{"id":23919,"date":"2021-11-25T19:34:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T03:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=23919"},"modified":"2021-11-25T19:34:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T03:34:02","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-maniac-cop-3-badge-of-silence-1992","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=23919","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: MANIAC COP 3: BADGE OF SILENCE (1992)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray combo disc is currently\navailable from Blue Underground.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI hate the movie. I can\u2019t stand it. It\u2019s torture for me to\nwatch it.\u201d \u2013 William Lustig (Maniac Cop<\/em>, Maniac Cop 2<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially coming from the main figure behind the camera of Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence<\/em>. Since before the film\u2019s release on video in 1992, various horror-based publications printed articles stating that there had been trouble on the set. These pieces suggested that director William Lustig and producer Joel Soisson J<\/a>had been fighting with Lustig and had taken over the picture. As it turned out, this indeed was the case, with Lustig eventually walking off of the project and leaving Soisson to complete the movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, while the film is by far the weakest in the series, the\nbasic concept of a cop being turned into a zombie through voodoo is interesting.\nAnd the final cut does have its moments, including a fantastically over-the-top\nclimactic car chase. Viewers can now see this memorable bit newly restored in\n4K Ultra HD and or on Blu-ray in a fantastic new package from Blue Underground.\nCompletists and fans will certainly want the movie to complete their Maniac\nCop<\/em> collection. But perhaps the greatest thing about this release is how,\nfor the first time ever, it explains the whole story of what happened on the\nproject, as viewers hear from both Lustig and Soisson on the subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This effort is set after the events of Maniac Cop 2<\/em>. Matt Cordell (Robert Z\u2019Dar) Is finally dead and has been buried for good. That is, until voodoo priest Houngan Malfaiteur (Julius Harris) resurrects the cop in order to do his bidding. In the meantime, the media report about a police officer named Kate Sullivan (Gretchen Becker) using excessive force while foiling a robbery. Sullivan can\u2019t defend herself, as she ends up in a coma while trying to stop the crime. As hard-nosed Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney (Robert Davi) investigates the event, the Maniac Cop takes a shine to Sullivan. So much so that the undead officer eventually heads to the hospital to forcibly take the woman and use magic to revive her. McKinney and Dr. Susan Fowler (Caitlin Dulany) note strange behavior in the sleeping patient and soon come face to face with the undead Cordell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There isn\u2019t nearly as much excitement in this picture, with much\nof the running time focused on McKinney\u2019s investigation and burgeoning\nrelationship with Dr. Fowler. Those hoping for crazy cop mayhem in the vein of\nthe first two features will be slightly disappointed to see the focus shift away\nfrom the title character. Davi is a talented actor, but he is ill-suited to being\na romantic lead in (when he isn\u2019t talking tough or fighting villains) and these\nbits feel out of place. As a result, the movie a strange mix of tones and doesn\u2019t\nfeel unified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At least there are some good moments when the action does arrive.\nThe initial shoot-out at the convenience store involving Officer Sullivan and a\ncrazed robber (played by Jackie Earle Haley) is well-handled and takes an unexpected\nturn or two. There\u2019s an excellent bit part involving Robert Forester as a supervising\nphysician who wanders through a busy emergency room in a single shot. And when Cordell\ndoes go on the rampage, as always, the movie is entertaining to watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, while Manic Cop 3: Badge of Silence<\/em> isn\u2019t\nexceptional and is the weakest entry in the Maniac Cop<\/em> franchise, it\ndoes possess a few creative and well-shot sequences that manage to elevate it slightly\nabove many other genre flicks of its era. Once can understand Lustig\u2019s frustration\nthat the movie isn\u2019t quite up to his standards, but compared with some other\ntitles released during this period, it\u2019s decent and has a memorable scene or\ntwo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, the image quality is fantastic on this 4K Ultra\nHD + Blu-ray release, no matter which disc you use to watch the movie. The\nfeature looks sharper and crisper than ever before and visually there is a lot\nto admire in the impressive night photography and hospital sequences. It\u2019s another\ngreat-looking disc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, the highlight of the presentation comes in the nearly\n30-minute making-of and the \u201cAlan Smithee\u201d commentary track. The interviews\ninclude Lustig, writer Larry Cohen, as well the cast and, most surprisingly,\nproducer Joel Soisson. Details begin to emerge about what occurred behind-the-scenes.