Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders Seasons 3 & 4 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders Seasons 3 & 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 8, 2022

"Rocco Schiavone: Seasons Three & Four" (2019-2021) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. There are no supplemental features on the release. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for each episode. Region-A "locked".

Season Three and Season Four are merged and for a very good reason -- both have multiple two-part episodes with various developments that overlap as if they would in a feature film. For example, the tension between Rocco Schiavone (Marco Giallini) and his best pal, the thief Sebastiano (Francesco Acquaroli), produces ripple effects that continuously alter the drama in both seasons. The same tension affects Schiavone’s investigative work and eventually threatens to collapse his entire career as well. So, unlike Season One, and to a lesser extent Season Two, Season Three and Season Four are conceived as pieces of a bigger and ultimately more complex story with plenty of evolving peripheral action.

Perhaps the most unusual episode in the entire show emerges in Season Three where in the middle of a very cold winter Schiavone becomes seriously ill and begins directing his team from home while trying to nab the killer of a retired priest. Later on, Schiavone is approached by local journalist Sandra Buccellato (Valeria Solarino), who is trying to reconstruct a piece of his past that could place him behind bars. Schiavone also discovers that his right-hand man, Italo (Ernesto D’Argenio), is on the path to self-destruction because of serious gambling debts.

Schiavone’s other two childhood pals from Rome, Brizio (Tullio Sorrentino) and Furio (Mirko Frezza), become major characters in the drama that surrounds him as well. When District Attorney Maurizio Baldi (Filippo Dini) heads to Rome to discuss an ongoing investigation that links Schiavone to Enzo Baiocchi, the killer of his wife, Marina (Isabella Ragonese), Brizio and Furio arrive in town to help. However, not too long after that, it becomes clear that Schiavone’s only option to remain free might be to abruptly disappear without a trace.

The transition from Season Three to Season Four is completed with a multifaceted story about an elaborate casino heist. Schiavone begins working on multiple leads and quickly finds himself in a deep rabbit hole where nothing is what it seems. Then, during a shootout, Schiavone is seriously injured and placed in a hospital where consequently he loses a kidney. While recovering in the hospital, he begins working on another complex murder case involving medical staff.

Season Three and Season Four maintain the unique balance between the noirish drama, suspense, and light comedy from the previous two seasons. The camera circles around a few of the secondary characters slightly more, but Schiavone’s antics remain as attractive as they were in the past. In other words, the tone and quality of the writing remain the same.

The visual appearance of the content is unchanged as well. Virtually all of the outdoor footage is wonderfully lensed but never leaves the impression that it tries to impress. The intimate moments where Schiavone talks to his late wife and describes what he is going through look terrific and are once again brilliantly scored. (The entire soundtrack that Corrado Carosio and Pierangelo Fornaro created for the show is outstanding. However, Mani Libere and Piano Inclinato are genuine masterpieces).

There are six two-part episodes: Life Goes On, The Tramp, Apres La Boule Passe, Place Your Bets, No More Bets, and Ah Love, Love. All episodes were directed by Simone Spada.

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders Seasons 3 & 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Rocco Schiavone: Seasons Three & Four arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Both seasons looked wonderful on my system. In terms of delineation, clarity, and especially depth this show produces some absolutely astonishing visuals that frequently look like digital postcards. I was paying close attention to see if any of the darker visuals may reveal any problems, but even in areas where I knew there might be some tricky spots everything looked either very good or excellent. (For example, the patterns on the jacket in screencapture #19 are practically impossible to identify on the screen). The color scheme is again virtually identical to that of the previous seasons, so you should expect to see a modern grade with prominent steely blues, grays, and greens. Image stability is excellent. The fluidity of the visuals is very impressive, too. My score is 4.75/5.00. (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).

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders Seasons 3 & 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed both seasons with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Corrado Carosio and Pierangelo Fornaro's terrific electronic score does a lot of very interesting work to strengthen the ambience of the drama, so if you can, turn up the volume of your system a bit more than usual because there are some really good dynamic contrasts. The dialog is always very clear, clean, sharp, and easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders Seasons 3 & 4 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features on this release.

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders Seasons 3 & 4 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

When earlier this year I finished viewing the final season of Gomorrah, I genuinely believed that it would be a very long time before I encounter another TV show that is just as impressive. Even though thematically and stylistically Rocco Schiavone is very, very different, I think that it is every bit as good as Gomorrah. Marco Giallini is an Italian treasure, and I write this as a huge admirer of Toni Servillo and Pierfrancesco Favino. He was born to play the cranky, heart-broken, and exiled police inspector, and I am convinced that his work in Rocco Schiavone will turn out to be his greatest professional accomplishment. Kudos to Kino Lorber for making Rocco Schiavone available on Blu-ray in America. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.