The Don is Dead may not be top-shelf in the mafia crime-dramas but the performances for the most part were pretty good, headlined by Anthony Quinn, and some so-so suspenseful scenes, it’s just nothing overly memorable.
The Don is Dead
(1973)
Genre(s): Drama, Crime
Kino Lorber| R – 114 min. – $24.95 | March 9, 2021
Date Published: 03/02/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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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 — 3¼/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: In an unnamed American city, three Mafia families control all illicit activity. The consigliore (CHARLES CIOFFI) of one mob boss decides it’s in his interest to start a war between the other two families, and sets up rival mob boss Don Angelo (ANTHONY QUINN) with Ruby Dunne (ANGEL TOMPKINS), the ex-girlfriend of a mobster from the third family, Frank (ROBERT FORSTER). When Frank finds out, it’s not long before a full-scale gang war breaks out.
Quick Hit Review: I imagine that with the success of The Godfather a year prior, studios probably bought up the rights to other crime-drama novels and seemingly Universal put their bet on The Don is Dead which is based upon the novel from Marvin H. Albert who also contributed to the screenplay. As it is, it’s not a bad film but it’s also pretty unambitious in its execution under director Richard Fleischer, who has helmed some wonderful features including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Tora! Tora! Tora!, so it’s a bit surprising to see something with little emotional depth though the spectacle element wasn’t bad. However, the performances were mostly good. Anthony Quinn makes for a fine mob boss and Robert Forster as a ruthless if not impatient monster-on-the-rise; Frederic Forrest portrays a kind of Michael Corleone-like figure, wanting more to life and stepping away from the crime family and instead gets pulled in after a tragic event.
The Don is Dead may be a second-rate crime-drama, even when not comparing it to The Godfather or Goodfellas, but it’s still a fairly entertaining film worth checking out either on Blu-ray or if available on some streaming service. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2/5 |
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Not a whole lot here, but there is an Audio Commentary with Film Historian and Critic Sergio Mims and the Theatrical Trailer (1:44). |
VIDEO – 4/5 |
| Since there’s no mention on the back cover, I assume this 1080p transfer was given to Kino Lorber by Universal and even though I won’t say it’s a stellar picture, I still found it to be above average. Detail is mostly well defined with some heavy grain present while colors seem to be nicely balanced. There were a couple minor specs but it’s nothing overly distracting and very brief and intermittent. |
AUDIO – 4/5 |
| The movie includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which is standard for older releases by Kino Lorber. As such, doesn’t sound half bad, dialogue comes across with nice clarity and any of the more action scenes, especially explosions and gunfire, have some okay depth considering the number of channels and the age of a film going on nearly 50 years. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
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The Don is Dead may not be top-shelf in the mafia crime-dramas but the performances for the most part were pretty good, headlined by Anthony Quinn, and some so-so suspenseful scenes, it’s just nothing overly memorable. The Blu-ray released by Kino Lorber may be light on features but the transfers were likely a solid upgrade from what came before. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.