What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – January 7th, 2024 – Conclave, Eastern Condors, Se7en, Saturday Night and more

Yojimbo

Well, it’s the first week of new releases for the new year, and as usual, it’s not the busiest. But there are some pretty exciting titles available nonetheless, including one of last year’s most critically acclaimed films and a long-awaited 4K debut. Check out everything below for the full scoop!

In This Week’s Column:

• Conclave (Blu-ray + Digital)
• Se7en (4K Ultra HD)
• Saturday Night (Blu-ray + Digital)
• Eastern Condors (Blu-ray)
• Yojimbo/Sanjuro: Two Films by Akira Kurosawa (4K Ultra HD)
• 2020 Texas Gladiators (4K Ultra HD)

Conclave (Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: Despite Conclave receiving rave critical reviews last year and becoming a probably front runner to take home some statues in this year’s Academy Awards, I wasn’t all that interested in watching it. The idea of a drama set within the Vatican sounded like another boring, talky rumination on god and life and all the usual stuff that goes with movies like that. But, boy, was I wrong.

The film starts with the death (by natural causes) of the sitting pope, leading to the Catholic Church to call a conclave to order to pick a new pope. And that’s where things get interesting. While not quite a mystery or a suspense film, Conclave has elements of both, as well as a political thriller, as different factions maneuver for the papacy and the Cardinal in charge of the proceedings (excellently played by Ralph Fiennes) has to figure out what’s what and who’s up to what, all while trying to remain impartial and, frankly, as uninvolved as possible. Even writing that description, the film doesn’t sound all that exciting, but I have to say that it is riveting from the very first scene. There’s a sense of vague mystery to it that will keep you guessing, while watching the political maneuvering and the characters revealing their true intentions is fascinating.

If I have one criticism of the film, it’s that the ending didn’t wow me as much as I was hoping for. It’s a solid ending, but I was hoping it would have a little more oomph. That said, the performances are outstanding; along with Fiennes, you have terrific turns from Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini, among others. The film is also so beautifully shot that it takes what could be a very stolid and stoic film and makes it absolutely gorgeous to watch. It’s a top-notch effort all around.

The Bonus Features: 

• Feature commentary with director Edward Berger
• Sequestered: Inside Conclave (17 minutes)

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up: Even if you think Conclave isn’t your kind of movie, I highly recommend you give it a chance anyway. It’s an outstanding film that will hold your attention from start to finish.

Se7en (4K Ultra HD + Digital Steelbook)

The Movie: My standard joke about Se7en is that I can only hope that Andrew Kevin Walker, who wrote the film, was already married or in a steady relationship before the movie came out. Because if not, I could only imagine what it would be like to be on a date with him.

“So, what do you do?”

“I’m a screenwriter.”

“Ooh, anything I’ve seen?”

“I wrote Se7en.”

“Umm… I have to go.”

I love Se7en. It’s a thrilling mystery film from one of our greatest living directors, David Fincher, and it features great performances by Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and especially Kevin Spacey (who was just breaking through as a name actor when the movie came out.) I know he’s persona non-grata these days, but you can’t deny how chilling he is in his role.

As much as I love the movie, it’s a hard watch for sure. It’s so disturbing in some of the murders that it always surprised me a little that the film was as successful as it was. I think that’s because it’s just so unexpected and so daring and so unflinching that it blew people away. That doesn’t mean I want to watch it all the time, but it’s a great movie to revisit once in a while. Now you can do so via the film’s debut on 4K Ultra HD, which comes in a sleek Steelbook case.

The 4K Video/Audio: Se7en looks and sounds very good in the premium format, despite being a very darkly-lit film. The color saturation isn’t quite what I would call vibrant, but it is natural and nuanced. Image clarity is sharp, and shadow delineation is quite strong, helpful in a film that features numerous nighttime scenes and dark moments. The surround soundtrack isn’t the most immersive ever, but it does a great job of bringing the action and the constant rain into your living room. Meanwhile, the powerful bass channel ensure there’s an occasional rumble through your bones.

The Bonus Features: 

• Four Audio Commentaries (Including one with David Fincher, Brad Pitt, and Morgan Freeman)
• Deleted Scenes w/ optional commentary (10 minutes)
• Alternate Ending w/ optional animated storyboards and commentary (5 minutes) – Also includes optional animated storyboards.
• Production Design featurette (9 minutes)
• Six Still Galleries w/ photographer commentary (42 minutes total)
• Theatrical EPK (7 minutes)
• Mastering for Home Theater (23 minutes)
• Exploration of the Opening Title Sequence (8 minutes)

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up: Se7en is a modern classic thriller and it cemented David Fincher’s place in the cinema pantheon as a visionary director. It’s not a Friday night popcorn film, but it is an outstanding dark mystery that is worth revisiting.

