Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Rumble Fish Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 9, 2017

Francis Ford Coppola's "Rumble Fish" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, best-selling author S.E. Hinton, cinematographer Stephen H. Burum and production designer Dean Tavoularis, actors Matt Dillon and Diane Lane, and associate producer Roman Coppola; deleted scenes; Alberto Fuguet's documentary "Locations: Looking for Rusty James"; archival featurettes; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Glenn Kenny. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Motorcycle Boy

Tulsa, Oklahoma. Troublemaker Rusty James (Matt Dillon) is drifting through life, looking for an inspiration. He has an idol, his older brother, the legendary Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), but he doesn't know where he is. A long time ago, Motorcycle Boy left town without a trace.

Rusty James now has his own gang, just like Motorcycle Boy once did. He can fight and hurt his opponents, just like Motorcycle Boy did, but does not know how to protect his friends. This is why most of them have grown tired of him and started questioning his decisions. Even Patty (Diane Lane), his beautiful girlfriend, isn’t sure if she still wants to be with him, though she really, really likes him.

One day, Motorcycle Boy returns home. Rusty James is happy to see him back but does not know what to make of his reappearance -- his brother looks different, older, a lot quieter. The two begin spending time together, and as time passes by engage in long conversations about life, their mother, and rumble fish.

Father (Dennis Hopper) is just as happy to see Motorcycle Boy back, but he does not have much time for him. When he does not work, Father prefers to get drunk in the local bar. Unlike Father and Rusty James, Patterson the Cop (William Smith) isn’t happy to see Motorcycle Boy trying to reconnect with his past and immediately warns him that it is only a matter of time before he gets what he deserves.

Francis Ford Coppola's second adaptation of an S.E. Hinton novel, Rumble Fish, is a beautiful, unusually atmospheric film that does not have a conventional plot. Shot entirely in lush black and white, it is essentially a time capsule concerned with unique feelings and emotions rather than intricate relationships or group dynamics.

The bulk of Rumble Fish has a dreamy feel that can be rediscovered in various expressionist films and a type of fluidity which is often present in the classic French New Wave films (see Claude Chabrol’s Le beau Serge). There is a certain edgy rawness in it as well, which is easily detectable during the impressively choreographed gang fights. So this is a heavily stylized film with a distinct but also quite complex ambience that is capable of creating a very diverse range of impressions.

The film has two minor but obvious weaknesses. The art-house nuances seem to directly affect the integrity of the main protagonists -- more often than not they seem too detached and are left contemplating dilemmas that appear too lofty for the film. On the other hand, the low-key minimalism is too weak to sustain the type of atmosphere most of Jim Jarmusch's films are known for (see Stranger than Paradise, which appeared a year after Rumble Fish). Unsurprisingly, the end result is a fascinating to behold but arguably somewhat uneven film.

The supporting cast includes many familiar faces, the majority of them future stars -- Nicolas Cage, Chris Penn, Vincent Spano, Laurence Fishburne, and even a very young Sofia Coppola. Multi-talented Grammy winner Tom Waits also appears in a couple of scenes.

Rumble Fish was lensed by the great cinematographer Stephen H. Burum, who later on collaborated with director Brian De Palma on some of his best known films, including Body Double, The Untouchables, Carlito's Way, and Mission: Impossible. Burum was nominated for Oscar for Best Cinematography for his work on Danny DeVitto's Hoffa.

The New Wave-ish soundtrack was created by Stewart Copeland, former drummer for the popular English rock band The Police.

Rumble Fish Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Supervised by director of photography Stephen H. Burum and approved by director Francis Ford Coppola, this new 16-bit 4K digital transfer was created on a DFT Scanity film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management.

The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm original magnetic print master track and approved by Coppola and sound designer Richard Beggs. The alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack was created in 2003 from dialogue, music, and effects stems and approved by Coppola. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver when listening to the 2.0 surround soundtrack.

Transfer supervisors: Stephen H. Burum, Lee Kline.
Colorist: Sheri Eisenberg/Deluxe, Culver City, CA."

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration of Rumble Fish which was supervised by director of photography Stephen H. Burum and approved by Francis Ford Coppola. Predictably, the entire film now has a very solid healthy appearance that makes it incredibly easy to appreciate the artistic vision of its creators.

I did some direct comparisons with the Region-B release that we covered in 2012 and can confirm that all of the major issues that we previously highlighted have been addressed. Indeed, delineation and especially depth are now vastly superior; the entire film also has proper organic fluidity. The dramatic upgrades are easy to see everywhere, but I was particularly pleased with the improved clarity in the darker footage. On the previous release filtering corrections had eliminated existing detail and even impacted the stability of various nuances (blacks/grays and grays/whites). Additionally, the previous release was plagued with distracting sharpening corrections that had given the film a very thick electronic appearance. The new 4K master is free of problematic filtering and sharpening corrections and instead boasts a wonderful fine layer of healthy grain (you can see how dramatic the difference in quality can be if you compare screencaptures #16, 21 and 22 with the corresponding screencaptures from our review of the Region-B release). The new color grading favors a slightly darker appearance, with stronger blacks that eliminate some minor nuances, but there are still far superior nuances and much greater detail on the new transfer. I probably would have preferred to have the blacks just slightly elevated, but I do not think that it is a coincidence that the film now has a darker appearance as the brightness levels on the previous release are very clearly problematic. (For the record, Tetro is also graded similarly). Image stability is terrific. Lastly, there are no distracting debris, scratches, damage marks, cuts, stains, warped frames, or other age-related imperfections. 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).

