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Shakedown Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
A drug dealer shoots a corrupt police officer. Though the drug dealer admits his guilt, he pleads self-defense. His lawyer, Roland Dalton, and renegade loner NYPD narcotics agent Richie Marks, pursue evidence in his favor. They encounter difficulties from other corrupt police officers, drug dealers, and various street scum. Dalton's life is further complicated by the fact that the prosecuting attorney is a former lover.
For more about Shakedown and the Shakedown Blu-ray release, see Shakedown Blu-ray Review published by Dr. Stephen Larson on August 30, 2018 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
Any learned viewer who saw Shakedown in the spring and summer of 1988 would have recognized name reference in
the scene where the prison guard yells, "Hey, Boesky!" to an inmate dressed in a business suit. "Boesky" refers to Ivan
Boesky, the notorious stock trader incarcerated for insider trading who became a partial basis for Michael Douglas's Gordon
Gekko in Oliver Stone's Wall Street a year earlier. Writer/director James Glickenhaus uses the Boesky reference as a token for the unscrupulous insider
trading between reprobate New York City cops and a petty rich drug lord. Money is moving as fast as the drugs are flowing in.
Glickenhaus based his script on a 1985 New York Times article about a Manhattan drug dealer who pleaded self-
defense after he shot an undercover cop. Exhibitors must have known the timeliness of Shakedown's message since
three critics who reviewed the film noted that an anti-drug commercial ran before the start with James Woods telling viewers
not to take crack! (This was definitely a strategic maneuver by Woods to promote anti-drug awareness since he played a
cocaine addict in The Boost
that very year.)
Peter Weller (in his first role after RoboCop) found himself in several drug-themed films, which started when he
played a shady dealer in Michael Apted's Firstborn (1984). Weller portrays Roland Dalton, a Legal Aid attorney whose been practicing for fourteen years
and has been offered a high position on Wall Street through the father of his fiancée, Gail Feinberger (Blanche Baker). Dalton
still has one more case to try and offers to represent Michael Jones (Richard Brooks), a black drug dealer who gunned down a
snooping white police officer in the prologue. The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star's film critic L. Kent Wolgamott, who gave
Shakedown four out of five stars, completely misled his readers when he wrote that Jones was "unquestionably
guilty." We hear gunshots exchanged between Jones and the undercover cop but we don't know for certain (at least in the
beginning) if either side was firing in cold blood.
Partners.
Assistant D.A. Susan Cantrell (Patricia Charbonneau of Desert Hearts fame) opposes Dalton in the case and it's an extra spicy because she's an
old fame of his. Press critics lamented that Dalton's relationships with Feinberger and Cantrell are the weak links in the film
but I see them more as assets. It's what he shows and hides from them that reveal his character's flaws. He gets along well
with his possible future wife but she doesn't cling to his sixties idealism. She's both missed the past and is behind the current.
That's why she mis-characterizes the Hendrix ballad she listens to. Cantrell is much more intelligent and understands where
Dalton's coming from. Moreover, Dalton learns from the dirty cops' corrupt practices that he has his own moral and ethical
fissures that need to get sewn up or he will be exposed. That's why in the end I think he feels the need to be open and
honest with his fiancée.
Roland's partner in tracking down the dealers is old buckaroo cop Richie Marks (Sam Elliott). Marks has a gravely voiced and
his unweariedly tough and hard-nosed, much like the Man with No Name. A memorable scene shows him try to ferret
information from an adolescent drug dealer. Nicky 'N.C.' Carr (Antonio Fargas from Robert Downey Sr.'s Putney
Swope) is the Nino Brown-type drug lord that Marks wants to take down. The pillars that make Shakedown a
topflight action movie (literally) are three death-defying stunts that Elliot partakes and involved little-to-no green screen or
pre-CGI. Usually, marketing or promotional messages from studios contain hyperbolic overstatements but Universal's on
Shakedown couldn't be accurately delineated: "This pulse-pounding adventure features some of the most incredible
stunt work and action sequences ever shot."
Shout Select brings Shakedown to Blu-ray for the first time in North America (#40 in the specialty label's series). This
fifth film by Glickenhaus has already been available for a few years on high-def in France courtesy of Carlotta Films on a BD-25
with a trailer as the lone extra. I own the 2004 Universal DVD which has an anamorphically enhanced transfer in the OAR of
1.85:1. I can confirm that the Shout derives from the same print which isn't bad at all since it was one of Universal's better
efforts for an eighties film. The Shout image is not an upconvert but true 1080p. The Blu-ray looked smooth and fluid in motion.
