie It" talent due to the vagaries of finding distributors and trying to film new works while also having a workaday job in show business that funded his other filmmaking activities. Baker had been busy with Greg the Bunny (that aforementioned workaday fundraiser) and had gotten into some distribution difficulty with Take Out which delayed the actual release of the 2004 production until 2008, at around the exact same time that the much later Prince of Broadway started exhibiting on the festival circuit. That suddenly made Baker the subject of "whiz kid" profiles mentioning his "one two punch" of films, which may have at least helped give Baker a bit of street cred allowing him to more easily pursue several later projects. While some Manhattan types seeing a title like Prince of Broadway might unavoidably think this is some kind of documentary or biography of the inimitable Harold S. Prince, who had a producing and/or directing hand in too many notable Great White Way shows to even begin to list, it is in fact a rather sweet if unavoidably gritty tale of West African immigrant Lucky (Prince Adu) who is suddenly tasked with caring for his infant son (an absolutely adorable Aiden Noesi) while also trying to peddle knockoff designer goods on the (then pre gentrified) hardscrabble streets of the wholesale district.

There's an undeniably neorealist / cinéma vérité approach here, as evidenced by the overt credit announcement that much in the film was improvised. Baker gets into the probably felicitous "discovery" of Prince Adu on the streets of Manhattan, something that propelled a germ of an idea Baker had been toying with into this finished product, which is a showcase for Adu's quite distinctive persona. The narrative is somewhat vignette driven, with Lucky attempting to both (more or less) father his son while pursuing a pretty precarious living, and with several other interpersonal dramas providing sidebar material. Baker may frankly not offer much structure here, and the relentless handheld cinematography may provoke motion sickness in some after a while, but the interplay between Adu and Noesi is just flat out affecting, both joyous and heartbreaking at various moments.

Prince of Broadway Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Prince of Broadway is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Criterion's insert leaflet offers the following information on the master:

Prince of Broadway is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This new 4K master was created from a 35 mm negative made from the original digital video master. The new 5.1 surround soundtrack was remixed from the original digital audio files by rerecording mixer Jeremy Grody.

This transfer may be a real litmus test of sorts for videophiles who ardently insist that high definition presentations should absolutely represent original theatrical exhibitions, because one way or the other this is a manifestly different looking presentation than the one audiences (briefly) saw back in 2008. As the restoration demonstration gets into, this was initially shot on video and released without much if any tinkering, leading to a really digital, overly bright and quite yellowish appearance. Baker and his team went back to the original source digital files, spent quite a bit of time experimenting with digital grain and color timing and then went even further by transferring things to actual film and doing a final scan from that element. The steps in the process are at least fleetingly shown in the restoration process and the change in appearance is quite striking. Color timing is probably the biggest single change, frankly, and this new version does offer a much more natural accounting of the palette. Detail levels are generally very good to excellent, though Baker's unremittingly peripatetic camera may actually make it hard to perceive fine detail since the frame is so jiggly so much of the time. While most of the vestiges of the digital capture have been ameliorated, they haven't been eliminated, and there's still a slightly digital "undercurrent" to the most brightly lit material in particular. Based on the snippets shown in the restoration demonstration, it looks like the original digital capture had some pretty marked blooming in the brightest moments, and that still tends to peek through here at times.

Prince of Broadway Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Prince of Broadway features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that benefits from a lot of outdoor material on the bustling streets of New York City, and it's in the many "hustling" vignettes that surround activity is probably most discernable. Otherwise, occasional ambient environmental effects can dot the side and rear channels in quieter moments, but immersion can tend to ebb and flow. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Prince of Broadway Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentaries

Sean Baker




Darren Dean, Karren Karagulian, and Victoria Tate

• Introduction by Sean Baker (HD; 10:00)


• Archival Interviews (HD; 7:15) include Sean Baker and Prince Adu.


• Meet the Hustlers (HD; 55:55) is a 2011 documentary featuring Sean Baker and several others involved in the film.


• Reflections on Prince of Broadway (HD; 35:01) is a 2024 get together with Baker and the cast and crew for a reminiscence.


• Restoration Demonstration (HD; 4:11)


• Trailers

Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:15)




2025 Trailer (HD; 1:58)

In lieu of an insert booklet Criterion provides a fold out leaflet with writing, credits and technical information. The insert sleeve has an inner print.

Prince of Broadway Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're a fan of Baker, hunches are you'll be attuned to his peculiar narrative style and often kind of jerky "rhythms". Those who don't like Baker (and judging by our reviews of Anora, that includes some on this site) should probably take a deep breath before watching this film, though even the most hard hearted will be challenged not to fall in love with the little tyke in the story. Technical merits are solid (if totally different from the original presentation) and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.