Gangster Squad (Blu-ray) (2013) |
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Gangster Squad (Blu-ray) (2013) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Crime Drama |
Audio Commentary-Director Ruben Fleischer More…-Gangland Files - Picture-in-Picture Featurette-Focus Points : 15 Featurettes Deleted Scenes Featurette-Rogues Gallery - Mickey Cohen Featurette-Tough Guys with Style |
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| Year Of Production | 2013 | ||
| Running Time | 113:00 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Ruben Fleischer |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Sean Penn Holt McCallany Wade Williams James Landry Hébert Ambyr Childers Josh Brolin |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Steve Jablonsky |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired English Descriptive Audio |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Life is full of ironies. For any cinema enthusiast no trip to the United States is complete without a stay in a Hollywood, and so it went that in December 2011 my family and I found ourselves ensconced in the Roosevelt Hotel right in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard soaking up some of the grandeur and sleaze of Tinseltown. Going out from walk that afternoon I was surprised by the level of activity going on outside the hotel. Christmas decorations were going up at a rapid rate although there was something strange, something dated about the decorations. I started to twig something was going on when the green screens went up and the 1940s style trolley cars were brought in. As the afternoon turned into the evening the street was blocked off and a crowd built up to watch the shooting of a new movie.
The buzz went around. What was the movie? The set liaison guys told us it was the new film from the Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer called Gangster Squad. The movie featured Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone amongst others. And no, none of the stars were on set yet, but they would probably be there later.
The scene being shot was inside the legendary Graumans Chinese Theatre (now sadly renamed TCL Chinese Theatre), a Hollywood landmark which has served since the 20s as the place to premiere new movies and for the stars to walk the red carpet. It involved shots being fired inside the theatre and frightened patrons running out in a panic. As they ran they were chased and fired upon by the bad guys. We watched the filming for a few hours and retired to the hotel only to hear the shooting (in both senses) going on deep into the night. When morning came every trapping of filming had disappeared. The magic had left. What we were left with was an indelible memory of big budget location shooting and the opportunity to tell every friend who would listen our story whilst hotly anticipating the release of the film.
The rest, as they say, is history. After the July 2012 cinema shooting in Colorado, Warner Bros in a fit of panic, or recognising their social responsibility, whichever you choose to believe, decided that the entire sequence amounting to the Act Two climax would have to be reshot. Cinematographer Dion Beebe was unavailable and a new cinematographer had to be brought in to film the scene which now takes place in Chinatown. Unfortunately, the footage which was originally shot appears destined to sit in a dusty vault for the rest of eternity. It is not on the deleted scenes which form part of the extras material for the movie.
And so it goes…
When the movie was eventually released it garnered a lukewarm response from the critics and an equally middling response from the public barely making back its hundred million dollars budget at the box office despite a winning cast. It is a movie that combines wonderful set design and art direction and delightful costumes with a script that is flat and full of hard-boiled dialogue.
Josh Brolin stars as Sgt John O'Mara, a decorated soldier returning from the Second World War to a Los Angeles he no longer recognises. In place of the decent generally law-abiding town he left it is now a metropolis teeming with crime and corruption lorded over by kingpin Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). Police chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) wants to do something about the crime taking over his beloved city but he feels helpless. Cohen has too many police, politicians and judges on his payroll. He is untouchable. The chief gets the idea to put together a special off-the-books squad whose job is to attack the mobster’s base of operations. Instead of targeting the man, which would see another mobster come in and fill the void, he wants to take down the whole of his empire, finally ridding Los Angeles of mob rule.
O'Mara goes about putting a squad together. Initially looking at the finest offices in the police service he is convinced by his wife to try an alternate attack and look at the unorthodox and the troublemakers. He selects knifeman Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie), wire-tapper and brainiac Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), legendary gangster-killer Max Kennard (Robert Patrick). Kennard's associate, Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña), follows the squad and they reluctantly allow him to join. Finally they draft in another unorthodox cop Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling). He is pretty unwilling to be a part of the squad. He doesn't particularly like Cohen but thinks that it is impossible to try to destroy the King of Crime. The team go about their undercover operations damaging the business of Mickey Cohen until he can no longer afford to brush off their interventions.
Just reading the plot description above highlights a key problem with the film. The 1940s setting and the "special squad" dynamic immediately brings to mind The Untouchables. When Emma Stone as Mickey Cohen's girlfriend, who also happens to be Jerry's lover, sashays across the screen she almost looks like Jessica Rabbit. In short, it constantly reminds you of other, better, films.
The film is tonally confusing. On one level it works as a buddy drama/comedy yet the level of violence is often extreme pushing it into genuine gangster film territorial. Comedy director Fleischer did such a good job with Zombieland that it appears he may just have been out of his depth with this large-scale complex drama. The flashy visuals are wonderful to look at but unfortunately the characters lack any real depth.
