Mike Spring
This week’s column is a short one, more because I was on vacation last week and I’m still playing catch up. Next week’s column should be much more robust. Still, there are some notable and nifty releases out this week, so take a look at what’s available below! Also, you may have noticed that I updated the column name to “What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture”! As I’ve been getting the occasional book and vinyl soundtrack and am hoping to get more, I wanted to let readers know that — while the focus will still be on home video releases — there may be some other great pop culture content reviewed in here as well!
Back to Black
The Movie: Also known as “The Amy Winehouse movie,” Back to Black is a fairly standard biopic of the late British singer, but by “standard,” I mean “pretty enjoyable.” To clarify, it doesn’t do anything particularly different or innovative for a biopic, but it still gets the job done and does it well. The story starts with the acclaimed chanteuse as a teenager and follows her through getting a record contract, recording her first album, and the start of her award-winning career. It then starts to veer heavily into her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who helps push her burgeoning alcohol problem into a drug problem. We see Amy reach stardom and also watch as her personal life devolves into a pretty big mess. Back to Black benefits from a stellar lead performance by Marisa Abela, who perfectly captures Amy Winehouse’s overall look and vibe (plus her memorable accent and singing style, as she does her own take on Amy’s songs for the soundtrack.) As someone who knew very little about Winehouse’s life and career, I found her story interesting and the movie kept me engaged all the way through. Again, it’s not going to light the world on fire, but it’s definitely worth a watch.
The Special Features: There is a commentary track with director Sam Taylor-Johnson, plus two making of featurettes.
Digital Copy Included?: Yes
The Wrap-Up: I like a good biopic, especially one that doesn’t try to lionize the subject, and I think Back to Black does a great job of showing how incredibly talented Amy Winehouse was but also how much she let her life be defined by her relationships and her addictions. Obviously, her death at age 27 was a huge blow to the music world, but this movie pays a nice tribute to her.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Limited Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD)
The Movie: I can only blame the box office failure of 2015’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on poor marketing, because it should have been a hit. Maybe it was never destined to be a $300 million blockbuster, but it definitely could have followed in the footsteps of a movie like The Kingsman and taken in a solid $$100-$200 million. The fact that most people didn’t even know it came out is a real shame. Very loosely based on the classic Robert Vaughan/David McCallum TV show from the ’60s, the film is a classic spies-and-cocktails caper, with recently-replaced Superman Henry Cavill as the dashing and debonair Napoleon Solo and The Lone Ranger’s Armie Hammer (admittedly now persona non grata in Hollywood) as the rough and ruthless Russian spy Ilya Kuryakin. I loved the TV show as a kid, and while this movie bears little resemblance to the TV show in its execution, it should please fans of the show as well as people who have never even heard of it. This was also around the time that Guy Ritchie started making movies that I love and slowly turning from a very hit-or-miss director (mostly miss) into one of my favorite directors working today. While the film has been available on home video since 2015, this week it gets a deluxe Collector’s Edition treatment on 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, my current favorite home video studio. It’s loaded with content and wrapped in gorgeous packaging, making it a real treat for fans.
The 4K Video/Audio: Not surprisingly for a Guy Ritchie film, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is an incredibly stylish and slick film, and that’s represented here with a brand new 4K Ultra HD transfer that looks very impressive. Color saturation is top-notch, while image clarity is razor sharp. The whole image has a sheen to it that gives the film a glossy look, but in a way that reflects the filmmaker’s vision. The Dolby Atmos surround soundtrack has a lot to work with and it makes the most of it, using the surround channels to fill in your living room with gunfights, punches, explosions, car chases, and the like. It’s constantly active, but the dialogue never gets lost in the mix, all while retaining a pounding low-end bass channel. All in all, it’s a terrific A/V presentation of a fun movie.
The Special Features: As usual, Arrow Video has loaded this Limited Collector’s Edition with both new and archival bonus material. First up is a terrific commentary track by film critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry. That’s followed by two new making-of interview features about the film, and then you get a documentary about TV show’s legacy and its impact on the film. You also get a great new documentary about Guy Ritchie’s extensive filmography. Then there are five archival making-of featurettes included as well. There are also four very short promotional featurettes. Finally, you get a poster and a collectible booklet as well.
