Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Tony Arzenta Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 30, 2024

Almost a year before Death Wish offered Charles Bronson as a distraught husband and father out to avenge a fatal attack on his family, Tony Arzenta offered much the same general plot outlines, albeit with the added twist that the titular character in this case (played by Alain Delon) is a professional hitman, meaning that unlike Bronson's Paul Kersey, Tony actually does have a "particular set of skills" in order to help him to wreak vengeance. The fact that it's the mob who unwittingly killed Tony's wife and son makes things even more fraught. The screenplay relies on several well worn tropes, including the fact that all of this mayhem stems from Tony's desire to get out of the hitman business in order to protect his wife and son, but with the upshot (no pun intended) being that the mob decides Tony "knows too much" and needs to be terminated with extreme prejudice (or whatever the proper euphemism might be). Unfortunately that hit is a "misfire", taking out Tony's family instead. What's a professional assassin to do?

As commentator Peter Jilmstad gets into, as much as Tony Arzenta is an Alain Delon showcase from start to finish, it may be the stuffed to overflowing supporting cast where many viewers find the most color, especially since Tony is, per the best hitman tradition, kind of tamped down emotionally (he does get to shed a tear or two at his family's graves). There are a number of fun turns on the sidelines of this effort, including Richard Conte as a mobster (of course) and Carla Gravina is compelling in a part that may be particularly difficult if only because it hints at a romantic subtext for Tony, which frankly seems a little smarmy given that he's just lost his family to mobsters. Anton Diffring is on hand as well, kind of unexpectedly uncredited. The pace is enjoyably brisk and despite a probably unavoidable air of melancholy, and if things are also undeniably rote in terms of story, Delon and the cast keeps things viscerally involving.

Tony Arzenta Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tony Arzenta is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Radiance sent a check disc for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any information that might be included in an insert booklet (which tends to be pretty generic in the case of Radiance, one way or the other), but their website at least offers a "new restoration presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK" (interestingly, maybe for the UK, but not for Region B in general, as this release from 2022 seems to indicate). This is a somewhat variable looking presentation that shows some rather wide differences in grain thickness in particular. It looks to me like the whole first vignette before the credits was probably part of that optically printed section, and so can be rather fuzzy (see screenshot 9), but later, when any opticals are not part of the equation, that same relative thickness and subsequent slight downturn in clarity can recur. On the other hand, there are many long swatches of the film where grain is very tightly resolved and where clarity and fine detail levels can be generally excellent (see screenshot 1). The palette doesn't show these same fairly wide ranges, but does experience some slight differentiations in color temperature. I noticed no major signs of age related wear and tear. I'm maybe granting a bit of slack with my score, but I found the pluses to outweigh the minuses here.

Tony Arzenta Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tony Arzenta features LPCM 2.0 Mono audio in either Italian or English, and unlike many of these "dual language" releases, there are some noticeable differences if you toggle between the two options. Generally speaking, the English track is quite a bit louder, and generally has a brighter high end, though this is not consistently the case. Listen, for example, to the club scene at around the 45 minute mark, and the funky music has a clearer high end on the Italian track, but quite interestingly is also no in sync with the English track and actually struck me as being at a slightly different speed, affecting the pitch. Many other passing differences like this can be noted for those interested, but the bottom line is both track deliver dialogue cleanly and clearly, though it's patently obvious you're getting post looping one way or the other, so sync as they say can be "loose". Optional English subtitles are available.

Tony Arzenta Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alain Delon (HD; 12:08) is a 1973 television interview with the actor. Subtitled in English.


• Mike Malloy (HD; 11:13) offers Malloy's take on "cops and robbers" and/or "cops and gangsters" in Italian cinema from this era. His repeated (ostensibly) conversational "yeahs" started to bug me after a while, but he offers a good overview of several interwoven plot tropes so prevalent in many of these films.


• Scene Specific Commentary by Peter Jilmstad features around an hour of discussion, focusing mostly on the large supporting cast. Either individual scenes or Play All options are accessible.


• Trailer (HD; 3:50)

Radiance sent a check disc for purposes of this review, but their website mentions an insert booklet and their Obi strip packaging.

Tony Arzenta Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tony Arzenta was evidently quite a success when it was initially released, and it's not hard to see why. The story is instantly "accessible", which may strike some as a nice way of saying "overly familiar", but Delon is intense and surprisingly believable, and the supporting cast is aces. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.