Serpico Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Serpico Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 10, 2024

Sidney Lumet's "Serpico" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. There are no supplemental features on the release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The film begins with the end -- we see Frank Serpico (Al Pacino, Scarface) being shot in the face and rushed into a New York City hospital. The news spreads like fire and soon many of his friends and colleagues gather to find out from the doctors whether he will live.

Now, we go back. We see Serpico graduating from the Police Academy and reporting for duty. It takes time for him to get used to the routine, but he is happy. Being a cop is what he has been dreaming of his entire life.

Then come the disappointments -- calls for help are ignored, people are hurt for no good reason, and envelopes full of cash are handed out to cops to mind their own business. This is not why Serpico wanted to be a cop. When his first envelope arrives, he refuses it.

The other guys in the department are unsure what to think of Serpico. Perhaps he just needs more time to get used to how things are done, realize what is expected of him, relax and learn to claim his share. Serpico is new, they conclude, that’s all.

Meanwhile, Serpico meets Leslie (Cornelia Sharpe, Open Season). She likes the arts, ballet in particular. She has never dated a cop before and Serpico certainly does not look like one. Serpico sees in her what all the other men she has been with could not, so he could be the special one. But Serpico reveals to her that he is not ready to commit and she walks away. Shortly after, he meets Laurie (Barbara Eda-Young, Talk to Me).

Eventually, some of the guys in the department lose patience and confront Serpico. They want to know why he is not taking his share, why he is making it difficult for them. Serpico attempts to explain that he simply cannot do it -- being a dirty cop while pretending to be a good one. When the guys finally realize that he is not one of them, they become angry -- very, very angry.

Things start to get out of control when Serpico attempts to alert his superiors that not everything in the department is as it should be. First, he gets a few strange looks, then a couple of serious warnings, and finally a bullet in his face.

Based on Peter Maas’ popular best-seller, Sidney Lumet’s Serpico is a simple but powerful film about an honest cop’s struggle against a corrupt system. A year after the film premiered, Pacino earned an Oscar nomination and won his first Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the cop.

Serpico is a cold and gritty film, devoid of glamour. It is firmly focused on police corruption and its messaging cannot be misinterpreted, but loneliness and loss are key themes in it as well. As Serpico begins asking questions no one wants to answer, his personal life disintegrates, and eventually he turns into a social outcast.

The title is somewhat misleading as Serpico is not the only character of importance in the film. For example, New York City, as it truly was during the 1970s, comes alive and leaves a lasting impression.

* The real Frank Serpico resigned from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) on June 15, 1972. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous bravery in action". Shortly after, he moved to Switzerland.

Serpico Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Serpico arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

This release is sourced from the older 2K master that Paramount Pictures used for the original American release of Serpico in 2013. I think that this master is quite good and reproduces the film's theatrical qualities very well. It is almost certainly why Kino Lorber's recent 4K Blu-ray release offers a very similar presentation of the film as well. For example, the color timing of the 2K and 4K masters is practically identical, which of course is very good news. However, this release handles darker areas a little bit better when compared to the 1080p presentation of the recent 4K makeover. There are still some areas where ideally balance should be even better, but on my system I could easily see minor yet meaningful improvements in terms of shadow definition/darker nuances. I thought that this was the main weakness of the 4K makeover -- it crushes a lot of the darker footage, though in native 4K some of the issues were easier to tolerate. A few specks and blemishes can be spotted, but they are never distracting. Also, there is room for some encoding optimizations, though the overall quality of the encode on this release is very good. (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).

Serpico Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The quality of the lossless track is very, very good. I viewed the entire film with the volume turned up quite a bit and did not notice any age-related issues to report in our review. Clarity, sharpness, and depth were as good as they have to be. Stability was excellent as well. I would describe dynamic intensity as very good. However, the strength of lossless track becomes obvious only during the action footage, which has all the typical period limitation that you should expect from a film that was made more than fifty years ago.

Serpico Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no bonus features to be found on this release.

Serpico Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sidney Lumet's Serpico is one of the great American films of the 1970s. However, it is not one of those great older films whose message has aged so much that it has lost its relevance. On the contrary, its message has an even stronger resonance now that corruption is detectable in so many different agencies and institutions that should be immune to it.

This release of Serpico is sourced from an older but very solid 2K master that was supplied by Paramount Pictures. It is included in Imprint Films' Directed by Sidney Lumet: Vol.1, a seven-disc box set, which is Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.