To Live And Die In L.A. (Special Edition)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Debra Feuer, John Pankow, John Turturro, Willem Dafoe, William PetersenBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 116 minutes
Published: 2003-12-01
DVD Release Date: 2003-12-02
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Special Edition; Subtitled; Widescree
Movie Reviews of To Live And Die In L.A. (Special Edition)
Movie Review: In the dark of the night/Every time I turn the light/I feel God is not in Heaven...
Summary: 5 Stars
Hang on to your hats, folks, this movie is genre revisionism with a vengeance. William Friedkin's 1985 take on the Rogue Cop movie, made at the genre's high tide (between "48 Hours" and "Lethal Weapon," while Stallone and Shwarzenegger were churning out programmers like "Raw Deal" and "Cobra" and "Miami Vice" was the hottest thing on the tube), takes the hoary cliche of the vigilante cop who will stop at absolutley nothing to take down the crook who killed his partner (days before retirement, of course) and pulls the audience into very dark territory indeed. So dark the audience didn't follow, and the movie was a box office and critical fiasco. Which, as is so often the case, means To Live and Die is a masterpiece. Over and over again, the movies have encouraged us to cheer when a cop throws out the rule book and gets down and dirty to bring down the bad guy; Friedkin meticulously, rigorously designed this film to make the cheer die in our throat and turn into a cry of despair.
William Peterson plays Chance, a US treasury agent, whose partner has been gunned down by a counterfeitor he was tailing named Masters (Willem Dafoe). Peterson begins by attempting to smoke Masters out by surveillance, then by busting his associates and attempting to turn them, but when all that fails, he goes undercover as a buyer of funny money --and finds himself crossing over the line between law and crime.
I don't want to spoil much here, as this film is dependant on numerous narrative turns where the rug is completely pulled out from under the audience. Note first the casting -- Peterson, now of CSI fame, but then a svelte, atheltic graduate of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater Company, and Dafoe, then a recent grad of the avant-garde NYC theater troop The Wooster Group, were then complete unknowns. As a result, we don't know until the end who, if anyone, is going to get out of this bloodbath alive, because stardom provides no clues. Moreover, Friedkin points out in the excellent commentary, since this is a film about counterfeiting, nothing is what it seems. The tough macho cop becomes so obsessed with his mission he becomes an extorionist, a pimp, an armed robber, a thug, a bully and much,much worse; the diabolical, quick to violence criminal mastermind is an artist, a devoted lover, and lives up to his own peculiar moral code. Throughout the film, Friedkin uses the unfamiliarity of his stars to play with our identification until we realize too late, we're trapped in a wilderness of mirrors, completely unable to get our moral bearings. Then Friedkin closes in for the kill, because if you don't agree the last half hour of this film is one of the most shocking finales in mainstream Hollywood history, I'll stop posting reviews!
Other plusses -- a phenomenal supporting cast: Dean Stockwell as Dafoe's lawyer, an oily fixer who knows no matter who goes down, he'll always come out on top; John Turturro, in his first significant role, channeling Timothy Carey as Dafoe's ferocious bagman; Darlene Fluegel as the T-Man's sex-slave/informer/mistress, kept in his thrall with the threat of bail-revocation; John Pankow (later Ira on "Mad About You") as Peterson's green partner, continually prodded against his conscience into breaking the rules by the older law-man's undermining of his masulinity.
Also: the landscape of Los Angeles, a star in itself in this film -- I am convinced the look of "To Live And Die" was a significant goad to Michael Mann when he shot "Heat" -- both films use location masterfully, the sprawl, landscape diversity, and alienating qualities of the city make it a virtual third antagonist in the film (shot by Wender's DP Robbie Muller, in glowing oranges and tropic greens). "Heat" also borrows To Live and Die's cat-and-mouse sructure, the narrative juxtaposing both the cop and crook's moves-and-counermoves while paralleling their love lives, obsessions, and devotion to their jobs.
And action? There's a car chase the wrong way down the 10 Freeway at rush hour that has got to be among the best ever filmed -- as a plus, the chase is absolutely integral to the narrative, not an add-on effect, as even the best so often are. The film's violence is ugly and unrelenting --for example, when people are shot, it's full on in the face, and faces come off. Fist-fights are messy, exhausting, protracted affairs. In the car chase, the drivers are screaming in legitimate terror.
Michael Mann again -- I mentioned Miami Vice ruled the roost when Friedkin shot this film; he deliberately cribbed that show's "MTV/Cops" frenetic editing, pumped up '80's soundtrack (Wang Chung, who actually do a good job!!!) and shiny color scheme, to the point where Mann publicly considered a lawsuit. But the effect here is subversive -- like LA itself, Friedkin creates a glizty sun-blasted alluring surface, just to show us the festering sores underneath.
Friedkin gave us the paradigmatic gritty police procedural in 1971 with The French Connection, and the most elaborate Hollywood horror excursion ever with The Exorcist in 1973; In To Live and Die, he gives us both, and I leave it to you the reader to decide which genre, cop film or horror movie, the film's last image leaves us with.
One of the best of the '80's, IMHO; think of To Live And Die as a metaphorical prophesy for Camp X-Ray: you'll never want your lawmen breaking the rules again, no matter how honorable their intentions at the outset, after you see it...
Summary of To Live And Die In L.A. (Special Edition)
TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA SPECIAL EDITION - DVD MovieWilliam Friedkin briefly revived his faltering career with this sleek, bleak thriller of a pair of secret service agents on the trail of a counterfeiter. William L. Peterson is the hotshot protégé of a career agent killed by the ruthless, almost feral counterfeiting genius Willem Dafoe (Platoon). Now Petersen, teamed with the smart but still green John Pankow (TV's Mad About You), is ready to twist arms, lean on criminals, steal, and even murder to exact his revenge. The harrowing chase through the streets of Los Angeles that climaxes on the freeway at rush hour, where Friedkin's brilliant twist sends them heading the wrong way, careening through a sea of cars coming straight at them, is still one of the most breathtaking car chases ever filmed. Friedkin's edgy crime thriller, stylishly shot in steely blues against hazy red and orange skies by Robby Muller (Paris, Texas), paints a very thin line between the good guys and the bad guys, and Wang Chung's techno soundtrack sets the proper mood--jumpy and alienated. It's a cynical and very brutal look into the world of law enforcement (adapted by Friedkin and former Secret Service man Gerald Petievich from his novel) and a cold portrayal of the power games between cops and feds, and cops and informants. John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, and Robert Downey Sr. are featured in supporting roles. --Sean Axmaker
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