Gangster Squad was shot on high-definition digital using the Arri Alexa camera for the bulk of the movie and the Vision Research Phantom Flex for the high-speed work such as the opening scene with Sean Penn pounding away at a punching bag.
The film comes to Blu-ray in the original 2.40:1 cinematic aspect ratio.
In an interview in the American Cinematographer Dion Beebe expressed understandable pride at the image quality that had been achieved using digital in a 70 day shoot utilising 55 locations. The film looks ravishing, particularly in the nightclub scenes where the colours and level of detail are superb. Having said that, Beebe went to some trouble to try to soften some of the backgrounds a little to lose what could otherwise be a harsh digital look. This is not a soft transfer by any means.
As said, the colours are gorgeous particularly the reds.
There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired.
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Gangster Squad features a punchy DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 track.
Whether it is the rat-a-tat of bullets from a Tommy gun or the screaming tyres of getaway cars this is a track that makes good use of the surrounds as well as the sub-woofer for some of the louder moments. That is not to say it is bombastic.
The dialogue is clear and easy to understand.
The score is by Steve Jablonski who knows loud as he has worked on the Transformers movies. Here he is in more lyrical mode but with some big sounds for the action scenes.
There are no technical problems with the sound.
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This is a pretty straightforward commentary tracking the course of the movie, the huge amount of work involved in recreating the era and the joys of working with the cast.
This is a pretty decent in-movie, Picture-in-Picture mode containing interviews, segments of video commentary, trivia bits, access to the Focus Point featurettes, production information, photos and much more.
Fifteen Focus Point featurettes are presented dealing with most aspects of the production. Clocking in at just over 46 minutes they give a pretty comprehensive guide:
The Real Story
Although it is described as "Based on a True Story" the film doesn't on its face suggest that reality is a big aspect of the drama. However, this does show that the key characters of the Squad were real and did make a big effort to shut down Mickey Cohen.
Josh Brolin on O'Mara
Brolin and others (including the daughter of Jack O’Mara wax lyrical about the real Jack.
One Continuous Long Shot
The "one continuous long shot" is that at Slapsys Maxie's created from an empty supermarket. Cinematographer Dion Beebe and others talk about the shooting of this difficult scene.
Fashion of the '40s
The actors and costume designer are overjoyed at being able to wear 1940s clothes - a cool era for fashion.
Ryan & Emma Reunited
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling had worked together before and talk about their enjoyment of the production and getting together again.
Emma Stone on Grace
Grace is a fictional character so Stone was fortunate to be able to work from a blank slate to build the role.
The Real Mickey Cohen
A bit more info about the infamous gangster.
Ryan Gosling on Wooters
Gosling tells us about his character.
The Real Gangster Squad
The real squad of 8 members began in 1946. It had no office and operated out of cars. The idea was - they didn't exist.
The Real Locations
A look at the key 1940s places that still exist in LA.
Nick Nolte on Chief Parker
Gravelly voiced Nolte talks about his role and the real Chief Parker.
Inside Slapsy Maxie's
An ode to the classic nightclub gangster hangout in Los Angeles.
Ryan & Emma on the Set
Some fun with the actors on set. Lots of goofs.
Bringing Back Gangsters
The cast talk about the great black and white gangster movies.
Park Plaza
A look at the fun everyone had filming the final shootout at the Plaza.
Seven deleted scenes are included, introduced by director Fleischer: Cohen Meets Russo, Del Red Chase, Chavez Ravine, Griffith Observatory, Wooters Drives Grace to Whalen’s, Posadas: Cohen Threatens Squad, Chief Parker Gives Permission/Evidence Room.
These are reasonably lengthy and add some interesting aspects to the movie, including a verbal showdown between the squad and O'Mara, though none are essential.
This is an episode of a TV series profiling legendary bad guys. It gives an interesting insight into the life and character of the real Mickey Cohen.
A slide based guide containing current and vintage photos of many of the film's iconic LA locations.
An extra which is also available on the DVD; it engages the cast in reflections on the style of the era.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This is identical to the Region A version.Buy local.
Fans of action gangster movies will get a buzz out of Gangster Squad while for many it will seem like an opportunity lost. To my mind there was never a clear idea as to whether this was going to be a buddy action/comedy or a violent gangster pic and got trapped somewhere in the middle.
Still it is possible to enjoy the actors and the set and costume design alone. The Blu-ray is of top quality with loads of extras.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Cambridge 650BD (All Regions), using HDMI output |
| Display | Sony VPL-VW80 Projector on 110" Screen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer SC-LX 81 7.1 |
| Speakers | Aaron ATS-5 7.1 |