Rumble Fish 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 DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I prefer the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and this is how I (again) viewed the film. I suspect that there is some very recent work done on it because the mid/high ranges appear to have slightly improved clarity, but it is very possible that the difference actually comes from an overall improved fidelity of the entire track. You should also experiment with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track as it opens select sequences slightly better. There are no audio dropouts, pops, hiss, or other age-related imperfections to report.

Rumble Fish Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews -
  
  1. Francis Ford Coppola - in this brand new video interview, Francis Ford Coppola explains how Rumble Fish was conceived, and discusses in great detail the structure and visual style of the film. The director also discusses the evolution of filming technology and the unique advantages and choices digital technology offers to people like him. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).
  
  2. S.E. Hinton - in this brand new video interview, best-selling author S.E. Hinton recalls how the idea for her novel Rumble Fish emerged and evolved, and discusses some of the key ideas that are tackled in it, the identities of the main protagonists, and Francis Ford Coppola's film. (Also mentioned are some quite funny facts about the casting of Matt Dillon). The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).
  
  3. Matt Dillon and Diane Lane - in this brand new video interview, actors Matt Dillon and Diane Lane recall how they became involved with Rumble Fish and first impressions of S.E. Hinton's script for the film, and discuss the characters they played, the exhausting shooting process, Francis Ford Coppola's directing methods (with some interesting comments about his editing choices), some of the main similarities and differences between Rumble Fish and The Outsiders, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080p).
  
  4. Stephen H. Burum and Dean Tavoularis - in this brand new featurette, cinematographer Stephen H. Burum and production designer Dean Tavoularis discuss the shooting of Rumble Fish in Tulsa, the fine-tuning of specific sequences, the use of body language as envisioned by Francis Ford Coppola, the use of light and shadow throughout the film (and specifically the smart the use of carnival lights) and how it was directly influenced by the classic German expressionist films, etc. The featurette was filmed exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (31 min, 1080p).
  
  5. Roman Coppola - in this brand new video interview, associate producer Roman Coppola remembers his interactions with his father during the shooting of Rumble Fish and some interesting new filming ideas that were explored at the time. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (8 min, 1080p).
  
  6. "Mickey Rourke, California, February 1984" - presented here is an excerpt from an archival episode of the French TV program Cinema cinemas in which Mickey Rourke discusses his contribution to Rumble Fish and the experience of working with Francis Ford Coppola. The episode was broadcast on March 7, 1984. In English, with printed French subtitles. (9 min, 1080i).
  
  6. City Lights - presented here are clips from archival interviews with actors Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, and Vincent Spano, and producer Doug Claybourne. The interviews aired on October 18, 1983. In English, with printed French subtitles. (9 min, 1080i).

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Rumble Fish. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080i).

• On Location in Tulsa - an informative archival behind-the-scenes featurette with raw footage from the pre-production process. Also included are short comments by Francis Ford Coppola, various members of his team, and some of the principal actors. The featurette was produced by Kim Aubry in 2005. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080i).

• "Rumble Fish": The Percussion-Based Score - in this archival featurette, percussionist and composer Stewart Copeland, Francis Ford Coppola, and sound designer and mixer Richard Beggs discuss the unique qualities of the film's soundtrack. Also included is footage from experimental scoring sessions held in Tulsa in 1983. The featurette was produced by Kim Aubry in 2005. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080i).

• Locations: Looking for Rusty James - Chilean filmmaker/writer/producer Alberto Fuguet (Invierno, Velódromo) was deeply moved by Rumble Fish when he first saw it and years later traveled to Tulsa where the film was shot. In this documentary, which he produced in 2013, he discusses the profound impact the film had on his life and professional career, as well as the manner in which it 'spoke' to an entire generation of South Americans. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (90 min, 1080i).
  
  1. Back in Tulsa
  2. First screenings
  3. The effect of film
  4. Resistance
  5. Shaping lives
  6. Important movies

• Deleted Scenes - presented here are six deleted scenes, with a newly filmed introduction by Francis Ford Coppola. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080i).
  
  1. Introduction (3 min, 1080p)
  2. "Face the Fact" (2 min, 1080i)
  3. "Is Your Mother Dying?" (3 min, 1080i)
  4. Stealing Hubcaps (7 min, 1080i)
  5. Feelings and Ideas (2 min, 1080i)
  6. "Write the End" (6 min, 1080i)
  7. Princess of Troy (2 min, 1080i)

• Camus for Kids - in this brand new featurette, film historian Rodney F. Hill (coeditor of Francis Ford Coppola: Interviews) discusses the evolution of Francis Ford Coppola's career and work, and specifically his foray into art cinema, as well as the role of existentialism in Rumble Fish. The featurette was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).

• "Don't Box Me In" - presented here is the original 1983 video for the song "Don't Box Me In", from the Rumble Fish soundtrack, which features composer/percussionist Stewart Copeland and vocalist Stan Ridgway. (4 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - this is the same wonderful audio commentary with director Francis Ford Coppola that initially appeared on the old Special Edition DVD release of Rumble Fish which Universal Studios Home Entertainment produced in the United States some years ago.

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Glenn Kenny.

Rumble Fish Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arguably Francis Ford Coppola's most personal film, Rumble Fish has been fully restored in 4K under the supervision of its cinematographer, Stephen H. Burum. I think that the folks at Criterion deserve a tremendous amount of credit because the film desperately needed a proper release -- which could not have happened with the old master Universal Studios had in its vaults. The upcoming Blu-ray release has a very impressive selection of exclusive new and archival supplemental features, many of which also contain excellent information about another cult Coppola film, The Outsiders. Fantastic release. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.