To Live and Die in L.A.

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domino harvey
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To Live and Die in L.A.

#1 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 12, 2016 2:50 pm

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A FEDERAL AGENT IS DEAD. A KILLER IS LOOSE. AND THE CITY OF ANGELS IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE.

In the seventies William Friedkin made The French Connection, The Exorcist and Sorcerer. In the eighties he equalled them with To Live and Die in L.A., one of the most stylish thrillers the decade had to offer.

When his partner is murdered just days before retirement, Secret Service Agent Richard Chance (William Petersen, Manhunter) begins an obsessive hunt for his killer – counterfeiter and all-round psychopath Eric Masters, played by Willem Dafoe at his villainous prime.

Beautifully shot by Robby Muller (Repo Man, Paris, Texas) and with a driving score with British new wave act Wang Chung, To Live and Die in L.A. looks and sounds exceptional in this brand-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative.



SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative supervised and approved by director William Friedkin
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary by director and co-writer William Friedkin
Counterfeit World: The Making of To Live and Die in L.A. archive featurette containing interviews with Friedkin, actors William Petersen and Willem Dafoe, and others
Alternative ending
Deleted scene
Stills gallery
Trailers
MORE SPECIAL FEATURES TO BE ANNOUNCED!
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil


FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson

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Banasa
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Re: To Live and Die in LA

#2 Post by Banasa » Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:13 pm

No love for To Live and Die in LA? It's at least going to be interesting how the release compares with Short's as they will probably have a lot of competitive extra features.

Has anyone heard anything about the new transfer? Hopefully Friedman doesn't pull a French Connection blu ray again and release a bizarrely coloured version.

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med
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#3 Post by med » Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:18 pm

I love this movie, but the announced extras have all appeared on previous releases.

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otis
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#4 Post by otis » Tue Aug 16, 2016 5:53 am

Hopefully the 'more special features' will include an interview with Jack Hues of Wang Chung. I saw him talk about his work on the soundtrack at a recent screening - he has some interesting stories about his collaboration with Friedkin on this and other projects.

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med
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#5 Post by med » Tue Aug 16, 2016 8:39 am

I have the original US blu. There's definitely room for improvement re: picture and sound quality, but Arrow and/or Shout are going to have to do a lot more to get me to buy this again. The Friedkin commentary (assuming it's the same one) is terrible.

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Banasa
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#6 Post by Banasa » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:32 pm

Friedkin is the King of hockey commentary play by play when it comes to audio commentaries. Really likes saying what's happening on screen.

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Banasa
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#7 Post by Banasa » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:34 pm

Creating a change.org petition to get Arrow and Shout to label the commentary as a described video by Friedkin instead.

M Sanderson
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#8 Post by M Sanderson » Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:25 pm

What does everyone think of the transfer?

Detailed, fine grain but very contrasty picture.

Skin tones are very hot. Scenes look darkened. There's a weird effect throughout that my attention is pushed to the background because the main action areas are too dark, and I'm looking at background details, details that seem more vivid than before due to the higher resolution scan. It's like losing and gaining something. Müeller's cinematography seems less fresh and lustrous. Has Friedkin pushed for a darker, more film noir look?

Also the grass seems a different colour in the prison scene in which thugs attempt to kill Carl Cody (John Turturro).

Am I being finicky? I've seen this on TV, VHS, DVD and MGM Blu ray and it looks significantly different here. I'd like to hear feedback on this.

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Big Ben
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#9 Post by Big Ben » Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:31 pm

Just ordered my copy but I know that Friedkin approves of this transfer so I'll probably be okay with whatever he wants unless it's plain ridiculous. I know he's been fond of radical change as evidenced by the French Connection transfer several years ago that went over like a turd in a punch bowl. It's entirely possible that he wanted it changed.

oh yeah
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#10 Post by oh yeah » Sat Nov 26, 2016 11:02 pm

Just judging from screencaps, I don't like the aforementioned hot skin tones of this Arrow transfer. It's not terrible but it doesn't look quite right to me. From what I've seen of the Shout release, though, it looks very good and natural -- similar to the MGM blu but better (just as the MGM blu was similar to the MGM DVD, but better -- all the latter three have a cohesive palette to them but the Arrow is decidedly different and I'm not sure it's for the best).

