7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A mob hitman wants to retire, but his bosses don't think that's a good idea. Complications--and many bloody shootouts-ensue.
Starring: Alain Delon, Carla Gravina, Richard Conte, Marc Porel, Roger HaninForeign | 100% |
Drama | 30% |
Crime | 22% |
Action | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
The English audio track on the film has some portions of English audio missing. English audio for these sections was either never recorded or has been lost. As such, these sequences are presented with Italian audio, subtitled in English.
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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?
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 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 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.
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