Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Irishman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 25, 2020

Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" (2019) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; featurette with Martin Scorsese and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman and members of his team; visual essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme; and more. Also included with the release in an illustrated leaflet featuring essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and technical credits. Region-A "locked".

He said that?

Money and power. It was always about money and power. A small group of apex predators controlled the game and made sure that they always had the right reasons to manipulate the sheep. Loyalty, brotherhood, family, it was all a bunch of malarkey. Everyone was expandable too, even the ones at the very top. The process of removing an apex predator that had become problematic was simply more complicated than the process of removing someone at the bottom of the chain. This is why Jimmy Hoffa lasted for as long as he did. He understood the game and how it was played, so once he became a liability it was not easy to immediately remove him. He had documents and tapes that could reveal the game and expose the apex predators that controlled it, which is why initially they tried to change his mind and make him work with them again. A few even considered letting him walk away, so long as he agreed to keep quiet and spend the rest of his life enjoying the fruits of his labor.

There is a short sequence in which Russ Bufalino and Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran discuss Hoffa’s inevitable death which suggests that even the assassination of President Kennedy was carried out by the same apex predators. (Frankly, it is one of the most logical ancient theories explaining what took place in Dallas). They had a huge network of people in Chicago and apparently did a lot of hard work to push then-candidate Kennedy over the line. Soon after he took the oath of office, someone greenlighted a secret operation to send Cuban exiles back on the island and take down Castro, while Sheeran oversaw the delivery of the weapons they needed. Did President Kennedy follow through on a promise? According to Bufalino, it is exactly what happened. Once Castro was out American ‘businessmen’ were expected to resume operations on the island and gradually regain their positions, which meant that Bufalino and his partners would be the ones calling the shots. But the plan failed, and while AG Bobby Kennedy was going after various small and not so small fish that could expose the apex predators, someone gave an order to take out President Kennedy for failing to keep his end of the deal.

Hoffa dying as he does makes sense too, but in the grand scheme of things it is actually utterly irrelevant. What is interesting is that someone of his stature had to be silenced and the authorities could not -- or perhaps did not want to -- figure out what had happened. Hoffa and Sheeran had become close friends and they genuinely respected each other, but when Bufalino sent Sheeran to put a bullet in his head he never hesitated. It was just another job -- a tough one, but still only a job. The apex predators had won again.

Eventually, the game started weeding out the aging predators. Some were taken out by younger competitors, some were finally arrested and put behind bars, and a few just got really weak and died of cancer. Then slowly but surely the game changed too. It was no longer as centralized as it was in the old days, which meant that the rules had to be altered as well. Sheeran, who for decades carried out Bufalino’s orders, lived long enough to see it transformed.

Martin Scorsese directs the The Irishman with supreme confidence that makes it easy to compare to his classic gangster films, but there are too many aging stars in it that pull it in opposite directions. Their chemistry is disappointingly inconstant as well, causing large episodes to look like individual pieces where different stars are simply expected to impress in different ways. (Ironically, Hervey Keitel is completely wasted).

Perhaps the biggest disappointment, however, is the heavy use of digital effects which gradually but permanently destroy the film’s authenticity. They make faces and personalities look incredibly fake; good settings lose their period ambience as well.

The film is also too long. There is a lot of bloated material that could have been significantly shortened to ensure better pacing and ultimately make the drama easier to endure.

The Irishman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Irishman arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The film looks quite incredible in high-definition, though this is hardly surprising considering the fact that it was shot with multiple state-of-the art cameras. Delineation, clarity, sharpness, and depth are quite simply superb. The fluidity of the visuals is also as good as you would see on a 1080p presentation. Colors range from rich and remarkably balanced to soft and gently subdued, providing different period episodes with unique identities. Image stability is excellent. Finally, there are no encoding anomalies to report in our review. Terrific presentation. (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 Irishman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English Dolby Atmos. Also included is a Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I thought that the sharpness and fullness of the Atmos track were simply superb. Whenever the music became prominent the entries were quite wonderful as well. Dynamic intensity can vary, but this is how the original soundtrack was put together. The dialog is crystal-clear, clean, and very easy to follow.

The Irishman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making The Irishman - an exclusive program documenting the production of The Irishman, with numerous cast and crew interviews as well as raw footage from the shooting of the film. Director Martin Scorsese also discusses in-depth the evolution of the project. The program was created by Criterion. In English, not subtitled. (37 min, 1080p).

• Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci - presented here is a filmed roundtable conversation in which Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Robert De Niro have a drink and discuss the various films they did over the years, some of their characters, the genesis of The Irishman, and what it was like to work together. The program was recorded by Netflix in 2019 and edited by Criterion. In English, not subtitled. (19 min, 1080p).

• Gangsters' Requiem - in this new visual essay, critic Farran Smith Nehme discusses the style and narrative construction of The Irishman. The essay was produced for Criterion in 2020. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080p).

• Anatomy of a Scene: "The Irishman" - in this program, Martin Scorsese offers a commentary on the Frank Sheeran Appreciation Night sequence of The Irishman. The commentary was produced by Mekado Murphy for The New York Times' online series Anatomy of a Scene in 2020. In English, not subtitled. (6 min, 1080i).

• The Evolution of Digital De-Aging as Seen in "The Irishman" - in this program, Martin Scorsese and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman and his team at Industrial Light & Magic discuss the digital effects that were utilized in The Irishman. The program was produced by Netflix in 2020. In English, not subtitled. (13 min, 1080p).

• Frank Sheeran and Jimmy Hoffa - presented here is a selection of excerpts from two archival videos used as references by Martin Scorsese and his cast and crew during the pre-production process of The Irishman.
  
  1. Sheeran. In English, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080i).
  2. Hoffa. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080i).

• Trailer and Teaser - original Netflix trailer and teaser for The Irishman. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and technical credits.

The Irishman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A project like The Irishman should have happened twenty, maybe thirty years ago, and perhaps then the end result could have been a brilliant masterpiece. As it is The Irishman -- which by the way is based on a novel that was published in 2004 -- feels a bit like the last hurrah for a lot of very talented people that did it out of respect for each other. It has some memorable moments, but it often looks sterile and bloated, at times even oddly unfocused as well. I hate to say it but many of its stars also look quite old and tired, and not only where the script requires that they do. Criterion's technical presentation of The Irishman is outstanding. RECOMMENDED.