Underground Aces Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Underground Aces Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 6, 2024

Robert Butler's "Underground Aces" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the release is an exclusive new audio commentary by critics James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Explain.

Even though it may look like one, Robert Butler’s Underground Aces is not a straightforward comedy with conventional characters. Underground Aces is like a much, much smaller replica of Stanley Kramer’s It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World made with a fraction of the money that was spent on the latter and a fraction of the cast that was gathered for it. Underground Aces also has a similarly wild sense of humor.

The real reason Underground Aces feels like a smaller replica of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, however, is that it is a comedy that cannot be properly scripted because it features too much improvisational work of the kind that a director cannot fully direct. A director can initiate it, but what happens after that is up to the cast. If I were a betting man, I would bet money that this is precisely why the opening credits of Underground Aces list three different screenwriters: Jim Carabatsos, Lenore Wright, and Andrew Peter Marin. Each probably pitched in various ideas, all or most likely only some of which were later arranged into a screenplay.

Underground Aces is set in California, too. However, it remains stationed in a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills, where most of its motley crew of characters work for a very busy valet company. So, even though there is a lot of chaotic movement like the one observed in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the scenery stays the same. This is a crucial limitation because it prevents these characters from being as creative as their counterparts in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

The big event that provides something of a structure to the chaotic movement inside the luxury hotel is the arrival of a wealthy Sheik (Kario Salem) who instantly falls in love with a beautiful blonde (Audrey Landers) getting ready to tie the knot with a young man she does not love. Valet parkers Tico (Hegyes), Pete (Dirk Benedict), Dee Jay (T.K. Carter), Nate (Michael Winslow), cashier Lucy (Melanie Griffith), the future bride’s girlfriend (Mimi Maynard), and the Sheik’s right-hand man (Sid Haig) are then drawn in an ultra-complicated plan to unite the Sheik and the blonde while evading two men (Jerry Orbach and Fred Kruger) that are supposed to monitor the work they do. While a lot that could go wrong goes terribly wrong, all characters then make decisions that allow them to see their environment from a new angle.

Underground Aces is not a good film, it is an amusing film, and of the kind that died as the 1980s ended. There is so much colorful silliness in it that it quickly becomes entertaining, and there is so much pure energy in this silliness that eventually it becomes pretty difficult to dislike, too. Yes, it would help tremendously if you feel nostalgic about the 1980s, but even if you dislike it, it will not be because it bored you to tears. Most likely, it will be because you will conclude that it could have been scripted and structured better, possibly even acted better, too.

But this superior film would not have been as unpredictable and deliciously retro as Underground Aces. As odd as it may sound, the chaos and silliness, which are its most consequential flaws, are also the biggest reasons to seek and see it. A superior film that addresses both would instantly acquire a brand new identity and by doing so it will permanently eliminate its period charm.

Butler’s director of photography was Tom Del Ruth, who worked as a camera operator on many iconic films, like Bullitt, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dirty Harry, Fat City, and Electra Glide in Blue.

Motown Records legends The Commodores can be heard singing their hit Underground Aces several times.

Kino Lorber’s release presents an exclusive new 2K restoration of Underground Aces sourced from a 35mm interpositive. It is dedicated to the memory of Bill and Walt Olsen.

Underground Aces 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, Underground Aces arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release presents an exclusive new 2K restoration of Underground Aces sourced from a 35mm interpositive. I think that the overall quality of the visuals is very, very good. There is only one area -- the wedding ceremony at the end of the film -- where bits of indoor footage reveal grain that is slightly looser than I would have liked it to be, but even there everything still looks good. Throughout the rest of the film, delineation, clarity, and depth are always very pleasing. Color balance is spot on. All primaries and supporting nuances look very healthy and are properly set. Darker nuances look great and never crush, while highlights are managed very well. Yes, saturation could be a bit better, but meaningful improvements will be easier to appreciate in native 4K. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. I noticed a few blemishes, but there are no large cuts, debris, 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).

Underground Aces 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.

The lossless track is healthy and is surprisingly potent. Why surprisingly? Because Underground Aces is not a big-budget production and lacks the type of large scale action that can produces memorable dynamic contrasts. And yet, a lot of the chaos where cars crash and things get broken sounds really, really good. The dialog is always clear, sharp, stable, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any encoding issues to report in our review.

Underground Aces Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by Horror-Fix.com's James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton. I listened to the entire commentary and enjoyed it quite a lot because the two gentlemen's take on Underground Aces was practically identical to mine. They recognize the absurdity of everything that occurs before Robert Butler's camera and highlight what makes it entertaining. There is good information about different cast members, too.

Underground Aces Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The chaotic improvisational work has an unmistakable retro quality that I think makes Underground Aces worth seeing. No, Underground Aces cannot be placed in the same category where you will find The Cannonball Run, which was also released in 1981, but these films offer the same type of amusing entertainment. Kino Lorber's release presents an exclusive new 2K restoration of Underground Aces and is dedicated to the memory of Bill and Walt Olsen. RECOMMENDED.