The Long Good Friday
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Synopsis
Bob Hoskins, in his breakthrough film role, stars as a London racketeer fast losing control of his gangland empire; Helen Mirren shines as his classy moll. John Mackenzie’s stylish thriller is a marriage of gangster flicks from both sides of the Atlantic. Criterion presents The Long Good Friday in an exclusive widescreen transfer.
Picture 6/10
The Criterion Collection presents The Long Good Friday in the aspect ratio of 1.77:1 on this single-layered DVD. The image, unfortunately, hasn't been enhanced for widescreen televisions, which is common for all early Criterion titles.
While it is an older release from Criterion, more than likely a straight port from their laserdisc, it actually looks pretty good. Colours are decent with natural looking skin tones. Black levels are fairly strong, ' darker sequences come off a little washed. Sharpness and detail overall is fair other than some outside sequences that come off a little softer.
Print flaws are common but never intrusive, a spec of debris popping up here and there. In all, ', the print is in very good shape. Overall it's a good non-anamorphic transfer.
Audio 6/10
Criterion supplies us with a mono track. In all it gets the job done. It's pretty sharp, ' some of the Cockney accents were troublesome for me (not a fault for the track, '.) Music sounds decent, but can be harsh when it gets too high. There is excellent range and never really sounds flat. Decent and works for the film.
Extras 1/10
This is the big disappointment of the disc as there isn't much on here. All we get is a British trailer and an American one. It's neat just to see how the two countries market so differently (the American one makes it more action packed than it really is) but it would have been great if they could have managed to get Hoskins or Mackenzie to talk about the film, either in interviews or a commentary. There is an insert, ', containing an essay by Michael Sragow inside. Unfortunately, that's it.
Closing
I think the image is fairly good for a non-anamorphic release, but this may not work for some. There is a special edition from Anchor Bay with an anamorphic transfer, and a selection of supplements. For those who want the film that may be the edition to go for.
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