ANGEL HEART - Blu-ray review

Note: In the following joint Blu-ray review, John wrote up his comments on the movie, with Ranjan writing up the Video, Audio, Extras, and Parting Thoughts.

The Movie According to John:
I can count my favorite Mickey Rourke films on the finger of one hand. It isn't that I don't like Rourke as an actor; in fact, I rather admire some of his realistically rendered down-and-outers. But, his relentless tough-guy image long ago wore out its welcome. "Angel Heart" and more recently "The Wrestler" are the exceptions. In 1987's "Angel Heart" Rourke is just right as a hard-boiled private eye.

Besides, the movie gives us two stories for the price of one. It starts out as a good, hard-nosed, little noir mystery and then, quite suddenly, turns into a supernatural thriller. It's grittier, with more edge and a lot more sex and violence, than Denzel Washington's later entry in the same genre, "Fallen." This new Blu-ray edition of "Angel Heart" not only makes the film more fun to watch, it even helps the viewer make more sense of the story.

In the movie, Rourke plays Harry Angel, a New York detective circa 1955, hired by a mysterious and malevolent-looking client to track down a missing person named Johnny Favorite. The client, played by Robert DeNiro, is called Louis Cyphre; yes, Cyphre as in "cipher," a zero, or a key to a puzzle, a secret code. When the movie first opened, I recall reading about Rourke saying something to the effect that after working with DeNiro for the first time he didn't think DeNiro was so tough after all. It made me wonder if old Mick had a firm grip on just what was real and what was art. I suspect there is a lot more of Rourke in his movie portrayals and vice versa than meets the eye.

Anyway, the plot takes Angel from Brooklyn to Harlem to New Orleans and involves him in everything from voodoo to murder, with gallons of blood and lots of chickens thrown in. I especially liked the repeated symbolism of slowly revolving circular fans and descending elevators, as each scene leads to ever hotter climes.

Charlotte Rampling and Lisa Bonet play the female interests, and there are the usual colorful characters that befit a good detective yarn. Who can resist a picture with players in it named Stocker Fountelieu, Brownie McGhee, Deacon Johnmoore, Sugar Blue, and Pinetop Perkins. And those are the real people!

John's rating: 8/10.

Video:
"Angel Heart" is deliberately devoid of any color, and its palette is meant to appear dark and gloomy. Considering that movie is twenty-two years old, the print used is free of specks and blemishes. However, there are a number of issues I had with the video presentation of "Angel Heart." The image is soft throughout the movie's running time, with sharpness evident only in the outdoor scenes. Likewise, the close-ups are not sharp enough, and the image mostly looks drab. In night scenes, the grain is prominent, which at times can be intrusive. The contrast is ok, and blacks at times appear grayish. I have seen the previous renditions of this movie on DVD, but this catalog Blu-ray is not up to the standards. This Blu-ray renders the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1 using an MPEG-4 codec.

Audio:
Even though Lionsgate has included a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track, it is somewhat underwhelming. The dialogue is clear for the most part, but on a couple of occasions I found the audio to be a bit inaudible. In a few scenes with quiet moments, I had to raise the volume just to hear what the actors were saying. The surround sound is rarely used, with front channels utilized to their maximum. Overall, the soundtrack does its job, but it is nothing spectacular. Also included is the option of viewing the movie with English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:
All the extras from the previous release are carried over for this Blu-ray release. First, we have an introduction by director Alan Parker. Next, we have a set of two audio commentaries, one with the director, Alan Parker, and the second, scene-specific, commentary with Mickey Rourke.

After those items, we have an interview with Alan Parker, where he talks about how they got the idea of introducing the voodoo magic in the film. And we also have an interview with Mickey Rourke, where he talks about his film career and the roles of different actors and directors throughout his career.

Parting thoughts:
The skewed perspective in the opening shot of "Angel Heart" perfectly sets up the dark tone of the movie. It begins as a film noir with a detective on a search in streets and unpleasant places. Nonetheless, as the movie progresses, it quickly touches gothic and religious undertones, with a twisted ending. The middle act tends to be problematic as the movie meanders and its pace slows down a bit. Having said this, this movie definitely warrants multiple viewing to pick up all the clues given to us by the writer and director. Mickey Rourke is pretty much in every frame, and he doesn't disappoint. Alan Parker's direction is masterful, as he is able to get the maximum mileage with a minimum number of actors.

Ranjan's rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10