(See Screenshot #s 15-20 for a comparison between the two, with the Universal on the top. The shots are the same but framing
may differ some.) Nighttime scenes in NYC have a "big lights, big city" look to them with bright neon emanating from the
marquee and billboards. The Deuce and New Amsterdam retain those locations' grime, grit, and decrepitude. To my eyes, the
color timing appears spot-on with no washouts. There's a few minor artifacts but this has be the best the film has looked. Shout
gives the 97-minute feature the MPEG-4 AVC-encode treatment. The video transfer has been encoded at a mean bitrate of 29993
kbps while the full disc (including the six extras) sports a total bitrate of 35.41 Mbps.
Shout has the normal dozen chapter selections. The Universal disc has eighteen scene markers.
Shout has applied the film's original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo Surround (1660 kbps, 24-bit). Two critics who saw the
release prints back in '88 made gripes about the sound mixing with too much f/x added. Rick Bentley, who wrote for The
Town Talk (Alexandria, LA) complained that the movie's "background noise, used to give the production a 'real' feel becomes
so overwhelming it is hard to hear the dialogue. Key information is drowned out in a sea of cars, crowds and clatter." Michael
Mills of the Palm Beach Post (FL) also groused that the film "is also surprisingly shoddy technically, and the quality of the
sound is especially bad, with many early scenes cluttered by background noise." I'm happy to report that I found the stereo mix
pretty well balanced with dialogue that is sufficiently audible, enough with some of the racket. I would rate the bass as very good
to excellent. Songs like "Purple Haze" and Dylan/Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Subterranean Homesick Blues" demonstrate good high-
end pitch with some decent depth. Jonathan Elias delivers a fine electronic score that should hopefully see an official album
release one day.
The optional English SDH are complete and contain one spelling mistake (Boesky is misspelled.)
NEW Introduction by Writer and Director James Glickenhaus (:16, 1080p) - a very brief intro by the
filmmaker that goes quickly. In English, not subtitled.
NEW Audio Commentary with James Glickenhaus - cinephile/filmmaker Edwin Samuelson of the
Samuelson Studios moderates this recently recorded feature-length track with Glickenhaus. Samuelson talks a little too much
during the first half of the track but he adds some additional questions to keep the track going. Glickenhaus sometimes give
short statements in his answers. In English, not subtitled.
NEW Shakedown Breakdown – An Interview with James Glickenhaus (16:16, 1080p) - a really good
interview with Glickenhaus that's the top supplement on the disc. He seems more comfortable and more inclinded to give longer
answers when he either knows the questions ahead of time or gets more time to answer them. He looks very prepared. In
English, not subtitled.
NEW Miles Over the Limit – James Glickenhaus Discusses Miles Davis (5:12, 1080p) - Glickenhaus
has a great personal story about Miles Davis to tell here. In English, not subtitled.
NEW Still Gallery (4:47, 1080p) - a slide show that displays sixty-nine images during
Shakedown's marketing campaigns. It contains a nice mixture of press kit stills (US and Japan), lobby cards, on-set
photos, poster sheets, and VHS covers.
Theatrical Trailer (1:56, upscaled to 1080i) - an analog-sourced 1.33:1-framed trailer for
Shakedown.
James Glickenhaus presents an unvarnished portrait the Big Apple and its underworld that's long gone. His Shakedown is
brawny and smart and has to be considered one of the most underrated action thrillers of the '80s. It grew on me tremendously
from my first viewing on DVD to this deluxe package attractively put together by the good folks at Shout! Factory. Peter Weller
delivers an excellent overall performance, ably and subtly demonstrating what a chameleon he is. I will probably be checking out
Glickenhaus's entire filmography. Fans of Lumet's Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981) should definitely indulge. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Shakedown. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Shakedown in the search box below.
U.S. label Shout Factory has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of director James Glickenhaus' action thriller Shakedown (1988), starring Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, Richard Brooks, Jude Ciccolella, and Thomas G. Waites. The release, which will be part of the ...
U.S. label Shout Factory has announced that it will release on Blu-ray director James Glickenhaus' action thriller Shakedown (1988), starring Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, Richard Brooks, Jude Ciccolella, and Thomas G. Waites. The release will be available for purchase ...
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