7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
World-weary and living hand to mouth, small-time gunrunner Eddie "Fingers" Coyle works on the sidelines of the seedy Boston underworld just to make ends meet. But when he finds himself facing a second stretch of hard time, he's forced to weigh loyalty to his criminal colleagues against snitching to stay free.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Alex RoccoDrama | 100% |
Crime | 15% |
Heist | 4% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Peter Yates' "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include collection of production stills and an audio commentary by director Peter Yates. The release also arrives with a 44-page illustrated booklet featuring "They Were Expandable" by Kent Jones and "You Know What the 2001 Theme Is? That's the Sound of Mitchum Waking Up" by Peter Boyle. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
"They put your hand in a drawer. Somebody kicks the drawer shut. Ever hear bones breaking? Just like a man snapping a shingle. Hurts like a bastard."
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Peter Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit DataCine from a 35mm interpositive and a 35mm color reversal intermediate struck from the original negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt.
Telecine supervisor: Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colorist: Sue Gates/Modern VideoFilm, Los Angeles."
A pre-existing master has been accessed to produce the release. Generally speaking, depth and clarity are very pleasing, with the daylight footage in particular looking quite nice, but there are various noticeable density fluctuations. In select areas, shadow definition also fluctuates. Grain is present throughout the entire film, but it can be underexposed. As a result, occasionally the image becomes a bit too soft. Nevertheless, definition remains quite pleasing. Colors are stable and natural, but saturation can be improved. The best news here is that there are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is also very good. Finally, there are no large debris, cuts, stains, or scratches. All in all, even though there is clearly room for some improvements, the film still has a nice organic appearance. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English: LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles have been provided for the main feature.
Clarity is very good but there are some minor depth fluctuations. It is clear, however, that these are source limitations. Dave Grusin's score has an important role and thankfully it breathes easily throughout the entire film. There is no distracting background hiss, pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.
Peter Yates directed The Friends of Eddie Coyle in 1973, but this film still feels relevant today. All one needs to do is take a look at Joe Berlinger's recent documentary Whitey: United States of America V. James J. Bulger and it becomes painfully obvious that in Boston cops and gangsters were always comfortable working together. The great Robert Mitchum is fantastic as the aging Eddie "Fingers" Coyle. Criterion's technical presentation of The Friends of Eddie Coyle is good, but the film can look even better on Blu-ray. RECOMMENDED.
2013
40th Anniversary Edition
1975
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4K Restoration
1973
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