Review of To Live and Die in L.A.

Introduction

Hailed by many as a mid 1980s classic, To Live And Die In L.A. is still one of William Friedkin`s most recent big screen outings and he`s spent most of his working life since behind TV cameras.

It tells a good old fashioned good vs. bad story, but tries to blur the lines by making the good guys less than 100% pure good. A good guy is blown away by a bad guy and his partner vows to wreak revenge. Seen it a thousand times I`m sure, so what`s different about this one? There`s a little more plot exposition in the disc details up above.

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is on offer, and it`s very reminiscent of most of these MGM catalogue titles. It`s quite grainy at times, often lacks sharpness and the colours are a bit dull (although some of this may have been intentional). Various night time scenes also show the lack of work that`s gone in to transferring this film to DVD.

Audio

In a rare treat for an MGM catalogue title, a DD5.1 soundtrack. And it`s actually not too bad. It`s nowhere near the standards set by most modern releases, but it`s a reasonable effort given the source material.

There are a few good action set pieces to show off the soundtrack, with a good old fashioned LA car chase and plenty of gun fire pinging around the soundstage.

And the less said about the score the better. This is a slice of very mouldy 1980s cheese from Wang Chung. It dates the film instantly and it hasn`t aged well for me.

There are also some European soundtracks to choose from.

Features

Oh dear. Nothing at all. Look across the pond enviously to see the region 1 release which had a commentary, alternate ending, deleted scenes and a featurette. Another region 2 rip off.

Conclusion

A stereotype filled story (good guy gets shot just days before retirement - yawn!) tries to break out of the stereotype, but doesn`t always succeed. There are some good scenes and some good action set pieces, but these are the highlights in what is otherwise a mediocre viewing experience. The car chase is probably the highlight of the whole thing, and it`s still a good chase despite its age.

The bad guy is just a walking cliche too, slightly unbalanced but with an arty side, killing anyone who gets in his way and using his trophy bisexual girlfriend to further his business interests.

Despite these rather negative views, I did quite enjoy watching this slice of 1980s cheese and might watch it again one day. If you`re a fan then you should seek out the region 1 disc instead as the extras give that disc the edge for me.

Worth renting if you fancy some 1980s cops and robbers smothered in melted cheese.