M Sanderson
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#11 Post by M Sanderson » Sun Nov 27, 2016 3:19 am

Arrow and Shout are surely the same, from the same director approved 4K remaster.

The film looks like it was shot with mega bright lights then drastically underexposed.

Has a weird, almost day for night appearance.

This is not the fresh, lustrous Robby Müeller cinematography I've seen before.

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tenia
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#12 Post by tenia » Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:30 am

oh yeah wrote:Just judging from screencaps, I don't like the aforementioned hot skin tones of this Arrow transfer. It's not terrible but it doesn't look quite right to me. From what I've seen of the Shout release, though, it looks very good and natural -- similar to the MGM blu but better
I doubt there is more than a negligible difference between the Shout and the Arrow color-timing.

oh yeah
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#13 Post by oh yeah » Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:06 am

Maybe it's a small difference but just looking at screencaps it seems like the Arrow is way hotter and more saturated, colors pop more, whereas the Shout retains that more natural and almost underexposed look that M Sanderson mentions. Maybe my eyes are just faulty though. Not sure why they'd look different if they're from the same remaster.

Even though the film is shot by the great Robby Muller, I always felt like Friedkin was going for a kind of grit which isn't that different from French Connection or many similar 70s New Hollywood flicks. Sure, TLADILA is way more flamboyant and stylized, but it mostly lacks the insane colors/use of filters of a typical Muller-lensed film like Paris Texas. Still very identifiable as Muller, just not as lavish-looking.

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To Live and Die in L.A.

#14 Post by MichaelB » Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:33 am

I can only speak from 35mm screenings, but I vividly remember the colours being scorchingly orange and yellow - and assumed at the time that this was because Friedkin and Müller were deliberately aiming for a look that was the polar opposite of The French Connection's.

(Although I freelance for Arrow, I didn't work on this project and don't have a copy.)

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tenia
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#15 Post by tenia » Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:36 am

oh yeah wrote:Maybe it's a small difference but just looking at screencaps it seems like the Arrow is way hotter and more saturated, colors pop more, whereas the Shout retains that more natural and almost underexposed look that M Sanderson mentions.
I don't think your eyes are faulty, but I have yet to see comparative caps taken by people whose captures can be trusted, which is why I'm still unsure about a real significant difference between the 2 discs, compression aside.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#16 Post by EddieLarkin » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:40 am

Comparison caps are available at Blu-ray.com and both the Shout and Arrow offer the exact same colour temperature and saturated skin tones. The only difference between the two presentations is the Shout retains half the grain the Arrow does, for the usual reasons.

I have the Arrow disc and didn't once feel the colour or skin tones were off during viewing, despite being aware of the controversy. And comparison caps at caps-a-holic.com demonstrate how vastly superior this new transfer is, colour wise, to the old MGM disc, which looks drab and washed out in the extreme and in no way "natural".

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rapta
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#17 Post by rapta » Sun Nov 27, 2016 12:26 pm

Watched this for the first time last night, and it looked stunning. The colours really popped, and some sequences even looked like they could've been shot yesterday - and similar to what Michael said, I agree that Friedkin's intention was for something the antithesis of The French Connection, aesthetically speaking. In a conceptual and thematic sense, I felt it to be far more interesting than both that film and Sorcerer, and it could even become my favourite Friedkin over time (currently only pipped by The Exorcist).

I knew I'd love this film even just visually - Müller being one of my heroes, having shot some of my all-time favourites ever films (namely Paris, Texas and Down By Law). Haven't watched or read any of the extras yet but this is definitely one of the best transfers Arrow have ever delivered.

