Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Sting II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 18, 2020

Jeremy Kagan's "The Sting II" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by the director as well as a vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

So, what's the plan?

The biggest flaw that I can spot in this film is in its title, The Sting II, which immediately, and in my opinion undeservedly, links it to George Roy Hill’s film. This connection makes it impossible not to compare the two films, and the more time you spend doing so, the more you will begin to realize that the latter is a vastly superior film. But this does not mean that the former is a genuine turkey, not even close, and yet this is exactly what a lot of people have argued over the years. Trust me, not only is The Sting II not a bad film, it is actually quite well acted and pretty darn entertaining.

New York, 1940. Still hurting from his sizeable financial loss, Lonnegan (Oliver Reed) orders his thugs to pick up Kid Colors (Burt Remsen) and they deliver him in an abandoned warehouse where he is promptly tortured and executed. The thugs then track down Jake Hooker (Mac Davis) and his pal Eddie (Ron Rifkin), but their boss decides to let them travel to Florida where his old foe, Fargo Gondorff (Jackie Gleason), is getting ready to leave prison and return to civilian life. When the two con men visit Gondorff at his “big house with a yard”, the old-timer reveals to them that he has been planning a big sting that would avenge Colors’ death and allow them to retire in style. Shortly after, each member of Gondorff’s crew gets a personal message and then they all gather to talk business.

The sting turns out to be a risky boxing con, targeting cocky night club owner Gus Macalinski (Karl Malden), who in the past has done plenty of shady deals with Lonnegan. For the sting to work as intended, Hooker would become a very promising boxer looking for protection and willing to turn on his abusive boss -- which would be Gondorff -- who has ordered him to go down in a high-profile match. In exchange for Macalinski’s protection, Hooker would help him get even richer. Lonnegan would also play an important role in the sting, but without fully realizing it, or at least not until it is too late for him to pull out of it.

Before the crew officially goes to work, Hooker has an unexpected reunion with the beautiful scammer Veronica (Teri Garr), who has previously pulled a fast one on him and his pal Eddie, and after acknowledging her talent she agrees to join the boys and inspire Macalinski to go against Gondorff. The perfect plan to sting Macalinski and Lonnegan works exactly as intended -- until it doesn’t and the crew is forced for begin improvising.

The minor tweaks in the names of the main characters are extremely easy to ignore, and once you do so the rest begins to look good. For example, the original material from David S. Ward again has the right amount of wit and the solid cast does the best of it, plus the entire film matches the energy of the original film quite well. The great decors and costumes as well as Lalo Schifrin’s predictably impressive score also produce a lovely period atmosphere.

So, why is the film still seen as a major flop? The truth is that the bulk of the negativity that has been unloaded on it is an overreaction to the ‘unforgivable sin’ that I highlighted earlier -- it not a legit sequel. Now, here are a few things that are worth pointing out because they actually do make it weaker. First, there is no one that matches Gleason’s presence before the camera. Malden comes close, but the script does not provide enough opportunities for him and Gleason to shine together. This, I assure you, is a legit flaw. Second, even though there is nothing particularly wrong with Davis’ performance, he does not look loose. He leaves the impression that he is just one of the guys from Gleason’s crew, and yet it is pretty obvious that the film wants him to be a lot more than that. A looser performance, with more authentic energy, could have made him a lot more attractive. Finally, some of the secondary characters leave the impression that they are simply there to spice up the action rather than actually have a meaningful role in it. The biggest offender is Val Avery’s cranky cop O'Malley, who actually looks great but is entirely wasted.

But I still think that The Sting II is a nice little film. It is just that its producers completely overestimated its potential and by doing so made it impossible to be separated from the vastly superior original film. A crucial mistake, indeed.

The Sting II 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 Sting II arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Fortunately, this is yet another older master with good organic qualities to emerge from the major's vaults.

The most obvious limitation of the master that you should notice rather easily is the less than optimal shadow definition in darker/indoor areas. From time to time some finer nuances are simply not exposed well, which is why the blacks can appear slightly elevated on your system. You can see obvious examples of the crushing in screencaptures #2 and 16. The rest looks good. Yes, there is still room for meaningful improvements -- highlights in particular can be easily rebalanced and will make a noticeable difference -- but the film has pleasing overall organic appearance. In a number of areas with plenty of light depth can actually be surprisingly good. There are no traces of degraining or sharpening adjustments. Image stability is good. A few minor specks can be spotted, but there are no distracting large debris, damage marks, cuts, warped or torn frames to report. (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 Sting II 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 thought that the lossless track was really good. It handles Lalo Schifrin's prominent score very well and is free of age-related imperfections. Perhaps a new remix can introduce some cosmetic improvements, but at the moment I actually doubt this is possible. The audio is already very good.

The Sting II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Sting II. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 480/60i).

• Audio Commentary - this brand new commentary by director Jeremy Kagan is worth listening in its entirety because it offers an incredibly detailed summation of the production of The Sting. There are some particularly interesting about the casting of Mac Davis as well as the betting sequence in which the big bet is altered. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following Kino Lorber releases:
  
  1. Miracles
  2. The Brink's Job
  3. Disorganized Crime
  4. Oscar

The Sting II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Is The Sting II in the same league with George Roy Hill's original film? No, and this was correctly established a long time ago. However, I can't even begin to agree with old reviews that have argued that the former is some massive disaster that should have never been greenlighted. Some of the casting choices that its producers made are not right and this is where most of its weaknesses emerge from, but it is still quite well acted and pretty darn entertaining. I have always had a copy of it in my library, and this Blu-ray release will be there as well. RECOMMENDED.