Saturday Night (Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: Saturday Night got a lot of praise and acclaim from the critics and audiences who saw it, but unfortunately, not that many people saw it. The movie takes us behind-the-scenes of the first episode (and live airing) of Saturday Night Live back in 1975. What I didn’t realize going into the movie is that it effectively takes place in the 90 minutes leading up to the premiere episode going live and it’s told in real-time. Meaning it’s a frenetic, chaotic experience that is part of the fun. (It’s also a little bit exhausting if I’m being honest.)

The film mostly focuses on Lorne Michaels trying to put out fires left and right, cut the number of sketches in half, deal with chaos agents like John Belushi, please the affiliates, and get the show to actually run and not end up pre-empted for Johnny Carson re-runs. Throughout it all, we see familiar faces like Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Ratner, Jane Curtin, Billy Crystal and other now-household names, and we get a glimpse into their real personalities. It’s a fast-paced and fascinating look at what it took to get the show on the air in the first place, much less what made it a legendary part of television history. I suspect that the movie was a condensation of several days’ worth of what really went on, but if even half of what occurs on screen here really happened, it’s a miracle the show ever even made it into our living rooms.

Like the best based-on-true-events movies, the cast isn’t made up of full-on lookalikes, but they do really embody the people they’re portraying. Cory Michael Smith and Dylan O’Brien especially shine as Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, respectively. Even though I would have liked to see more of the build-up to that first episode than just the hour or two before it, you still get a pretty good look at what it took to bring it all together.

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio commentary w/ director and co-writer Jason Reitman and other filmmakers
• The Making of the Movie of the Show that Almost Never Made It (16 minutes)
• Creating Comedy Icons (11 minutes)
• The Look of Saturday Night (2 minutes)
• Super 8 from Studio 8H (5 minutes)
• John Batiste: Scoring Live (1 minute)

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up: Saturday Night is a fun movie that gives us a look behind the curtain at a television institution, one that we rarely see beyond what the network wants us to. Definitely worth a watch!

Eastern Condors (Blu-ray)

The Movie: The Criterion Collection specializes in bringing noteworthy and important movies to home video, and I’m always thrilled when they veer into some of my favorite genres – which generally also happen to be the genres the label dips into the least. In this case, the 1987 Asian action classic Eastern Condors gets the Criterion treatment, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see it enter the collection.

The film is effectively a Dirty Dozen-style adventure with a prototypical Ragtag Team of Soldiers who were all rotting away in an American prison, and they’re given a shot at freedom if they go on a clandestine mission into Vietnam to destroy a cache of weapons. The film stars and is directed by Sammo Hung, and it also counts Yuen Woo-Ping and Corey Yuen in the cast, both of whom would come to fame as martial choreography superstars in their own right (Woo-Ping most famously choreographed the action in The Matrix.)

The film has a great mix of Rambo-style gun fights and explosions but an equally good amount of outstanding martial arts hand-to-hand combat. It mixes in humor and quirky characters, and it’s not afraid to kill off main characters for the sake of the story. It’s a terrific example of the best that Asian action cinema has to offer.

The Bonus Features: 

• Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Sammo Hung
• Interviews from 2001 with Hung and actor Yuen Wah
• Eastern Condors Live!, an onstage performance from the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Pageant
• Teaser and trailers
• Essay by film critic Sean Gilman

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up: Eastern Condors is almost 40 years old, but it still holds up extremely well. Credit a terrific cast, top-notch filmmaking from Sammo Hung, and a pre-CGI special effects team for giving the film a visceral realism, even when it’s going a little over the top. I love it, and I’m sure you will, too!

Yojimbo/Sanjuro: Two Samurai Films by Akira Kurosawa (4K Ultra HD)

The Movies:  Yojimbo may not be as well-known to Western audiences as it’s Sergios Leone-helmed remake, A Fistful of Dollars, but in cinematic circles it’s considered one of the more influential movies of the 20^th century. This new two-movie set from The Criterion Collection includes both 1961’s samurai masterpiece, Yojimbo, as well as its 1962 sequel, Sanjuro, both directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa.

Yojimbo sees a lone samurai stumble into a gang/clan war in a small town. He then uses his wits to pit the two warring factions against each other and effectively save the day, even though he’s not really a hero. The film was a massive success and a sequel was quickly commissioned, something Kurosawa had little interest in doing. So he created Sanjuro, which sees the same main character but features a story that has nothing to do with the original film. This time around, our titular samurai Sanjuro finds himself in a group of other samurai who are the unknowing victims of some political machinations, and he decides to help them weed out the bad influences at work within their organization.

