{"id":28677,"date":"2024-05-22T22:40:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T05:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28677"},"modified":"2024-05-22T22:40:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T05:40:37","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-and-blu-ray-review-narc-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28677","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Review: NARC (2002)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This feature is being released as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K\nUltra HD and Blu-ray extra set, or as a standalone \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Most of the time, we reviewers are lucky to be presented\nwith so many films to watch and discuss. But even after years of writing about\nmovies, there are always a few titles that fall under the radar. For this\nreviewer, Narc<\/em> is one of those pictures. Despite being familiar with\nother efforts by writer\/director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, The Grey, Stretch<\/em>),\nI missed this effort during its original run and release on disc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrow Video has now released the film in a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d\n4K Ultra HD package (with bonus features presented on an accompanying Blu-ray),\nas well as a regular \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray package. I\u2019m thrilled to have\nfinally caught up with it, as the movie is fantastic. This hard-boiled crime\npicture is wonderfully performed, powerful and makes a lasting impression. The\nArrow release is also excellent, delivering a great presentation of the title\nwith some exciting extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in Detroit, the story follows an undercover narcotics\nofficer named Nick Tellis (Jason Patric). After a confrontation with a criminal\nresults in a horrible tragedy, the lead takes time off. After a year and a\nhalf, he says he officially wants a desk job away from the violent streets.\nSuperior officers tell him that if he investigates and solves the murder of a\nnarcotics officer named Michael Calvess (Alan van Sprang), his request will be\ngranted. After reading the case file, he is placed with Calvess\u2019 old partner\nLieutenant Henry Oak (Ray Liotta). Oak is a volatile figure who states that the\npolice want to bury and forget Calvess\u2019 murder. As his investigation continues\nand more is revealed, Tellis finds himself in grave danger. Additionally, his\nwork and obsessive nature puts a huge strain on his marriage to Audrey (Krista\nBridges) as well as family life with his new baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This effort is as intense and gritty as they come and the\nfinal product does feel like an ode to 1970s cop pictures. Tellis and Oak\nconsistently find themselves in nasty situations grilling dealers and addicts.\nThese scenes do have an authenticity to them. The family material is equally\nbelievable, with Tillis and his spouse arguing over his dangerous profession\nwith an upset newborn in close proximity. You wouldn\u2019t see this in any\nHollywood cop drama, but it feels like something that happens frequently in real\nlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite the feature being so tense and tightly wound, the\nactors are charismatic enough to keep the material from coming across as\nover-the-top. Both Patric and Liotta play their tough guys in different but\neffective ways and when they get testy with each other, it\u2019s thrilling and\nuncomfortable to watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there are also some impressive camera moves when\nviolence does erupt. The film opens with an impressive chase through a\nneighborhood featuring a handheld shot with the camera shaking and trying to\nkeep up with the subjects. Even when the characters are sharing their personal\nhistories, the cinematography provides clever and artistic shots to add panache\nto the proceedings. All of it creates a sense of tension that never lets up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While certain elements of the plot are predictable, the\nclimax does throw in a few curveballs that emphasize just how difficult the job\nof a narcotics officer is. In many cases, their intentions may be noble, but\nthe methods being used to obtain criminals are not. The movie is intriguing in\nshowing how morally gray law enforcement can be. The grimy tone and final\nrevelations do stay with the viewer long after the credits roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some degree, this is an intentionally drab-looking movie, but the 4K picture restoration from the original negative is still noteworthy. Both the 4K Ultra HD disc and the Blu-ray deliver a quality presentation. You do feel like you are on the streets of Detroit and when the action moves to tenements and the griminess on display makes an impression. Tillis\u2019 home has a warmer look (although the cop\u2019s d\u00e9cor looks appropriate for his job) all of which is sharply presented on the transfer. There are some great little details in a rundown auto shop and in the background that would not be as evident in previous editions. Whether you pick up the 4K Ultra HD or Blu-ray, you\u2019ll be impressed by what you see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Blu-ray extras on this release include a great archival\ncommentary track with director Joe Carnahan. He goes over the difficult shoot,\nwhich took place in Toronto during winter months (with one additional day of\nDetroit exteriors). The director notes how unprepared he was for the chilling\nweather and how many of the actors suffered in subzero temperatures, but admits\nit all looks wonderful in the finished product.