Disc Reviews

Carlito’s Way 4K Review

• 29th Nov 2023

Underappreciated at the time, Carlito’s Way was a significant return to form for Brian De Palma and is perhaps to this day one of his more mature and accomplished films. If you could rate any of De Palma’s work as “prestige” films then this should be in there. De Palma and Pacino return to the world of gangsters after Scarface (Maybe in a similar way that Scorsese and De Niro returned from Goodfellas with Casino – another film that was underappreciated in its time).

Carlito Brigante is out of jail. He has lost time and wants to spend that which he has left focussing on making a life for himself and more than that he wants to go a straight as is possible – but of course the world has other plans for him. Perhaps it was all doomed the moment he broke the law as a kid; but here everyone around him will not let him move on and you can see the frustration on Brigante’s face via Pacino’s strong performance.

The narrative continually dangles the carrot of hope in front of us through Carlito’s likeable performance, his clever manoeuvring, and with the way the camera follows the lead through the film. It by turns equally as well shows it all come crashing down around him through the machinations and actions of others. Greed, corruption and lust for power is the game with Brigante trapped in the middle, never wanting in and eagerly looking for the way out.

It’s hard to point at Pacino and not say this is one of his best performances after decades of career best performances. And it is also not easy to point at Sean Penn as his Lawyer and say the exact same thing. Both men put in great character performances and are surrounded by a pool of great character acting talent, all herded by a great script by David Twohy (adapting work from original novels) and of course the great Brian De Palma behind the camera.

The picture simply looks fantastic. De Palma movies are always worth getting excited about whenever they come to a new format as they were filmed with care and luckily original sources tend to be in pretty good condition. There are also several audio channels with the original stereo, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-X audio.

There is also a couple of commentary tracks. First up is critic and filmmaker Matthew Zoller Seitz

Dr Douglas Keesey at times sounds like an AI voice talking, but the information handed over is generous and constant. The commentary isn’t for the full movie though, but the speaker does indicate where to skip to for the finale part of it.

The art package is fairly plentiful.  The new artwork for the box reflecting Carlito’s life on the street, mirrored with the future he pines for below him reflected on the ground is stunning and right on point with the film’s themes.

There are 7 double-sided art cards, a double-sided poster and a booklet with writings on the film.

All other extras are available on the Blu-ray disc that comes with the set. These were not available for review but are listed in detail below:

DISC TWO: FEATURE AND EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

• High-Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by Matt Zoller Seitz
• Brand new audio commentary by Dr Douglas Keesey
• Carlito and the Judge, a brand new interview with Judge Edwin Torres, author of the novels Carlito’s Way and After Hours on which the screenplay for Carlito’s Way is based
• Cutting Carlito’s Way, a brand new interview with editors Bill Pankow and Kristina Boden
• De Palma’s Way, a brand new appreciation by film critic David Edelstein
• All the Stitches in the World: The Locations of Carlito’s Way, a brand new look at the New York locations of Carlito’s Way and how they look today
• De Palma on Carlito’s Way, an archival interview with director Brian De Palma
• The Making of Carlito’s Way, an archival documentary on the making of the film, produced for the original DVD release
• Deleted Scenes
• Original promotional featurette
• Theatrical teaser and trailer
• Image gallery

If you like De Palma, if you like gangster films, if you like proper old school film tricks like decent camera work and tremendous performances and a rising tidal wave of tension in your films then Carlito’s Way is worth seeking out, and definitely worth upgrading.

Steven Hurst