{"id":28559,"date":"2024-05-07T00:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T07:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28559"},"modified":"2024-05-07T00:13:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T07:13:00","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-night-falls-on-manhattan-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28559","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN (1996)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is now available from\nArrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During his lengthy career as both an actor and director,\nSidney Lumet built a reputation as being one of the most talented in the\nbusiness. His filmmaking credits include 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day\nAfternoon, Network, The Verdict<\/em> and Before the Devil Knows You\u2019re Dead<\/em>\nto name but a few. He was nominated for five Academy Awards over his career\nbefore eventually being presented with an Academy Honorary Award for his\nincredible body of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, most of his films are worth checking out. Like all\nmoviemakers, some titles are better than others, but even his imperfect entries\nstill have interesting stuff in them. Night Falls on Manhattan<\/em> marks a\nlater effort in the director\u2019s career. It underperformed at the box office, but\nstill has a lot of positives going for it. In fact, the cast alone is reason\nenough to check it out. The movie has been challenging to find on disc for some\ntime, but Arrow Video have acquired it from Paramount and are releasing a\n\u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray with a 2K picture restoration. It\u2019s an excellent disc\nand one that should please anyone who enjoys Lumet\u2019s work or crime dramas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in New York and very loosely based on a true story, the\nplot follows Sean Casey (Andy Garcia), an idealistic ex-cop in his early 30s\nbeginning a career as a young lawyer at the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s\nOffice. His father Liam (Ian Holm) is a detective at the NYPD partnered with\nJoey Allegretto (James Gandolfini). The pair get a stool pigeon to tell them\nwhere notorious drug dealer Jordan Washington (Shiek Mahmud-Bey) is hiding out\nand go to arrest the criminal. Chaos reigns as multiple precincts arrive at the\nsame time and Washington escapes. Three officers die in the process and Liam is\nadmitted to hospital in critical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eventually, Washington\u2019s lawyer Sam Vigoda (Richard\nDreyfuss) announces that the fugitive will be turning himself in. With a big\nelection coming up, District Attorney Morganstern (Ron Leibman) decides to\nassign Sean as prosecutor in the case, passing over his rival and political\nopponent Elihu Harrison (Colm Feore). After the trial, Sean begins seeing Peggy\nLindstrom (Lena Olin), a member of Vigoda\u2019s legal team and runs for District\nAttorney himself. As he rises to power, he finds his position complicated when\nhe discovers that several cops involved in Washington\u2019s arrest were on the\ntake. Some evidence even suggests that his father and partner may also have\ncommitted illegal acts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie’s main emphasis is showing just how easily\neveryone\u2019s morals and ethics can be twisted to achieve their own goals. It also\npresents the choices that some make afterward to protect themselves from\nInternal Affairs. There is corruption present in most departments. While the\nlead initially just wants to prosecute and win his case, the District Attorney\nMorganstern is focused on optics and the upcoming election. In the meantime,\nMorgenstern’s rival wants to see everyone fail for his own benefit. Even\nthe defense council Vigoda has altruistic but ulterior motives in trying to\nexpose corrupt officers. Nasty little details are also revealed about the\narrest and Washington\u2019s own relationship with police. There are also\npreexisting relationships between police officers, judges and attorneys that\nfurther complicate the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This film does a great job of detailing all of the\nmaneuvering and complexity that is going on, from obtaining an arrest warrant\nto capturing a criminal and putting him on trial. The botched raid is quite\ntense and effectively captured, with officers accidentally gunning down one of\ntheir own in the process. All of the cast make strong impressions and Garcia\ndoes well as a romantic who sees his vision of law slowly come apart over the\ncourse of the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are a few story qualms from this reviewer. It\u2019s\njuggling a lot of material and the movie is extremely hard-boiled with some of\nthe characters constantly shouting at each other. This is fun as it occurs, but\noccasionally is pitched a bit too high. And while perhaps these events all\ncould theoretically happen, Sean\u2019s meteoric rise is a bit of a stretch (and it\ndoes seem like a conflict of interest for him to be the prosecuting attorney on\na case in which his injured father is the lead witness).