Underworld U.S.A. Blu-ray - Cliff Robertson

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

USA 1961

Sam Fuller's harsh, obsessional 1960 crime drama is narrated in the style of a comic book gone berserk. Cliff Robertson is the neurotic hero, bent on avenging his father's death by infiltrating and destroying a crime syndicate that operates under the redolent name “National Projects.” Corruption is all-pervasive in this vision of America, and Fuller disturbingly suggests that only a madman can make a difference. One image from Underworld—of a heavy striking straight at the camera—prompted Jean-Luc Godard to describe Fuller's films as “cinema-fist.” There is no more apt phrase.

Excerpt from Dave Kehr at the Chicago Reader located HERE

Underworld U.S.A. (1961) was writer-director Sam Fuller's staccato spin on Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo by way of the ancient Greeks. The property had come to him through the executives at Columbia Pictures, who acquired the rights to a newspaper serial about organized crime during the years of Prohibition. Humphrey Bogart had optioned the serial originally and after the actor's death from cancer in 1957 the rights were picked up by Sam Briskin, helming the Columbia mothership in the years following the demise of his old boss Harry Cohn. Fuller updated the story, which he conceived as a crime-does-pay parable for Eisenhower America. The studio nixed Fuller's brash concept for a title sequence depicting the comely members of a prostitute's union forming a map of the United States with their bare backs and the post-credits assassination of the union leader, who has the barrel of a revolver thrust into her mouth and her brains blown out by a Mafia gunsel. Undaunted by the front office censorship, Fuller shifted the focus of the story to an underworld loner and his quest to bring about the fall of the gang bosses responsible for the murder of his father. Briskin and the suits at Columbia approved of this new tack, assuring Fuller that "the public loves revenge."

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 18th, 1952

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Sony - Region 1- NTSC vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Sony - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT

2) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover
Distribution	Sony - Region 1- NTSC	Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:38:15	1:38:23.939
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.68 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Disc Size: 34,353,859,885 bytes Feature Size: 26,347,345,920 bytess Average Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1976 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1976 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Isolated Score: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1657 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1657 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Sony Aspect Ratio: All Original: 1.33 for the first 5 and 1.85 Anamorphic for The Crimson Kimono and Underworld U.S.A. Edition Details: • Previews (Norman Lear Collection, Three Stooges, Columbia Classics) • Tim Robbins Search for Truth with Sam Fuller (7:05) • Sam Fuller Storyteller (24:13) • The Culture of The Crimson Kimono (9:22) • Martin Scorsese on Underworld U.S.A. (5:08) DVD Release Date: October 27th, 2009 One Keep Case Chapters: 12 X 7	Release Information: Studio: Twilight Time 1.85:1 Disc Size: 34,353,859,885 bytes Feature Size: 26,347,345,920 bytess Average Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Sam Fuller Storyteller (24:14) • Martin Scorsese on Underworld U.S.A. (5:08) • Trailer (2:25) Blu-ray Release Date: March, 2018 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 24

DVD Package

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Twilight Time 1080P was another very desirable 1080P for Noir fans. The 40s and 50s Colombia prints have always translated fabulously to digital - and this is no exception. The Blu-ray visuals are exceptionally sharp - the black and white contrast exports inky, tight, well-layered visuals. This looks like it was shot yesterday. A stunning image on a dual-layered disc with a very high bitrate. It looks pristine.

The audio is in a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel - 1976 kbps (24-bit). The film has plenty of aggression from fighting to guns and the associated effects come through with depth. The lossless supports the score by Harry Sukman (Forty Guns, Verboten!, The Crimson Kimono, Underworld U.S.A., Someone's Watching Me!) which sounds excellent - very crisp and also available as an isolated score, There are optional English subtitles on the region FREE Blu-ray disc.

It's the same featurette from the Sony Fuller DVD set entitled Sam Fuller Storyteller running just shy of 25-minutes. It explores Fuller’s life and filmmaking through the eyes of his family - our lovely friend, wife Christa and daughter Samantha Fuller, filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Tim Robbins, and Curtis Hanson and we also get 5-minutes with Martin Scorsese on Underworld U.S.A. that is likewise found in the DVD package. There is also a theatrical trailer and some liner notes by Julie Kirgo.

Such Fuller-esque Noir - you gotta love lines like: "Why don't you take a good look at yourself. What do you see? A doctor? A scientist? A businessman? You see a scar-faced ex-con. A two-bit safecracker. A petty thief who don't know when he really made the big time." The HD presentation is so impressive I just watched it twice in a row and this Blu-ray is strongly recommended!