Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

The Limey Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 17, 2020

Steven Soderbergh's "The Limey" (1999) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK. There are no supplemental features on the release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Trouble bound

Terrence Stamp’s last truly great performance was in this very simple but stylish crime thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. Despite some sporadic festival praise, since 1999 Stamp has played characters that very few people remember.

An aging Englishman who calls himself Wilson (Stamp) arrives in LA to find out more about the death of his daughter. He hooks up with Eduardo (Luis Guzman), who had contacted him with the tragic news while he was still in prison, and soon after they end up in a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Here, Wilson kills a couple of shady characters and then leaves with the personal information of a local business mogul, Terry Valentine (Henry Fonda), who dated his daughter. Wilson and Eduardo then visit a lavish party at Valentine’s chic mansion, and while the mogul entertains his guests, Wilson comes close to him and then on the way out forces his personal bodyguard to unexpectedly commit a ‘suicide’. Now fully aware that he has become a target for a madman, Valentine dispatches his trusted assistant, Jim Avery (Barry Newman), to fix the problem and he hires a couple of unprofessional hitmen (Nicky Katt and Joe Dallesandro) to put Wilson in a body bag. When they fail to fix the problem because of unplanned interference by DEA agents, Wilson goes on the offensive, forcing Valentine, his newest girlfriend (Amelia Heinle), Avery, and a couple of bodyguards to barricade in a secluded villa far away from the city.

The path that Soderbergh’s film follows is so familiar that it very quickly becomes clear that only a great display of character plays can make it attractive. But it is actually a single character and his exploits that make it look different and ultimately very enjoyable. It is Stamp’s outsider who sticks out like a sore thumb in LA and operates with a logic that routinely confuses the people around him. This is half the film -- scenes filled with offbeat humor unleashed by the Brit’s awkwardness. The minor twists and action that link these scenes are largely irrelevant.

The other half that completes the film is Soderbergh’s stylization. It blends a controlled preference for LA noir-esque ambience with deceivingly casual pacing that make the film appear cool in a very organic way. Indeed, instead of leaving an impression that it is working hard to accommodate Stamp’s quirky character, the film convinces that it is simply documenting his mission, without any unnecessary tricks to make it appear more colorful than it is. It is precisely why the few scattered flashbacks that reveal bits of the visitor’s troubled past and try to explain his current state of mind do not contribute to the cool.

The supporting cast is very good. However, from time to time it does become rather obvious that a few actors try to do more with their characters to spice up the action than they should. Katt and Dallesandro, for instance, tend to exaggerate the personalities of their hitmen in a borderline grotesque fashion that almost succeeds in making their scenes appear as if they might have been extracted from a different film, one where parody is at the heart of the narrative. A couple of the big bodyguards that are brought in to protect the compromised businessman also deliver lines that only make them appear clumsy and fake.

The soundtrack features original music by award-winning composer Cliff Martinez and classic tracks by the likes of The Who (“The Seeker”), Steppenwolf (“Magic Carpet Ride”), Boston (“Smokin’”), and The Byrds (“It Happens Each Day”). Stamp can also be seen and heard offering a simple rendition of Donovan’s “Colours”.

*Lionsgate’s release of The Limey is sourced from a recent 4K restoration of the film that was apparently supervised and approved by director Soderbergh.

The Limey Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Limey arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK.

The release is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film that was apparently supervised and approved by director Soderbergh. It is a tremendous upgrade in quality. Indeed, depth, delineation, clarity, and density are so good that when it is upscaled to 4K the 1080p transfer makes it awfully difficult to speculate what area(s) of it can look superior in native 4K. Even fluidity is exceptionally strong, so on a larger screen the 1080p transfer really looks mighty impressive. It is easy to tell that the new 4K master was very carefully graded as well because the type of nuances that emerge throughout the film have a cinematic quality that usually only top 4K makeovers produce. If a 4K Blu-ray release materializes this is probably the area where the most significant improvements will be observed, and not because the 1080p transfer struggles, but because it feels like the existing ranges of nuances could be even more striking. Image stability is fantastic. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Limey Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5,1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The important role that sound has in Steven Soderbergh's films is well known, so it is practically guaranteed that the lossless track was finalized with careful instructions. Clarity, depth, and stability are excellent. The film also has a pretty diverse soundtrack and the lossless track handles its evolving dynamics very well.

The Limey Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no special features to be found on this release.

The Limey Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If Lionsgate has not licensed The Limey to Criterion and isn't planning a Blu-ray release of the new 4K restoration of the film in the United States, then the studio is making a massive business error. This is one of Steven Soderbergh's most popular films -- it is true, it has a huge cult image already -- and the new 4K restoration that was completed for it is a visual stunner. I actually think that if The Limey is released on 4K Blu-ray, it will be a much bigger seller for the studio than Lock Up. So, if you decide to pick up the Blu-ray release that Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK has produced, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.