This film hit us like a fist in the face when it was first released in the 80's. Every actor brought their A-Game & Friedkin's direction was excellent. Just imagine how brutal this was back in the day. We'd never seen anything like it.
A few months ago I did a marathon of Friedkin films and man was he underrated in the sense that he is usually bogged down to the guy who directed the exorcist but pretty much everything he did was really impressive
Friedkin was a master with guts of steel. To Live and Die in LA is my favorite 80s movie. Check out French Connection, Sorcerer, Cruising and Killer Joe. As far as William Peterson watch Manhunter the better film based on the novel Red Dragon.
I watched this for the first time yesterday on DVD and it blew me away. Especially the score and the 5.1 during the fire. Seriously considering getting this 4K if the audio is just as good
If you like William Petersen, you have to check out "Manhunter". Hoping this gets a 4K release. It's the original movie that dealt with Hannibal Lector (based on the novel "Red Dragon".
It’s pretty obvious that those reviewers have never taken an analog photography course in their lives and can’t understand the chemistry between film emulsion and light. One in particular complained about so-called inconsistencies with grain, but couldn’t realize that dimly-lit scenes yield a more pronounced grain structure than those captured during daytime. Film is light-hungry, so it’ll result in a clearer image when shot in a brighter space.
You know what Ken this might be the coolest thumbnail ever! Great movie that looked great and holy shit that ending, it was a first time viewing for me and also RIP William Friedkin! 🙏
Thank you for your nice review. This movie is on my top 10 -list of all time. It is so good! Lovely review, but like this other dude, I also loved the soundtrack. To me it´s perfect fit for the movie. But you cannot compare different tastes and it was also refreshing to see your point on it.
I get it. Just kind of took me out of the dark, gritty mood the actual film was portraying. Didn't feel like it fit. Minor gripe for a really great film though.
Great review Ken. I just bought/watched this myself for the first time a few weeks back. Really good film. William Peterson's character was such a corrupt asshole that I actually found myself rooting for his demise lol. And Dafoe was awesome in this film.
You need to watch The French Connection and The French Connection 2 also. The first one is one of the best movies of all time imo. Hopefully we get them in 4K
I enjoyed the Wang Chung soundtrack stuff a lot for this one. I think it's intended to be a contrast to the dark, gritty, 70s-ish visuals and plot.....sort of an 80s meets 70s kind of thing.
