Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

See No Evil, Hear No Evil Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 2, 2024

Arthur Hiller's "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the release include new program with composer Stewart Copeland; archival making of featurette; promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Replace Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder with any other two actors and See No Evil, Hear No Evil instantly becomes a bad film. It could even fall apart. It is a silly film that works with average material. Arthur Hiller’s direction is not bad, but it is not great either. There are a few decent supporting actors, but everything they say and do is instantly forgettable. In other words, Pryor and Wilder do all the heavy lifting, so if they are removed, the entire film becomes a perfect recipe for disaster.

But it is just as easy to guess a few more things. See No Evil, Hear No Evil was conceived for Pryor and Wilder, and in its current form it would have never been greenlighted without them. Also, Hiller would have never committed to it if Pryor and Wilder were not involved. Without its two stars, See No Evil, Hear No Evil would have lost its current supporting cast, too.

But in what way is any of this different from how other films are conceived?

It is rare to see an entire film conceived for a pair of stars with the expectation that they can single-handedly make it work. A strong supporting cast is always part of the equation. Also, when such a film is greenlighted, there is always a very strong screenplay that gives its producers the confidence that it will turn out successful. Contrary to what has been said in the past, See No Evil, Hear No Evil was not conceived with a very strong screenplay. It was conceived with a very strong expectation that Pryor and Wilder would replicate what they had already done in Silver Streak (1976) and Stir Crazy (1980), two very similar films, all of which had pretty much everything to do with their outstanding chemistry before the camera.

In See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Pryor and Wilder play a pair of outcasts -- the former is blind, while the latter is deaf. On a beautiful day in New York City, fate unites them and almost immediately transforms them into targets for a pair of psychotic killers looking to recover a precious coin. While trying to stay a few steps ahead of the killers, and completely unaware that they have accidentally acquired the precious coin, the outcasts wreak havoc across the city and force the police to begin tracking them down, too.

All the action and comedy, plus all the twists that are carefully planted in them, big and small, are entirely predictable. And yet, See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a wonderful, enormously entertaining film. The source of its magic is the terrific chemistry between Pryor and Wilder and the organic improvisations that emerge because of it, which overshadow everything else. This is not to imply that Hiller’s direction is insignificant, or that the atmosphere that materializes during the chase is meaningless. However, the two stars are so good together it genuinely looks and feels like See No Evil, Hear No Evil runs on autopilot.

There is something else that makes See No Evil, Hear No Evil even more attractive now. (Admittedly, this is a crucial strength of all four films Pryor and Wilder made together). It has a genuine, old-fashioned, completely unfiltered sense of humor. It is why it unleashes a barrage of F-bombs and demeans at will with that wonderful but now sadly lost conviction that in a comedy for intelligent adults anything is fair game.

The supporting cast includes Kevin Spacey, Joan Severance, Alan North, Anthony Zerbe, John Capodice, and Louis Giambalvo.

Hiller worked with cinematographer Victor Kemper, whose credits include such terrific films as The Gambler, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Final Countdown, and Dog Day Afternoon.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, See No Evil, Hear No Evil arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from an old master supplied by Sony Pictures, which is the same master all previous releases of See No Evil, Hear No Evil have accessed. I have in my library this Australian release and on it the film looks as it does on this release.

I like the master and the quality of the visuals it produces a lot. It is free of digital anomalies and gives the film a very attractive, very convincing organic appearance. Delineation, clarity, and depth range from good to very good, in a few areas even excellent. Yes, in a few areas density levels can be superior, but even there the quality of the visuals remains good. Color balance is convincing. If the film is remastered in 4K, I suspect that some primaries will become slightly fresher and more vibrant, so the dynamic range of the visuals will improve, but the current color balance is the correct one. There are no troubling anomalies. Image stability is excellent. The surface of the visuals is healthy. All in all, while the film could have a slightly lusher and more vibrant appearance, I like the current presentation a lot. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

See No Evil, Hear No Evil 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.

Even though the master that was used to produce this release is old, the lossless track is as good as it can be -- or at least I think it is. Clarity, sharpness, and depth are outstanding. During the chase and other action material, dynamic intensity is wonderful for a film from the late '80s. There are no balance issues. If you turn up the volume more than you usually do, you will not hear any imperfections in the upper register. However, all of this is hardly surprising because virtually all older masters that emerge from Sony's vaults have very solid audio tracks.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Stewart Copeland: Fairlight Entertainment - in this new program, composer Stewart Copeland discusses the technology he used to create the soundtrack of See No Evil, Hear No Evil and some particular choices he made for key solos. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• The Making of See No Evil, Hear No Evil - presented here is an archival EPK featuring clips from interviews with Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Joan Severance, and Arthur Hiller, among others, as well as raw footage from the shooting of the film. In English, not subtitled. (9 min).

• Trailers - presented here are two vintage trailers for See No Evil, Hear No Evil. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Max Evry and Bryan Reesman.

• Image Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for See No Evil, Hear No Evil.

• Book - a limited edition exclusive 100-page book with new essay by Jeff Billington, extracts from archival interviews with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, archival production reports on Stir Crazy, extracts from the films' pressbooks, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and technical film credits.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder made four films together, and they are all wonderful. I would say that some of the best laughs are in See No Evil, Hear No Evil, but Pryor and Wilder's incredible chemistry remains the biggest magnet in these films. Three of the four films are included in Pryor & Wilder, 1980-1991, a three-disc box set produced by Indicator/Powerhouse Films. If you decide to pick it up for your library, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.