Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Big Easy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 7, 2023

Jim McBride's "The Big Easy" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary recorded by Jim McBride and filmmaker Douglas Hosdale as well as vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

A part of me is eager to declare that Jim McBride’s The Big Easy (1986) is the final of the three famous neo-noir films to be set in New Orleans to transition to Blu-ray. What are the other two? Richard Pearce’s No Mercy (1986) and Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2006). But thanks to the internet in recent years neo-noir -- and film noir as well -- has become such a loose genre that another part of me is just as eager to argue that these films do not deserve to be grouped together. Does The Big Easy have the same ambience that is present in No Mercy? And does The Big Easy capture the dark aura and pulse of New Orleans like Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans? The closer I examine these films, the less convinced I become that they share identical or even similar neo-noir genes. All three films are set in New Orleans and their creators are on record admitting that they did their best to preserve the city’s legendary noirish identity in them, but is it fair to say that they visited, experienced, and shot the same city?

It is difficult to write that they did. Herzog went to New Orleans soon after Hurricane Katrina had devasted it, so the city in his film has a dramatically different aura and pulse than the city that emerges in the other two films. It is an unmistakably introverted place, often incredibly spooky as well. It looks desperate too, like a seriously ill patient that has a slim chance of surviving and urgently needs encouragement to be at least somewhat optimistic about the future. Could such a place be considered the most genuine playground for a modern neo-noir film? Yes, probably, because the ‘preparation work’ Hurricane Katrina did for it was astonishing. How many of its characteristics can you identify in the other two films?

Since McBride and Pearce went to New Orleans at approximately the same time, they should have encountered the same city, correct? They should have, but they did not. The city that emerges in No Mercy looks like the portal to another place, which Alan Parker’s Angel Heart would reveal just a year later. It is dangerous and overflowing with mysticism, the kind of place you do not want to get lost in after the sun goes down. Is it another special playground for a modern neo-noir film? It is certainly very good, but this city has an attitude and is not afraid to promote it, which is why it does not have much in common with the one in Herzog’s film.

In McBride’s film, New Orleans is still a multi-layered crime-infested city but it has that conventional appearance many other dangerous cities across America have. Also, its dark aura is virtually impossible to detect, which is why the drama that flourishes in it is different, too. More importantly, its two leads, a crooked lieutenant (Dennis Quaid) and an ambitious attorney (Ellen Barkin) from the D.A.’s office, are not tested by it. They just deal with its bad side as best as they can and, in the process, slowly begin to fall in love.

Unfortunately, a lot of the scripted activities around the two leads do plenty of irreparable damage to the image of New Orleans that could and should have been retained in McBride’s film. For example, the bulk of these activities is supposed to define the rhythm of life and culture (the good and bad) that are essential for this image, but they feature outsiders that are utterly incompatible with it. These outsiders are just passing through situations whose dynamics and tone are very difficult to accept as legit, so the crucial reflective material where the authentic image of New Orleans is to be established does not materialize. On top of this, while the film struggles, the screenplay demands that McBride enthusiastically overlaps suspense, romance, and light comedy. The end product has several shades of neo-noir but its genre identity is mishandled.

The Big Easy 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, The Big Easy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older and most unfortunately very unconvincing master. To be clear, the age of the master is not the main source of its weaknesses. Yes, a lot of the visuals reveal inconsistencies in terms of delineation, clarity, and depth that a proper new 2K/4K master will quite easily address, but I think that most viewers will be pleased with them. The main problem is that this master gives the film a very artificial appearance that produces some obvious anomalies. Why? The party that graded the master appears to have been guessing how the film should look and as a result several primaries are badly mismanaged. For example, blue is almost completely dialed out and replaced with turquoise which produces very strange fluctuations in the native dynamic range of daylight and nighttime visuals. Reds and whites are affected too, though not to the same extent. Unsurprisingly, faces, highlights, daylight, and all sorts of other details and nuances can appear oddly unbalanced. Predictably, even though there are no traces of problematic digital corrections, the visuals often have a digital appearance, not the type of appearance you would expect from a 35mm film. Image stability is good. The surface of the visuals reveals nicks, some blemishes, and even a few tiny black marks. All in all, to look as it should, The Big Easy needs to be redone at least in 2K and properly graded so that it recovers its original theatrical appearance. (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).

The Big Easy 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.

I was a bit surprised by the quality of the lossless track. The dialog is easy to follow and quite clear, but the audio tends to sound quite compressed. In select areas, it sounded very thin and almost as if it had clipped high-frequencies. Again, I was able to hear all exchanges, but the unevenness surprised me because these days I rarely encounter such issues with older audio tracks.

The Big Easy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by director Jim McBride and filmmaker Douglas Hosdale. I listened to the entire commentary and thought that it was very good. Mr. McBride shares very interesting information about the difficult relationship between The Big Easy and its producer, the film's reception at Sundance, its style and narrative construction as well as the link between the film and Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday, the casting choices and the work that was done in New Orleans, etc.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Big Easy. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The Big Easy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Should New Orleans be considered the ultimate setting for a special contemporary neo-noir film? It is very difficult for me to give a definitive answer because I think that there are some desert areas in Arizona, Nevada, and West Texas that effortlessly produce incredible noir atmosphere, but if I had to pick one city that can compete with them New Orleans would be it. This legendary city has a genuine, unmistakable dark aura that is perfect for that kind of genre film. I do not think that The Big Easy takes advantage of it as well as it should have, but I have always had a spot for it in my library. Unfortunately, I think that The Big Easy should look quite different on Blu-ray so that it can be experienced as Jim McBride intended.