Digital Copy Included?: Unfortunately, Arrow doesn’t include digital copies with their releases, I assume because of rights/licensing issues.
The Wrap-Up: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was overlooked in theaters due to – in my opinion – poor marketing, but it’s a movie that fits alongside the Mission Impossibles of the world. It’s fun, stylish, and action packed, and this excellent new home video release is the best version available and deserves a spot in your collection.
American Gigolo: Limited Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD)
The Movie: American Gigolo is one of those movies I’ve always known about and assumed I knew the kind of general gist of, and then when I sat down to finally watch it, I realized I knew nothing about it. I think I thought the film was a romantic drama of sorts, but instead, it’s a Paul Schrader-directed mystery/thriller, with Richard Gere playing a male escort whose client is found dead, throwing suspicion on him as a murderer. Written and directed by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver), the film is highly stylized (with costume design by Giorgio Armani!) and not afraid of some adult subject matter, but it’s also an engaging and fascinating thriller. Richard Gere’s performance is outstanding, and a great supporting cast that includes Lauren Hutton, Hector Elizondo, and Bill Duke delivers as well. The film gets a well-earned new Collector’s Edition release from Arrow Video on 4K Ultra HD that is – as usual – a terrific release.
The 4K Video/Audio: American Gigolo hails from 1980, so it’s not like this 4K Ultra HD transfer completely transforms the film into a pristine, brand-new-looking film. That said, the stylish lighting and cinematography is represented well, with vibrant colors and strong fine details; while I’d never watched the movie before on home video, I have no doubts that this is the best it’s ever looked on your TV. The surround soundtrack (there are also stereo and mono options) isn’t the most active soundfield in the world, but the film does focus largely on dialogue and music, so it’s not like there’s a million individual sound components that need to be represented. There are some occasional surround effects, but mostly what you get here is clean and natural sounding dialogue and lush, full-sounding music.
The Special Features: As usual, Arrow has loaded this new release with great extra features. There’s a new commentary with fim critic Adrian Martin, and then there’s a new interview feature with writer/director Paul Schrader, which is very cool. There are also new interview featurettes with Hector Elizondo and Bill Duke, as well as with the film’s editor, camera operator, and composer. You also get a photo gallery and trailer, and then there are the physical goodies, which include a poster, six art cards, and a color booklet. Very cool!
Digital Copy Included?: Again, typically Arrow doesn’t include digital copies with their releases, presumably because of licensing issues.
The Wrap-Up: American Gigolo is one of the films that made Richard Gere a star, and it’s easy to see why. Paul Schrader often treads in darker waters than my natural preferences lean to, but I did enjoy this film quite a bit, especially since it was so different from what I expected in my head. And of course, the Arrow Collector’s Edition is top-notch. A must-have for fans!
Ultraman Taiga: The Complete Series + The Movie – New Generation Climax
The Show: Specialty distributor Mill Creek continues their march through the Ultraman catalog with their latest collection, Ultraman Taiga: The Complete Series + The Movie – New Generation Climax. One of the most recent shows in the franchise, Ultraman Taiga came out in 2019, and it ran for 26 episodes, all collected here. This series has sort of a CSI or X-Files type feel to me (I mean, relatively speaking) in that it’s an alien-of-the-week-type approach in which our main character, Hiroyuki Kudo investigates incidents that involve aliens and monsters. Of course, this is Ultraman, so Hiroyuki can call forth not one but three different Ultraman forms: Taiga, Titas, and Fuma. The show mixes mystery, action, and comedy, and it can be a little hit or miss. Sometimes the episodes are firing on all cylinders and the comedy and action work, and there are also some episodes that are a little cheesy and a bit on the dull side. But fans of Ultraman will likely dig in and enjoy the show. This four-disc DVD set collects all 26 episodes of the series plus includes a bonus movie (from 2020) called Ultraman Taiga: New Generation Climax.
The Special Features: There are no extra features included, but you do get an exclusive Ultraman Trading Card Game card in the package, so that’s kind of cool.
Digital Copy Included?: No
The Wrap-Up: Being one of the newest shows in the Ultraman franchise (compared to some of the previous releases from the 70s and 80s), Ultraman Taiga features some better costumes and special effects than some of the earlier efforts. This is a great collection with a lot of bang for your buck, so if you’re an Ultraman Ultrafan, it should be right up your alley!
