Lucky Luciano – Indicator Series (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA/France/Italy, 1973
Director: Francesco Rosi
Writers: Francesco Rosi, Lino Iannuzzi, Tonino Guerra
Cast: Gian Maria Volontè, Vincent Gardenia, Silverio Blasi, Charles Cioffi, Larry Gates, Magda Konopka, Edmond O'Brien, Rod Steiger

Release Date: October 19th, 2026 (UK), October 20th (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 111 Minutes 14 Seconds (Italian Version, International Version), 111 Minutes 25 Seconds (US Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10 (All Versions)
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian/English (All Versions)
Subtitles: English (All Versions), English SDH (US Version)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $49.95 (USA)

"When ruthless mafia kingpin Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano (Volonté) is released early from a US prison and deported to Naples, dogged FBI agent Charles Siragusa (playing himself) conspires with informant Giannini (O’Brien) to topple Luciano’s transatlantic criminal empire." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “Lucky Luciano was sourced from Studiocanal’s 4K restoration from the original negative.”

Lucky Luciano comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 88.1 GB

Feature: 77.7 GB

This release uses seamless branching for the three versions. The source looks excellent, and the color palette is greatly improved when compared to Kino Lorber’s 2021 Blu-ray release. Image clarity and compression are solid, black levels are strong, and the image retains an organic appearance.

Audio: 5/5 (All Audio Tracks)

Each version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono hybrid track with Italian and English. All versions come with removable English subtitles for dialogue spoken in Italian, while the US version comes with removable English SDH for all dialogue. All tracks are in excellent shape. Dialogue comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (80 images—stills/lobby cards/Japanese press book/posters), a theatrical trailer (1 minute 17 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an extract from the French television program 24 heures sur la Une titled Francesco Rosi on ‘Lucky Luciano’ (3 minutes 40 seconds, LPCM mono Italian with removable English subtitles), Documenting Power—a critical appreciation by Gaetana Marrone, author of The Cinema of Francesco Rosi (24 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and a 36-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled Get Lucky written by Pasquale Iannone, an archival news report on the real Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano written by Reynolds Packard, an archival interview with director Francesco Rosi conducted by Michel Ciment, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Lucky Luciano was a notorious gangster whose life has been adapted into numerous films. Besides films about Lucky Luciano, he has been portrayed in other films about American gangsters. That said, most films that featured Lucky Luciano focused on his life before he returned to Italy.

Though Lucky Luciano’s most sensationalized exploits took place before he went to prison in the 1930s. Despite being forced to relocate to Italy, he remained a prominent figure in the organized crime world. And it is precisely his life once he returned to Italy that Francesco Rosi’s Lucky Luciano explores.

From its opening moments, Francesco Rosi’s Lucky Luciano is a deliberately paced melodrama that is heavy on dialog and light when it comes to violence. With most moments of carnage being brief, the most violent sequence is a montage/flashback of the Night of the Sicilian Vespers.

That said, one drawback about Francesco Rosi’s Lucky Luciano is that it spends as much time with other characters as it does with Lucky Luciano. There are often long stretches without Lucky Luciano in which characters who are peripherally connected to Lucky Luciano interact.

If you’re going to make a film about Lucky Luciano, you better have a charismatic actor to portray him. Fortunately, Francesco Rosi’s Lucky Luciano cast Gian Maria Volontè (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) in the role of Lucky Luciano. Known for his captivating performances, Gian Maria Volontè once again delivers a performance that perfectly captures his character's essence. Besides Gian Maria Volontè, the rest of the cast are all very good in their respective roles. Ultimately, Francesco Rosi’s Lucky Luciano is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking that offers a deeper dive into one of America’s most notorious criminals.

Lucky Luciano makes its way to 4K UHD via an excellent release from Powerhouse Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note: This release is a limited edition of 6,000 numbered units (4,000 4K UHDs and 2,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US.

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 MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer