Carlito's Way: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1993
Director: Brian De Palma
Writer: David Koepp
Cast: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Ingrid Rogers, Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Joseph Siravo, Viggo Mortensen

Release Date: September 25th, 2023 (UK), September 26th, 2023 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 144 Minutes 4 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK), R (USA)
Sound: DTS-X English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), A,B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £34.99 (UK), $59.95 (USA)

"Gangster Carlito Brigante (Pacino) gets released early from prison thanks to the work of his lawyer, Kleinfeld (Sean Penn, Milk). Vowing to go straight, Carlito nonetheless finds dangers waiting for him in the outside world. As Carlito works toward redemption, Kleinfeld sinks into cocaine-fuelled corruption. When Kleinfeld crosses the mob, Carlito gets caught in the crossfire and has to face a hard choice: remain loyal to the friend who freed him or protect a new life with the woman he loves (Penelope Ann Miller, The Relic). With enemies closing in from all sides, Carlito must find his way before it's too late." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "The UHD presents the film graded in HDR10, while the Blu-ray presents the film graded in standard dynamic range.

The film was restored and supplied in 4K by NBC Universal."

Carlito's Way comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 92.1 GB

Feature: 91.8 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Flesh tones and colors look accurate, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Carlito's Way comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.2 GB

Feature: 41.2 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer. Also, it should be noted that the previous Blu-ray release of Carlito’s Way had a VC-1 encoded transfer, while this release from Arrow Video has a MPEG-4 AVC encode.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-X English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with three audio options, a DTS-X mix in English, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, and a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. All three audio tracks sound excellent. Dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. That said, for a newly created audio track, the DTS-X track does superbly with the ambient aspects of the soundtrack without ever straying away from the original audio source. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with Matt Zoller Seitz, author of The Wes Anderson Collection and The Soprano Sessions, and a scene select audio commentary with Dr. Douglas Keesey, author of Brian De Palma's Split-Screen: A Life in Film.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an image gallery (270 images - stills/lobby cards), a teaser trailer (1 minute 46 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 46 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), original promotional featurette (5 minutes 13 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), eight deleted scenes (8 minutes 18 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an archival documentary titled The Making of Carlito's Way (34 minutes 36 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an appreciation by film critic David Edelstein titled De Palma's Way (17 minutes 33 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Judge Edwin Torres, author of the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours titled Carlito and the Judge (12 minutes 32 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with editors Bill Pankow and Kristina Boden titled Cutting Carlito's Way (17 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with director Brian De Palma tilted De Palma on Carlito's Way (5 minutes 28 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a locations featurette titled All the Stitches in the World: The Locations of Carlito's Way (2 minutes 59 seconds, DTS-HD stereo), an audio commentary with Matt Zoller Seitz, and a scene select audio commentary with Dr. Douglas Keesey.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a double-sided fold-out poster, seven double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions, and a 60-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled Going Straight, Carlito's Way written by Barry Forshaw, original production notes, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

Carlito’s Way reunites Brian De Palma (Dressed to Kill), Al Pacino (The Godfather), and producer Martin Bergman (Serpico); they had previously worked on Scarface. Carlito’s Way was adapted by David Koepp (Snakes Eyes) from Carlito’s Way and After Hours, two novels written by Edwin Torres.

The narrative revolves around Carlito Brigante, a career criminal who, because of a technicality, is given a second chance instead of serving the remaining 25 years of his 30-year sentence. Instead of falling into his old ways, Carlito is determined to make a life for himself by staying away from the criminal element that he used to run with. Along the way, he slowly gets drawn back into his old life, putting him on a collision course with death.

Where most other similar-themed crime films focus on the rise and fall of the protagonist, With Carlito Brigante, when we first meet him, he has already hit rock bottom. His story is another about a man trying to regain his former glory; it is a tale rooted in redemption in which Carlito tries to make amends with those whom he did wrong and ensure that all debts from his past are squared away.

Anchoring Carlito’s Way is Al Pacino in the role of the protagonist, Carlito Brigante. Carlito shares a few traits that have become synonymous with this type of character, notably moments where he can go from 1 to 100. The result is actually one of Al Pacino’s more restrained performances. In particular, he really shines in moments where Carlito interacts with Gail, a woman from his past who he is still in love with.

Besides Al Pacino, the rest of the cast is filled with great performances. Other performances of note are Penelope Ann Miller (Kindergarten Cop) in the role of Gail and John Leguizamo (Casualties of War) in the role of Benny Blanco from the Bronx, an up-and-coming criminal who sees himself as a younger version of Carlito. The only performance I was not as convinced by was Sean Penn (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) in the role of David Kleinfeld, an unscrupulous lawyer who only represents mobsters and criminals.

Brian De Palma’s films are known for their stylish visual set pieces. And with a film like Carlito’s Way, all of his virtuosity as a filmmaker is on full display. Some notable set pieces include a scene at a pool hall where Carlito sees an assassin in another character’s sunglasses, a scene where Carlito realizes Kleinfeld has signed his death warrant after Kleinfeld kills a mob boss and his son in what was supposed to be a jailbreak of the former, and an exhilarating finale where gangsters chase Carlito's, who ends up in Grand Central Station. In the case of the train station sequence, it is a perfect example of Brian De Palma’s ability to build tension by creating visually arresting moments.

Brian De Palma has done well in just about every genre that he has worked in. And yet, it is in the crime and thriller genres where he excels the most. That said, despite being a filmmaker who often gets criticized for wearing his cinematic influences, this is not an issue with Carltio’s Way. Ultimately, Carlito’s Way is a perfect fusion of its source material and Brian De Palma’s cinematic style.

In terms of audio/video presentation and extras, this release from Arrow Video is Carlito's best home video release to date and is 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