\nIt seems that new producers had purchased the rights to the franchise and\ncalled on Lustig and Cohen to make a follow-up. Cohen\u2019s script was going to be set\nin Harlem and introduce a new black detective trying to deal with the voodoo-resurrected\nManiac Cop killer, while adding elements of Bride of Frankenstein<\/em>.\nProducers weren\u2019t taken with the idea, suggesting that regions whom the film\nhad been presold to wouldn\u2019t approve of the idea. Lustig states that it soon\nbecame a movie-by-committee with Soisson bringing Davi back, rewriting the script\nand adding extra dialogue and adding a romantic subplot for the McKinney character.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soisson also makes a few good points, stating that Cohen\nhadn\u2019t turned in a usable draft of the screenplay and that he was forced to\ntake over and complete the script on his own. Lustig only shot about 51 minutes\nof the final running time and then quit the movie, leaving Soisson on his own\nto complete the remaining feature. Despite the behind-the-scenes struggles, the\ncast and crew thought that Lustig, Soisson and the other producers treated them\nprofessionally and that the big issues at hand were exclusively between the\ndirector and producers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more remarkable is the commentary track with \u201cAlan\nSmithee\u201d, which actually features both Lustig and Soisson together talking\nabout the movie. After 30 years, any bitterness about what occurred between\nthem appears to have dissipated. The two get on well and both admit their\nerrors in dealing with the situation. Lustig admits to being difficult and\nangry with the producers, stepping in to direct after having been fired from True\nRomance<\/em> (Tony Scott had just stepped in to replace Lustig). Soisson also admits\nthat he didn\u2019t treat the franchise with the proper respect and that the final\nproduct was schizophrenic in tone. It\u2019s good to see the two being frank after so\nmany years. This is a fantastic track for those who want to listen to an honest\naccount of how a production can run aground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Naturally, you\u2019ll also get plenty of deleted and extended scenes,\nas well as a trailer and an extensive still and poster gallery for the movie.\nAnother nifty extra is a brief summary of Cohen\u2019s original idea for the feature,\nwhich would have been much better had it been accepted by the producers. While it\nclearly needed some fleshing out, the first concept really had a lot more potential\nthan the finished product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence<\/em> isn\u2019t a phenomenal\nfilm, but the extra content is revelatory and incredible for anyone curious\nabout creative conflicts. It really helps one understand exactly what occurred,\nat the same time helping viewers develop a stronger appreciation for its\neffective moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is another remarkable disc from Blue Underground and one that even provides a glimmer of hope for the future of the franchise. In one of the bonuses, Lustig mentions that he plans on producing a new remake of Maniac Cop<\/em> with Maniac Cop 2<\/em> commentary cohort Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive<\/em>, Only God Forgives<\/em>, The Neon Demon<\/em>) taking the helm as director. That\u2019s one remake that horror fans will be waiting for with baited breath. In the meantime, every horror aficionado will enjoy catching up with the past exploits of the Maniac Cop! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray combo disc is currently available from Blue Underground. \u201cI hate the movie. I can\u2019t stand it. It\u2019s torture for me to watch it.\u201d \u2013 William Lustig (Maniac Cop, Maniac Cop 2) That\u2019s not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially coming from the main figure behind the camera of Maniac Cop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[126,697,2923,2928,3757,8655,9319,10804,11176,12082,13037,13041,13042,17148,17159,17200,18035,18515,24319],"class_list":["post-23919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-126","tag-action","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-caitlin-dulany","tag-gretchen-becker","tag-horror","tag-joel-soisson","tag-julius-harris","tag-larry-cohen","tag-maniac-cop","tag-maniac-cop-3-badge-of-silence","tag-maniac-cop-iii-badge-of-silence","tag-robert-davi","tag-robert-forster","tag-robert-zdar","tag-sequel","tag-slasher","tag-william-lustig"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23919\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}