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MichaelB
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#18 Post by MichaelB » Sun Nov 27, 2016 2:22 pm

It's also worth bearing in mind that earlier small-screen versions may have had their colours deliberately toned down because the film's original colour scheme is the sort of thing that doesn't transfer well to older video formats - I can well imagine those reds, yellows and oranges looking horribly and distractingly fuzzy on VHS or analogue TV broadcasts, for instance. But since this doesn't apply to a new 4K restoration and a Blu-ray release, Friedkin may well have seized the opportunity to return to what he originally intended.

As I said, the 35mm prints were scorchingly hot - and this was on the film's original release, so I assumed the colour timing came with director/DOP approval.

M Sanderson
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#19 Post by M Sanderson » Sun Nov 27, 2016 3:56 pm

Thanks for the feedback. This certainly is radically different to the TV, video, DVD and outmoded Blu ray versions that I have seen and my first response was to react against it.

I know this film had quite a life on video, and didn't know its colour scheme had been toned down from the theatrical version. It's never looked hot to me. I had assumed it was director's revisionism, as we've seen from Cimino, Mann, Cronenberg and Friedkin himself.

Really need to watch this Arrow version again, and perhaps get used to it. It's getting great reviews on for instance Blu-ray.com, DVDBeaver and Rewind/DVDCompare - the reason I reached out on here for other viewpoints. And forums are reacting favourably, in particular by people who haven't seen it before.

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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#20 Post by David M. » Sun Nov 27, 2016 9:42 pm

It's definitely a contrast-y look.

I have to add my usual disclaimer: make sure your TV is in a reasonably accurate picture mode (100% calibrated is best, but you can get a long way there with the right settings). It's a saturated grade already - it'll look like Times Square on acid* on a TV's default settings.

(* what I imagine such a sight would look like)

M Sanderson
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#21 Post by M Sanderson » Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:17 am

Now that Michael mentions it, about the hot look, in theatres.

I remember a home video version, the NTSC VHS being hotter, very orange indeed. So it has had this colour scheme even in home video before. A colour scheme definitely different on UK TV, and all the digital formats I've seen, until now. The NTSC VHS didn't pull it off so well, very smeary indeed. The Arrow Blu could be an accurate and obviously much better return to this colour scheme.

M Sanderson
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#22 Post by M Sanderson » Fri Dec 02, 2016 3:54 am

I've grown used to the apparent return to the old colour scheme. Remembering my old NTSC VHS which had the very hot colours. But which had been toned down for tv and other home video releases. Yes, it is an extremely impressive transfer with finely resolved grain and extra details I've never seen in previous versions that can finally handle these fierce tones without losing detail and creating ugly murk. I had initially suspected Friedkin had used colour/tone revisionism like Cimino (Heaven's Gate), Mann (Thief), Cronenberg (drastic darkening of Scanners) and it was a barrier between myself and the film. But now I can definitely see the "toxic glamour" that Ann Billson writes of in the good accompanying booklet, and the blazing skin tones Michael saw when it was exhibited theatrically make a lot of sense given such recurring motifs as fire and the frequent shots of characters sweating. There definitely are no problematic black levels, out of place yellows or homogeneous wood tones (like, say, criticism of some recent giallo and Wuxi films).

Pepsi
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#23 Post by Pepsi » Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:13 am

I projected it sevaral years ago (1986) many times, and the Arrow color timing is much more like my memory of it, exaggeretad neon colors.

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MichaelB
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#24 Post by MichaelB » Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:06 am

My hypothesis that the colours were toned down so that analogue NTSC video could cope with them remains pure guesswork on my part, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if that was the case - and that the muted version then became the default video version until just now.

M Sanderson
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Re: To Live and Die in L.A.

#25 Post by M Sanderson » Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:47 am

Yeah, there is definitely a much more fiercely coloured home video release going back to the NTSC video I saw as a teenager.

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