Busting is a fairly average crime-drama from the 1970s that features a respectable performance by Elliott Gould and a decent enough chase sequence, but otherwise not a whole stands out especially compared with others from the era.
Busting
(1974)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Drama, Crime
Kino Lorber| R – 92 min. – $24.95 | December 7, 2021
Date Published: 12/26/2021 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: Los Angeles vice cops Michael Keneely (ELLIOTT GOULD), tall and hunched, and Patrick Farrell (ROBERT BLAKE), short and resentful, tidy up the streets from the drug dealers, prostitutes and petty thugs without fuss — or much real interest. Goaded by the brash conceit of mobster chief Carl Rizzo (ALLEN GARFIELD), the eclectic partners go after him, earning not only his wrath but that of their department superiors, who would rather that Keneely and Farrell stick to going after petty criminals.
Quick Hit Review: Busting is probably one of a slew of little known crimes-dramas to come out of the 1970s with the likes of The French Connection, Dirty Harry and Death Wish taking top slots. This is one I never heard of but looked forward to checking out as I do generally love the genre. However, it’s not hard to see why this one would get lost amongst the greats. The film, which was directed by Peter Hymans (Running Scared, Sudden Death) in his theatrical feature debut, Busting had the elements there to make an engrossing crime-drama but thanks to a poor script by Hymans, it makes for a disappointment more than anything. This isn’t to say there’s nothing to admire. The cinematography by Earl Roth (IMDb doesn’t show much of a resume and it seems he began his career in his late 60s) is beautiful in that gritty, 1970s L.A. sort of way. Also, Elliott Gould acts his heart out including a short monologue halfway through, proving he was a bit underrated during the era between this and The Long Goodbye released a year earlier.
On the whole, Busting is fine as a time-waster or to admire Gould’s performance, but this is one you won’t miss to bypass with great crime-dramas from the 1970s. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2/5 |
|
This release comes with a matted slip cover. Not much in features, however there is an Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Peter Hyam and a Select Scene Commentary (46:19) with Actor Elliott Gould and Film Critic Kim Morgan. Also included is the Theatrical Trailer (2:45). There are also trailers for The Long Goodbye and Running Scared (1986), both available on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Kino Lorber releases Busting onto Blu-ray where is has received a newly remastered transfer, though no mentioning from what source, so guessing was provided by MGM. In any case, the movie is presented in the original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. For the most part this is a fine looking picture, detail is good and colors well balanced even vibrant even set against a dark and gritty storyline and scenery. There were a few minor specs that I noticed when doing some screen captures but otherwise it’s relatively clean. |
AUDIO – 4/5 |
| The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which was fairly good if not flawed. Dialogue comes across well enough though I did notice some background noise for scenes shot outdoors, this isn’t a flaw with the lossless track however, more on the sound equipment during production and likely wouldn’t have been worth going through the difficulties, and expense, of trying to remove it without distorting it. Other than that, everything else was fine with some okay depth for the various action scenes such as a foot pursuit through a market or the ambulance chase near the end. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
|
Busting is a fairly average crime-drama from the 1970s that features a respectable performance by Elliott Gould and a decent enough chase sequence, but otherwise not a whole stands out especially compared with others from the era. The Blu-ray released through Kino Lorber includes a new transfer alongside two commentaries (one scene-specific) and the trailer. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.