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these are minor issues. Beyond a few over-the-top\nmoments, the film has an authentic feel (the locations and environments seem\nparticularly genuine), features wonderful performances and makes its point in a\ndirect and effective way. It\u2019s a solid crime picture\/courtroom drama that adds\nintriguing story wrinkles and makes viewers consider all of the complications\nin a seemingly straightforward case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The restored image is very good. This picture utilizes real\nlocations whenever it can, as well as simple lighting and moody outdoor shots\nthat are occasionally foggy. The film emphasizes a real-world appearance, so\nthe shots aren\u2019t always jaw-droppingly clear, but this is intentional and the\ntransfer still presents a much sharper and pleasing image throughout. I\nparticularly liked the look of the nighttime raid and a beautifully composed\nscene between Sean and Joey set against a twisted bridge backdrop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This disc contains two really wonderful archival commentary\ntracks as extras. The first features late director Lumet describing his\ndirecting technique and the choices he made in bringing this story to the big\nscreen. He talks in detail about casting and, being a New Yorker himself, how\nmuch time he spends finding the right background actors in each scene. One of\nmany fascinating comments is how he avoids trouble while shooting in rundown\nareas. Apparently, Lumet avoided bringing in outside security and instead hired\nlocals living at and around the locations to help with the production. He\nbelieves it created a safe, happy environment for everyone as well as bringing\nmuch needed cash into these communities. He also notes spending a lot of time\nin police stations and some of the curious things he has noted in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lumet discusses the locations and sets and explains why\nchoices were made to use one or the other. During important scenes between\ncharacters, the director preferred sets based on actual places he had visited\nin order to avoid having to loop dialogue. The movie maker also talks about\nhaving trouble with the picture\u2019s ending, describing two previous finales that\nhe shot but tossed out. It\u2019s all fascinating to listen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally enlightening is the commentary with cast members\nGarcia and Liebman, alongside producers Josh Kramer and Thom Mount. One of the\nmany interesting secrets they reveal is that Lumet loves rehearsing (and\nshooting his rehearsals), typically for a full two weeks before production\nbegins. Garcia says that he wasn\u2019t initially sure of the technique, which he\nfeared might ruin any spontaneity during the shoot, but found the opposite to\nbe true. The actors and producers noted that everyone involved had a very clear\nidea of what was required and that Lumet would rarely ask for more than a\ncouple of takes, which created an air of excitement. The producers and actors\nnoted that movies made this way always come in under time, under budget and\nfeature superior performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is an excellent hour-long TV episode\ndevoted to Lumet\u2019s career up until 2002, in which the director comments on all\nhis films and feelings towards them. There is also a series of on-set\ninterviews with cast members and Lumet, as well as a behind-the-scenes promo\npiece. A theatrical trailer and TV spots are also included. And the set comes\nwith a booklet with an essay on the picture, production notes and\nmore.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Night Falls on Manhattan<\/em> is an engaging picture with some interesting ideas that fell between the cracks during its initial release. Thanks to this excellent release from Arrow Video, everyone can discover or revisit the movie with the best possible presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is now available from Arrow Video. During his lengthy career as both an actor and director, Sidney Lumet built a reputation as being one of the most talented in the business. His filmmaking credits include 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict and Before the Devil Knows You\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[130,1400,1836,2933,2939,4626,4831,4910,9611,10232,12247,13030,14848,14849,14850,15705,16986,17118,18260,18375],"class_list":["post-28559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-130","tag-andy-garcia","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-colm-feore","tag-courtroom-drama","tag-crime","tag-ian-holm","tag-james-gandolfini","tag-lena-olin","tag-manhattan","tag-night-falls-on-manhattan","tag-night-falls-on-manhattan-blu-ray-review","tag-night-falls-on-manhattan-review","tag-paramount","tag-richard-dreyfuss","tag-rob-leibman","tag-shiek-mahmud-bey","tag-sidney-lumet"],"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\/28559","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=28559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}