{"id":25220,"date":"2020-12-21T22:16:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T06:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=25220"},"modified":"2020-12-22T06:37:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T14:37:09","slug":"review-vigilante-4kuhd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2020\/12\/review-vigilante-4kuhd\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigilante 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Vigilante<\/em><\/strong> is an imperfect but satisfying enough revenge-thriller that greatly excels thanks to its two leads with Robert Forster and Fred Williamson shining bright in their respective storylines and their few scenes together.<\/p>\n

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Vigilante
\n<\/span>\u2014 Limited Edition \u2014
\n(1983)
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Suspense Thriller, Drama, Crime<\/span>
\nBlue Underground | NR \u2013 89 min. \u2013 $49.95 | December 15, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 12\/21\/2020 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Directed by: <\/strong>William Lustig
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Richard Vetere (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, Willie Colon, Joe Spinell<\/span><\/p>\n
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DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>Audio Commentaries, Interviews, Promotional Material
\nSlip Cover: <\/strong>Yes
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>4K, Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>2<\/span><\/p>\n
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Audio (4K\/BD): <\/strong>English (Dolby Atmos), English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), English (DTS-HD MA 2.0), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 2.0)
\nVideo (4K): <\/strong>2160p\/Widescreen 2.40
\nVideo (BD): <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.40
\nDynamic Range: <\/strong>HDR10, Dolby Vision
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, French, Spanish
\nCodecs: <\/strong>HEVC \/ H.265 (4K), MPEG-4 AVC (BD)
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/span><\/p>\n
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Blue Underground provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> The screen captures in this review were taken from the included Blu-ray disc<\/span>
\nand does not represent the quality of the 4K transfer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 3\u00bc\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>New York City factory worker Eddie Marino (ROBERT FORSTER) is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. But when a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, Eddie goes berserk and vows revenge with the help of co-worker Nick (FRED WILLIAMSON) and his group of vigilantes. Now there\u2019s a new breed of marauder loose on the city streets, enforcing their own kind of law. Their justice is swift. Their methods are violent.<\/p>\n

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Review: Vigilante<\/em><\/strong> is one of a string of vigilante revenge films that permeated the 1970s and 1980s in the wake of the success of 1974\u2019s Death Wish<\/em> starring Charles Bronson. It\u2019s pretty much the gold standard in the genre so obviously why not have a movie simply called Vigilante<\/em><\/strong>? Although I have heard of the film in passing over the years, never had the chance to finally check It out.<\/p>\n

While I won\u2019t say it holds much of a candle to Death Wish<\/em>, it\u2019s still a solid flick in its own right thanks in large part to the two stars, Robert Forster and Fred Williamson. For his part, Williamson could\u2019ve easily carried the film on his own, right from his opening monologue (\u201cThis is our Waterloo, baby! You want your city back? You gotta take it. Dig it? Take it!\u201d) which is just bad ass and delivered the only way Williamson could. He has a thrilling street chase with a drug dealer which excels almost solely on Williamsons charisma when he finally catches up with the pusher and eventually down the product line to find the drug kingpin and distributing his brand of justice (well, simply a shotgun blast to the chest).<\/p>\n

But it helps that the movie also features the late great Robert Forster who has his many wonderful moments including a car chase sequence that attempts to emulate the chase from The French Connection<\/em> but doesn\u2019t quite, for some reason, the same resonance in comparison (personally, I think the chase in Bullitt<\/em> is the best chase of all-time).<\/p>\n

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Vigilante<\/em><\/strong> was co-produced and helmed by William Lustig, who is most recognized today as the director behind 1980\u2019s Maniac<\/em>, made this his follow-up feature. Direction wise, even with the guerilla-like filmmaking, this film was a marked improvement however Maniac<\/em> is just out there to make it a more memorable venture. And speaking of Maniac<\/em>, Joe Spinell, the actor who portrayed the titular character, has a small role: pitch perfect as a sleazy defense attorney, though there was plenty of drama behind-the-scenes with Spinell\u2019s increasing usage of drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 4\u00bc\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This two disc Limited Edition release comes with a lenticular slip cover<\/strong> and the discs are housed in a clear HD keep case. The inner sleeve is reversible. Inside is a nice essay booklet<\/strong>. Both the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs have bonus features.<\/p>\n

Audio Commentaries:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n