Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Slam Dance Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 17, 2015

Nominated for Spirit Award for Best Cinematography, Wayne Wang's "Slam Dance' (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video. The only bonus features on the disc are two original trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"Is that a wedding ring?"

Slam Dance was probably meant to tap into the same LA atmosphere David Lynch has been obsessed with for years. Beyond that, however, it is difficult to tell precisely what Chinese-American auteur Wayne Wang, who directed it, was trying to accomplish with it.

Underground cartoonist C. C. Drood (Tom Hulce, Animal House) is questioned by the police when they discover the cold body of an elegant call girl (Virginia Madsen, Modern Girls) with whom he had an affair. Soon after, Drood begins tracking down a mysterious killer and his life quickly spins out of control.

In Slam Dance, the cartoonist essentially assumes the classic role the private detective has in Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandlers’ novels, which of course was reinvented in a number of the great American noir films from the early ‘40s and ‘50s. Here the cartoonist is a loner who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a reality which he does not fully understand and facing people that do not trust or like him. A series of events then reveal that things are not as wild as they might have initially appeared, but certain important details have to be placed in the proper context before everything can begin to make sense.

The problem with this film is that it arranges the scattered pieces of its story in a very awkward way. Indeed, the proper logic is there and none of the cartoonist’s discoveries are outlandish, but it feels like somewhere along the way the film attempts to change its identity because it no longer likes how the various relationships between the main characters have evolved. So there are these sporadic shifts where the film focuses on some completely random events that leave one wondering whether the murder case was worth wasting time on because there is apparently so much more of greater significance elsewhere that has been ignored. By the time one figures out what is happening, however, the film heads right back to the murder case. The end result is difficult to describe. It almost feels as if Wang started the film, then a different director was given the opportunity to experiment with a few segments, and at end Wang came back and quickly wrapped everything up.

Some of the unevenness and ambiguity can be attractive as they create the impression that LA is a metropolis whose reality is a like a big onion, and the more layers one peels away, the more layers of it emerge. However, unlike Lynch, who seems to understand and manipulate it incredibly well, Wang does not seem to know what to do with it and ends up experimenting while his camera is rolling. Unsurprisingly, there are a few bits here and there that look and feel great, but the rest of the film does not look too attractive.

Hulce and Madsen are likable, but with a different script they could have been a lot better. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays the cartoonist’s suspicious wife who still loves him but does not want to give their relationship another chance. Harry Dean Stanton appears in a couple of scenes as an experienced detective who feels that the cartoonist is innocent. Pop star Adam Ant also steps in front of the camera to test his character’s friendship with the cartoonist. Don Keith Opper, who wrote the script for the film, is Drood’s nemesis.

Wang shot the film with cinematographer Amir Mokri, who later on went on to lense such blockbusters as Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II and Transformers: Age of Extinction, Justin Lin’s Fast & Furious, and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

Slam Dance 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, Wayne Wang's Slam Dance arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Like the majority of Wayne Wang's films, Slam Dance has a rather rough appearance. The manner in which light and shadow are captured, in particular, reveals a preference for edgier visuals. It is difficult to tell, however, how accurately the transfer preserves these preferences. For example, during some of the flashbacks it is easy to see that brightness and contrast are intentionally elevated (see screencaptures #4 and 19). There are, however, portions of the film where depth also fluctuates a bit but light does not appear to have been manipulated. Grain could be better defined, but there are no traces of recent degraining corrections. Also, there are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Colors are stable, but because the film has a specific stylized appearance color nuances are not always consistent. Overall image stability is very good. Finally, there are no large debris, damage marks, scratches, or cuts to report in our review. All in all, this is a fine presentation of Slam Dance that makes it rather easy to appreciate the artistic vision of its creator. My score is 3.75/5.00. (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).

Slam Dance 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.

The film has a very distinctive ambient soundtrack that is effectively used to enhance the neo-noirish atmosphere. However, you should not expect to hear plenty of dynamic moevement. (It is quite obvious that the film was shot with a fairly modest budget). The dialog is stable, clean, and always easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in our review.

Slam Dance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - two original trailers. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Slam Dance (3 min, 480/60i).
  2. Modern Girls (2 min, 480/60i).

Slam Dance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If the great Italian neorealists were still around, they most likely would be making films that look a lot like Chinese-American auteur Wayne Wang's best films. These films typically have modern but very authentic characters who have a special relationship with the places where they live. Wang loves to observe and study them. Slam Dance is worth a look, but if you wish to explore Wang's work see if first you can track down Smoke, Blue In The Face, Chan is Missing, and The Center of the World. RECOMMENDED.