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Apparently, there were many difficulties when making the\nmovie. Carnahan notes that there were several bigger movies shooting in the\ncity at the very same time and that a few of the crew members weren\u2019t as\nexperienced as he would have liked. Amusingly, he talks about the fact that the\nopening chase was shot by a stuntman because the cameraman simply couldn\u2019t keep\nup with the action and get in frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director also notes how passionate he was about the\nproject and that it may have made for a tough shoot for those around him.\nCarnahan also discusses some of the locations, noting that when he was taken to\nsome of the rougher areas of Toronto, he didn\u2019t find them all that downtrodden,\nmaking it a safer shoot than he was anticipating. He tells plenty of\nentertaining stories about the production and how he got it finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The disc also contains a new introduction to the picture and\nan interview with Carnahan, who explains his inspirations and reiterates some\nof the issues in making the picture. It seems that the independent effort had a\nhard time securing funding and a distributor (cop movies like these were not in\nvogue at the time). Several people eventually stepped in to add financing and\nhelp get it released (including Tom Cruise), resulting in at least 17 executive\nproducers on the final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an impressive piece on cinematographer Alex\nNepomniaschy (who shot Never Been Kissed<\/em> and recently was director of\nphotography on several episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel<\/em>), in which\nhe discusses shooting in the cold and trying to help find a memorable look for\nelements in the story. Canadian actress Krista Bridges (who plays the Tellis\u2019\nwife) discusses working on the film with Carnahan and how he emphasized, during\nher potentially marriage-ending confrontations with the lead, that she was not\nto shed tears. There is also an interesting interview with costume designer\nGersha Phillips, who goes over working on this picture and trying to find\nappropriate pieces of clothing that would also help keep the cast\nwarm.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there are a ton of archival featurettes on the\nproduction. One of the most entertaining is a talk with director William\nFriedkin, whose films influenced this picture. He notes how he didn\u2019t like\nhearing this news and didn\u2019t want to see the movie, but was surprised and\nimpressed when he did. Friedkin noted that it did a great job of detailing the\npersonal lives of its characters, something he feels he couldn\u2019t quite\naccomplish in The French Connection.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also EPK interviews from 2001 and 2001 that have\nextra footage that wasn\u2019t included in the original press kits. A trailer and an\nimage gallery are also included. As with other Limited Editions from Arrow\nVideo, you\u2019ll also get a booklet with essays on the film fold-out mini-poster\nwith newly commissioned and original artwork for the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narc<\/em> is a great little crime film with memorable\nperformances that I was thrilled to discover for the first time on disc. It\nholds up incredibly well. It also helps that this package is so impressive,\nwith an incredible picture upgrade from Arrow Video that keeps the gritty feel\nwhile adding some extra detail to the framing. Director Carnahan is great to\nlisten to as well, providing an honest account of the difficult production.\nWhether you pick up the 4K Ultra HD version or the Blu-ray, this release is highly\nrecommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature is being released as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray extra set, or as a standalone \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray. Most of the time, we reviewers are lucky to be presented with so many films to watch and discuss. But even after years of writing about movies, there are always a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[151,300,697,1836,2933,2942,3067,4782,4910,6321,10433,10771,12427,14399,14561,14562,14563,14564,14565,14569,16694,16941],"class_list":["post-28677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-151","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-action","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-narc","tag-blu-ray","tag-cops","tag-crime","tag-drugs","tag-jason-patric","tag-joe-carnahan","tag-limited-edition","tag-murder","tag-narc","tag-narc-4k-ultra-hd","tag-narc-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-narc-blu-ray-review","tag-narc-review","tag-narcotics","tag-ray-liotta","tag-review"],"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\/28677","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=28677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}