King of New York – Arrow Video (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1990
Director: Abel Ferrara
Writer: Nicholas St. John
Cast: Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes, Janet Julian, Joey Chin, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Calderon, Steve Buscemi, Theresa Randle, Vanessa Angel

Release Date: November 22nd, 2021
Approximate Running Time: 103 Minutes 9 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £29.99 (UK)

"After years inside, drug lord Frank White (Walken) is fresh out of jail and back on the streets of New York City. Seeing himself as half Scarface, half Robin Hood, Frank and his enforcers brutally take back control of the city, turf by turf – with starry dreams of using the millions to benefit the community and save a local hospital. Before Frank can fulfil his ruthless lust for power, though, he’s got to get past the crooked cops determined to take him down, and the criminal competition that won’t bend to his will." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "New 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Abel Ferrera and cinematographer Bojan Bazelli."

King of New York comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 89.5 GB

Feature: 76.5 GB

Nine years after Arrow Video released King of New York on Blu-ray, this new release also comes with a brand new 4K restoration that is a noticeable improvement in every way. Areas of greatest improvement include finer grain management, image clarity, and black levels.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English), 4.5/5 (LPCM Stereo English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a LPCM stereo mix in English. Both the audio mixes sound clean, clear, and balanced. That said, I preferred the LPCM stereo track; it does a much better job of handling the overall sound experience. Included with this release are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include reversible cover art, an image gallery (52 images-stills/posters/home video art), U.S. theatrical trailer (1 minute 39 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), International theatrical trailer (2 minutes 38 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), teaser trailer (1 minute 5 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), two TV spots (1 minute 5 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with producer Augusto Caminito (20 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with director Abel Ferrara titled Possession (28 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara (47 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty (84 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Abel Ferrara, and an archival audio commentary with composer Joe Delia, producer Mary Kane, casting director Randy Sabusawa and editor Anthony Redman.

Summary:

Abel Ferrara’s wild cinematic journey has now spanned into a sixth decade. With his most celebrated era being his films from the 1990’s, it is during this part of his career that he directed what is widely considered his best film, King of New York.

Though King of New York contains many elements that have become synonymous with Abel Ferrara's cinema, the result is arguably his most acclaimed film, which even by his standards is still outside of what one would consider mainstream filmmaking.

The narrative revolves around Frank White, a career criminal who quickly goes back to his old ways after being released from prison. From there, he builds an empire by eliminating anyone who stands in his way. With a climax leading up to a final showdown between Frank White and a cop named Lieutenant Roy Bishop, who both have nothing to lose by this point.

Throughout his career, Abel Ferrara has been able to draw name actors to his films. And with King of New York, it is a virtual who's who of recognizable faces, making it the best cast he ever worked with. Of course, the standout performance is Christopher Walken (The Dead Zone) in the role of Frank White. He delivers a remarkable performance that is among one of his best. Other notable cast members include David Caruso (CSI Miami) in the role of a short-fused detective named Dennis Gilley; Wesley Snipes (New Jack City) in the role of Gilley’s level-headed partner, a detective named Tommy Flanigan; Laurence Fishburne (Boyz n the Hood) in the role of Jimmy "Jump" Colt, Frank White’s right-hand man; and Steve Buscemi (Frago) in the role of a drug chemist named "Test Tube".

From a production standpoint, King of New York is flawless. The well-executed narrative does a superb job balancing violence with moments of exposition, and the ending is a perfect coda to the events that preceded it. Other strengths include the use of real locations, and the stylish visuals greatly add to the mood. Ultimately, King of New York is an extraordinary film by a filmmaker who was clicking on all cylinders.

King of New York makes its way to 4K UHD via a definitive release from Arrow Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and all of the extras from its Blu-ray release are ported over, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer