Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

The Fakers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection.

Disc Five of The Masterpiece Collection , as with some other discs in this set, offers an aggregation of two films that share at least some of the same footage. The Fakers, which is listed that way in this set but which actually offers a Smashing the Crime Syndicate title card in the film itself, apparently hails from around 1968, though almost all online data simply conflates this film (whatever you want to call it) with the second film on this disc, Hell's Bloody Devils, which appeared in 1970 and included scenes from the earlier film along with newly filmed biker material obviously added to cash in on the then trendy Easy Rider craze.

The Fakers has a kind of cool Saul Bass-like opening sequence, which might suggest this film was inspired at least in part by the James Bond craze of the 1960s, and there is a kind of "secret agent" aspect to the plotting, which, in typical Adamson fashion, is so overloaded with competing ideas that you might need the aid of a flow chart. Broderick Crawford is on hand as this entry's perceived "marquee star", though he is consigned to glorified cameo status as the big kahuna in an FBI-like investigation into counterfeiting being done by a (this is another of those "wait for it" moments that are a regular feature in Adamson's filmography) neo-Nazi group.

The Fakers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Fakers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As with several other transfers in this set, the opening few moments look pretty rough, but things start improving soon thereafter. While the palette is really rather robust overall, it looks slightly skewed toward peach tones at times, though some elements, like the bright purple dress seen in one of the early police sequences with Broderick Crawford, really pop very well. There are some intermittent downturns in saturation (though not the only instance, pay attention at circa 28:27 during the Marine World sequence, for just one example), and some of the darkest scenes have less than optimal shadow detail. In brightly lit moments, detail levels are very good, and grain resolves naturally throughout the presentation.

The Fakers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Fakers features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mix. The film's late 60s ambience is evident from the get go with a kind of Lalo Schifrin inspired theme song with tons of bongos which sounds surprisingly full bodied, though there's some slight break up of the brass (while the film's title card features the Crashing the Crime Syndicate name, the theme song is called "The Fakers", with music rather incredibly by Nelson Riddle, so go figure). While a lot of the music sounds good here, dialogue is occasionally pretty boxy, perhaps due to re-recording, and as with several other Adamson outings, there are what sound like inartful edits at times.

The Fakers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternative The Fakers Title Sequence (1080p; 00:44)

The Fakers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What can you say about a film that offered a cameo to Col. Harlan A. Sanders so that Adamson could procure free Kentucky Fried Chicken for the production? Well, that that makes about as much sense as anything else in The Fakers and/or Smashing the Crime Syndicate. This film, while another perfect example of Adamson's gonzo proclivities, has generally good technical merits within the context of this overall set.