DVD
Review | To Live and Die In L.A.
Written by: Kage
Alan
Ah, finally a classic thriller finds its way out
onto DVD and proves once and for all that “To Live In Die In L.A.”
isn’t just a song by Wang Chang. In all fairness, though, they did
score the movie. Okay, time for a true and funny story about this
film. My mother used to go and pick out movies at the local video
store for my dad to watch on the weekends when he had time off and
wanted to relax. Well, I enjoy poking fun at her and telling her that
she has the memory of a fruit fly and while that may seem mean, she
brought this movie home on nine different occasions. I finally went
and bought him a VHS copy just so she’d stop. Oddly enough, in all
that time, I never watched it…until now. Then again, this is DVD, so
how could I NOT watch it?
Secret Service Agent Richard Chance (William
Petersen, “Manhunter”) and his partner have been together long enough to
have become good friends. Just as the elder is about to retire, he’s
killed by criminal mastermind Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe, “Streets of
Fire”). Chance doesn’t take too kindly to it and soon begins an all out
quest for personal vengeance. Laws no longer really matter to him and
he’ll break any one of them he can to get the bad guy. While this might
seem like a conflict of interest, he’s a bit too blinded to see that
he’s become the enemy himself. Or he just doesn’t care.
With the help of his new partner, John (John Pankow,
“The Object of My Affection”), who has serious reservations about what’s
going on, and by blackmailing a female parolee, Bianca (Debra Feuer,
“The Hollywood Knights”), Chance wages a one-man war on the money
laundering assassin, hell bent on him bringing down at all costs. This
gritty thriller features a real dark side of law enforcement and the
fine line that can sometimes appear between those who break the law and
those who uphold it. Also, it contains one of the most incredible car
chase sequences I’ve seen in a long time. Director William Friedkin
doesn’t rely on huge explosions and CGI like other filmmakers these
days. He instead creates genuine excitement and tension. And the
ending? Wow…
“To Live and Die In L.A.” is the kind of thriller
we don’t see enough of these days. Instead of elaborate set-ups and
ridiculous twists and turns, the characters get stuck in the thick of
things and proceed from there. The acting is wonderfully solid and
supporting actors Steve James and Dean Stockwell add some muscle to the
film with their roles, small as they are. I can see now why my father
never really complained each time mom rented the film. This is just the
sort of thing he and I would enjoy together once I was old enough to see
Rated R films without too many complaints from the other parental unit.
MGM has released “To Live and Die In LA” in a
fairly beautiful looking Widescreen transfer. Colors are rich and solid
and the audio is quite impressive, especially Wang Chung’s score, which
just screams 80s soundtrack! As for extras, this is labeled a Special
Edition DVD, so we do have some. First up is a conversational and
informative audio commentary by Friedkin, a deleted scene featurette (4
½ min with the option to play simply the deleted scene), an alternate
ending featurette (8 ½ with the option to just play the alternate
ending), “Counterfeit World: The Making of To Live and Die In L.A.” (29
¾ min), a photo gallery and trailer.
For anyone who appreciates a damn good crime
thriller where the ending may not be pretty and the characters are just
as flawed as they are in real life, this is a movie you must add to your
viewing list. I must have been getting this film confused with another
because I was expecting a very different movie, yet I was pleasantly
surprised. Actually, I was riveted. “To Live and Die In L.A.” doesn’t
disappoint.
Film Rating:
B+
DVD Special Features: B+
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