Both films have a unique style and tone that makes them so memorable; while they are serious movies, they both also have a darkly comedic undertone that gives them a feel unlike other movies at the time and would go on to influence both American westerns and Japanese movies of the time. I personally believe that the element of wacky/silly characters in so many Asian action movies is a direct descendant of the characterizations and writing in Yojimbo, but that’s a subjective opinion.

The two films were previously released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection, but this week we see the films make their debut on 4K Ultra HD. Not surprisingly, the films have been restored and remastered to great effect.

The 4K Video/Audio:

Both movies in this set are in black & white, and while you might think the 4K Ultra HD format is wasted when you don’t get the additional color pop from it, you’d be wrong. The contrasts here are bold and strong, giving you nuanced pictures with strong blacks and many shades of grey. The image clarity is outstanding, with both movies looking as crisp and clean as if you were watching them in theaters. The original mono audio is included, but Criterion has also included a special Dolby 3.0 track which emulates the “Perspecta simulated stereo effects” that accompanied the film in theaters. I had never heard of Perspecta before this, but apparently it was a technology that embedded three separate audio tones into one mono track to simulate more immersive sound. It’s not a full surround soundtrack, but it has more depth than the mono track for sure.

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio commentaries by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
• Documentaries on the making of Yojimbo and Sanjuro, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
• Teasers and trailers
• Stills galleries of behind-the-scenes photos
• Essays by film writers Alexander Sesonske and Michael Sragow and comments from Kurosawa and members of his casts and crews

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up: While some audience members might find Kurosawa’s movies slow by today’s hyper-edited, MTV-style filmmaking standards, these are two very rewarding films for cinema enthusiasts. I give the edge to Yojimbo as the superior movie, but both are worth watching and this is a terrific double-feature release.

2020 Texas Gladiators (4K Ultra HD)

The Movie: You might be familiar with the term “Spaghetti Western,” the term for the westerns that came out of Italy in the 1960s and 70s, but have you heard of Penne Post-apocalypse? Well, I hadn’t either, but apparently it’s a real term. It’s the genre of dystopic and post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies that came out of Italy, largely in the ‘70s and ‘80s. One of the most infamous films from the genre is 2020 Texas Gladiators, a disjointed but fun action movie that doesn’t let plot or character development get in the way of a good time.

The film starts with a group of Texas Gladiators saving a woman from a group of cannibalistic savages. It then fast forwards five years to a settlement that at first seems like it’s rooted in the present day, before you realize that it’s a time jump and things are about to go wrong. The story then jumps forward several times, making it hard to keep track of what’s happening to who at certain points, but ultimately it’s a good guys versus Nazi-like bad guys movie that takes place in an unpleasant future. It’s low-budget; it’s cheesy; it’s poorly written; it’s poorly acted; but it’s also gonzo over-the-top B-movie action, and it’s hard not to have fun with it.

The film is now available on 4K Ultra HD from Severin Films. I will always give Severin some love whenever I can; they take the most niche and cult movies available and give them Criterion-level treatment with remastering and new bonus features, and this one is no different. I also have to mention the absolutely gorgeous cover art; the release is worth buying just for the eye-popping packaging!

The 4K Video/Audio: 4K Ultra HD releases of older movies can often be a less noticeable upgrade than other films, especially when they’re super low-budget to begin with. That said, this new 4K Ultra HD release from Severin has given 2020 Texas Gladiators a sheen that is truly impressive considering the origins of the movie. Image clarity is clean and sharp, colors are warm and natural yet still pop nicely, and there’s enough grain to retain the cinematic feel of the film. There are some very minor instances of blemishes or dirt on the print, but they’re so few and far between as to be virtually unnoticeable. The surround soundtrack is a little front-channel heavy, but since the driving force of the film is the dialogue and the music, that makes sense. It’s not a barnstormer, but it is a very nice presentation overall.

The Bonus Features: 

• Shoot Me: The Real Story Of The Italian Texas Gladiators – Archival Interviews With Director Joe D’Amato, Assistant Director Michele Soavi, Screenwriter Luigi Montefiori And Actor Al Cliver
• Gladiator Geretta – Interview With Actress Geretta Geretta
• Trailer

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up: 2020 Texas Gladiators luckily is not an accurate depiction of life in 2020. We’re not quite there yet. But the film does a good job of painting a picture that isn’t so far from a potential reality that it’s ridiculous, either. This is definitely a movie that’s only for people who like B-movies, but it’s a pretty glorious B-movie experience overall.