Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Imagine & Scott Free
Blu-ray: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
Runtime: 158 or
Chapters: 20
Size: 50 GB
Case: Standard Amaray Blu-ray case
Release date: October 14, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: VC-1
Audio:
English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio. Dub: Spanish & French
DTS 5.1 (theatrical cut only)
Subtitles:
English, English SDH, Spanish & French
Extras:
• Theatrical & Extended Cuts
• Commentary by Director Ridley Scott & Writer Steven
Zaillian
• Deleted Scenes including an Alternate Opening
• Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster (78:21)
• The BET Special: The Making of American Gangster
(18:05)
• Dateline NBC: American Gangster: First Look (21:31)
• Case Files (24:56)
• Hip-Hop Infusion: Featuring Common & T.I. (5:13)
• Music Videos (3:07 + 4:23)
The Movie: 7
Whatever else we may think about this movie, the last 30
minutes are as good an excuse as any for seeing it – but
on which edition, that is the question!
The movie is introduced with the familiar words: “Based
on a True Story”. Ridley Scott and screenwriter Steven
Zaillian have concocted a layered picture of drug
trafficking in the greater New York area in the late
1960s and 1970s. The drama centers around two men who
don’t really meet until well into the story. The first
is Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) who, for 15 years,
has been the driver and hit man for Bumpy Johnson, the
kingpin of Harlem, the man who, on the one hand, was its
crime boss, and on the other, its philanthropist. In the
opening scene Bumpy complains to Frank that progress has
cut out the middle man, the suppliers: Where’s our cut
if you go right from the manufacturer to the public?
Whereupon Bumby promptly dies.
Lucas takes Bumpy's observation to heart and makes it
the guiding principle of his rapid rise to become the
most successful narcotics trafficker in our nation’s
history. What he devises is a plan both simple and
gutsy. Instead of dealing with local crime bosses whose
cut robs him of his profit, he flies out to Thailand
where he negotiates directly with major opium growers,
and arranges to have American servicemen fly the stuff
into the U.S., where his people (many of whom are
family) cut and distribute a powder twice as pure for
half the price, thereby cutting out all the middlemen
and making the local mafia bosses angry as all hell.
On the other side is Det. Richie Roberts, a
straight-arrow cop who walks away from a million dollars
in unmarked bills and, by turning the money in as
evidence, earns the undying disrespect of his fellow
officers. Unable to find a partner who would work with
someone with such impractical ethical standards, Roberts
eventually is picked to head a special investigative
unit out of New Jersey. When he comes across “Blue
Magic,” Lucas’ trademark product, he is completely
mystified at how and by whom such quality merchandise
could possibly be marketed. His long search eventually
leads him to Lucas.
Now, on to the question of the extended and theatrical
cuts. In February of this year, Universal released three
packagings of the movie: a 2-disc Unrated Extended cut,
a 3-disc set containing both theatrical and extended
versions, and an HD-DVD/Standard Def Combo containing
the theatrical cut in HD and the extended cut in 480i.
I'm sure this last did not make HD fans happy. Righting
almost all wrongs, Universal includes both versions in
the present Blu-ray edition. While they could have been
even more generous with a two disc set and higher bit
rates all around, this packaging is certainly sensible
and generally satisfying.
This is one of those rare times where I come down mostly
in favor of the extended version. Maybe, just maybe,
this is because I watched that cut first and, as I did,
I wondered what things would be left out in the original
cut. Turns out I guessed wrong. I hoped there would be
less of Detective Roberts' family troubles, since I felt
they were not relevant to the story. These episodes
seemed to serve only as contrast to how Lucas was
involved with his family, which, in his case, couldn't
be more relevant. Instead, what was left out, in part,
was more background to Roberts' investigations and
surveillance. The theatrical version struck me as abrupt
in this respect. That cut goes into considerable detail
about how Lucas obtained and distributed his dope, but
its equivalency does not exist for Roberts. It still
doesn't, even in the extended cut. Since this aspect of
the story is better balanced in the extended version,
the final half-hour is more satisfying. That leaves the
ending, which is hard to take in the extended cut. Even
though it harkens back to the conversation Frank has
with Bumpy, I found the final few minutes
inappropriately sappy. Of course I could always hit Stop
on the remote at the right moment next time out.
There are a number of things that keep American
Gangster grounded when it should be flying. One of
these is the casting of Russell Crowe who is no more
believable as a Jewish, New Jersey detective than Levi
Johnston. More than that, Crowe is just too dull and
uncharismatic to energize the task force required.
Except for Josh Brolin's snarling Det. Trupo, the white
cops in this movie just don't cut it, especially in
comparison to their black counterparts on the other side
of the law. 82-yearold Ruby Dee, as Frank's mother, has
more energy in her left eyebrow than the whole of the
special investigative unit. So, despite Lucas' murderous
ways, we are not all that happy when he is eventually
taken down – which is another reason why the final act
works so well for me.
Image:
6/7
The first number indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a
ten-point scale. The second number places this image
along the full range of DVD and Blu-ray discs.
I suspect a theatrical viewing of this movie would not
yield much more interesting results than this Blu-ray,
which is surprisingly soft. Soft, muted, yes, but not
uninvolving, possibly because the imagery is so good (as
is always the case with Scott) and the performances,
except as noted above, so compelling. On the other hand
I thought I detected some artifacts in scenes where
things moved quickly. Bit rates tend to be lowish: in
the mid-teens mostly. A second disc for the alternate
cut would have improved matters.
Audio & Music:
7/8
A soft image, yes; but at least the audio track has some
excitement going for it, especially now that we are
given uncompressed audio. Dialogue is generally clear
enough, but does tend to get submerged more than I'd
like in crowd scenes. Crowe tends to mumble, which
doesn't help things either. At times I was lost without
subtitles. There is some good work for the surrounds as
the celebs enter the boxing arena and in the Southeast
Asia scenes where ambiance is crucial. Gunfire, what
there is of it, goes down well enough, if
unspectacularly. Come to think of it, American Gangster
may be best understood as not so much a cops and
gangsters thriller as an intimate story about family.
Operations:
8
First off, we are given a choice between the Theatrical
or Extended Cut. Once there, we can easily navigate to
the other cut from its menu, which is laid out like
other Universal
Blu-rays
I have seen so far. I like the arrows that tell you
which way to direct you remote, and the bonus feature
instructions, which are detailed and intuitive.
Extras:
7
As opposed to the HD-DVD, which had only the audio
commentary and deleted scenes that could be found on the
2-disc DVD edition, the blu-ray brings over all the
extras from the 3-disc DVD set. While the main
attraction ought to be the commentary, it wasn't for me.
Recorded separately, Scott has the preponderance of the
track. He talks about production as if he's tired of the
whole thing, and perhaps he is. The more lively Zaillian
discusses how he arrived at his adaptation from what is
known about the real life characters. The most
interesting piece is a 78-minute documentary in five
parts on the making of the movie titled "Fallen Empire."
A very worthwhile piece. One final travel advisory here:
Despite promos and the back of the case itself, I found
no U-Control feature. Be aware that this might be a
rogue copy, as Universal assures me that other copies do
not suffer accordingly.
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Bottom line:
7
American Gangster is neither representative of
Scott's best work nor the genre, however one may
describe it, but it is worth our time. The black cast is
very good, especially Denzel and Ruby. Josh Brolin makes
our skin crawl as the archetype cop on the take.
Leonard Norwitz
October 4th, 2008
