"This new digital transfer was created in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director scanner at Warner Bros. The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Deep Cover arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. *Criterion's release of Deep Cover is sourced from an exclusive 16-bit 4K restoration that was supervised and approved by director Duke. It was lensed by Bojan Bazelli, who just a few years earlier teamed up with Abel Ferrara on the equally stylish crime thriller King of New York. At times it almost looks like a contemporary Michael Mann project, boasting lush neon colors that temporarily transform Fishburne's deadly mission into something of an exotic urban dream. However, even with plenty of flaws Deep Cover is still one surprisingly beautiful film. Only Clarence Williams III appears to be on the same wavelength with Fishburne and fully aware how dark and deadly serious the film needs to be, but sadly his time in front of Duke's camera is very limited.
Victoria Dillard's shady art dealer does not do enough to convince that her relationship with Fishburne ought to be taken seriously either. When Fishburne is present, it makes him look like an outsider who is stuck enduring completely random childish characters. For example, virtually all of the footage with the big bosses has overdone macho posturing that produces kitsch that is out of sync with the drama. The dissonance has an effect on the supporting actors as well. This is a serious problem because it quickly creates the impression that Duke either isn't in control or oblivious to the fact that Fishburne and Goldblum are pushing his film in completely different directions. Indeed, while Fishburne looks very comfortable playing a good but disillusioned cop on a deadly mission, Goldblum visibly struggles with an over-the-top performance that could have been right only in a drastically different genre film.
The unbridled violence provides plenty of the right type of energy that could have made the film's drama legit, but most of the time it is quite obvious that its two stars are not on the same page. The glue that holds the two together is a chic urban soundtrack with popular tunes by the likes of Dr. On the other hand, its stylistic appearance has a lot in common with that promoted by the big and visually attractive neo-noir thrillers of the '80s and '90s. Its attitude appears to have been modeled after the various rougher blaxploitation thrillers that emerged during the '70s and '80s, but without the loose comedy element that shaped up their identity. His target, the drug lord, then shows willingness to work directly with him, but only if he walks away from Jason.īill Duke's Deep Cover is an interesting but ultimately somewhat mismanaged genre film. Through Jason's partners, Hull then gets access to the top people in a powerful network that supplies the entire West Coast with drugs from Latin America. He gradually convinces Jason that together they can be a powerful team and capture a big chunk of the local market and eventually the two become partners. While selling cocaine supplied by his boss at the DEA, Carver (Charles Martin Smith), Hull establishes contact with David Jason (Jeff Goldblum), a crooked lawyer who makes his money as a drug dealer. A few decades later, while making ends meet as a cop (Laurence Fishburne) in Cincinnati, he is recruited by the DEA to go on a dangerous mission in LA to take down a notorious drug lord. witnesses the death of his father, a reckless drug addict, and his life changes forever. On a cold night in Cleveland, Russell Stevens Jr. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. The supplemental features on the disc include new interview with Bill Duke archival Q&A session conversation with film scholars Racquel J.
Svet Atanasov, July 15, 2021īill Duke's "Deep Cover" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.