Violent City – Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France/USA, 1970
Director: Sergio Sollima
Writers: Dino Maiuri, Massimo De Rita, Sauro Scavolini, Gianfranco Calligarich, Lina Wertmüller, Sergio Sollima
Cast: Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Jill Ireland, Umberto Orsini, Michel Constantin, Andrea de Adamich

Release Date: May 17th, 2022
Approximate Running Times: 108 Minutes 23 Seconds (Violent City), 108 Minutes 48 Seconds (Citta violenta), 96 Minutes 4 Seconds (The Family)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC (All Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English/Italian (Violent City), DTS-HD Mono Italian (Citta violenta), DTS-HD Mono English (The Family)
Subtitles: English (All Versions)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"In a city set to explode, one man has just lit the fuse! After a bloody double-cross leaves him for dead, professional hit man Jeff (Charles Bronson, Mr. Majestyk) tracks the shooter and his beautiful mistress (Jill Ireland, The Valdez Horses) to New Orleans. But when Jeff takes both revenge and the woman, he finds himself blackmailed by a powerful crime boss (Telly Savalas, A Town Called Hell) who wants the fiercely independent gunman to join his organization. Jeff refuses, and is hunted through an unforgiving city where love is like a loaded gun and debts of vengeance are paid in bullets." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (Violent City, Citta violenta), 3.5/5 (The Family)

Disc one contains Violent City.

Here’s the information provided about Violent City's transfer, "2K Restoration."

Violent City comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 35.7 GB

Feature: 32.8 GB

The source used for Violent City's transfer looks great. Colors and flesh tones look correct, the image looks crisp, black levels are strong, and grain remains intact.

Disc two contains Citta violenta and The Family.

Here’s the information provided about Citta violenta's transfer, "The 4K restoration of Citta violenta was carried out by Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna starting from the original Techniscope camera negative and the Italian sound negative, both made available by Unidis Jolly Film.

The work was carried out at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna.

Restoration carried out with the contribution of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism."

Here’s the information provided about The Family's transfer, "2K Scan of a 35mm Print."

Citta violenta and The Family come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 36.9 GB

Feature: 17.3 GB (Citta violenta), 16.4 GB (The Family)

The source used for Citta violenza looks excellent. Colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels are solid, and the grain looks organic. That said, though Citta violenta uses a different source than Violent City, their transfers are comparable.

The source that was used for The Family's transfer does not fare as well as the sources used for Violent City’s and Citta violenta’s transfers. This transfer has scratches, cigarette burns, and other source-related damage. That said, beyond the source-related damage, this transfer looks good all things considered.

Audio: 4.25/5 (Violent City, Citta violenta), 3.5/5 (The Family)

Violent City comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English/Italian hybrid track, and included with this version are two removable subtitle tracks. The first subtitle track is for the entire film, and the second subtitle track is for Italian dialog. The audio for this version is in great shape; dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds and the score sound robust.

Citta violenza comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian, and included with this version are removable English subtitles. The audio track for this version is comparable to Violent City’s audio track.

The Family comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and included with this version are removable English subtitles. Though the audio for this version sounds clear and balanced, it is not as robust as the other two versions' audio tracks.

Extras:

Extras for disc one include a theatrical trailer for Violent City (3 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with director Sergio Sollima titled Shooting Violent City (14 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historian Paul Talbot, the author of Bronson's Loose! Books for the Violent City cut of the film.

Other trailers on disc one include Farewell, Friend, Rider on the Rain, Cold Sweat, Someone Behind the Door, and The Valdez Horses (Chino).

Extras on disc two include a theatrical trailer for The Family (2 minutes 18 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), and  three TV spots for The Family (1 minute 3 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles).

Other trailers on disc two include Chato’s Land, Mr. Majestyk, Breakout, Breakheart Pass, The White Buffalo, Caboblanco, Murphy’s Law, and a promo for Kino Cult.

Rounding out the extras are a reversible cover and a limited-edition slipcover.

Summary:

Sergio Sollima was one of three Italian directors named Sergio. The others are Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci. And though his breakthrough films as a director came in the Spaghetti western genre, just like Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, he also excelled when it came to his two contributions to Poliziotteschi cinema, Violent City and Revolver.

Violent City was an early film in the Poliziotteschi film cycle. And with Violent City, he would lay the groundwork for many of the elements that would become synonymous with Poliziotteschi cinema. That said, there are many elements in Violent City that are in line with elements that are synonymous with Euro-crime heist films of the latter-half of the 1960’s.

In its opening moments, Violent City jumps right into the action with a thrilling chase sequence that ends in a near-death shootout with the protagonist. From there, a non-linear narrative that uses flashbacks to fill in the who’s and why’s of the story. and a spectacular ending in which the protagonist gets their revenge and redemption.

Without a doubt, the casting of Charles Bronson (Death Wish) in the role of Jeff Heston, a hitman who’s targeted for death by someone he trusted. The majority of the protagonists in Poliziotteschi's films are characters who are at the center of the action. Jess Heston is a character who tries to fly under the radar, and it's only when he’s provoked that he makes his presence known.

Besides Charles Bronson, the rest of the cast are very good in their respective roles. Other notable cast members include Telly Savalas (Lisa and the Devil) in the role of a crime boss named Al Weber; Umberto Orsini (Tony Arzenta) in the role of a double-dealing lawyer who works for Weber; and Jill Ireland (Hard Times), who provides eye candy.

At the heart of Violent City is a story about a betrayed hitman who cannot trust anyone, making him more paranoid. And though his revenge is central to the story at hand, his inability to let go of the women he loves is his greatest weakness.

From a production standpoint, there is not an area where Violent City does not excel. The premise of a betrayed hitman is superbly realized, and a well-executed narrative perfectly balances exposition and action set pieces by building tension until it reaches a fever pitch. Other strengths include Sergio Sollima’s solid direction, and Ennio Morricone’s (The Big Gundown) delivers another outstanding score. Ultimately, Violent City is an extraordinary crime film that's arguably one of Poliziotteschi cinema’s best films.

Violent City gets an exceptional release from Kino Lorber that comes with three versions of the film and a pair of informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer