Cruising

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

Moderator: yoloswegmaster

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Lino
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Sitting End
Contact:

Cruising

#1 Post by Lino » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:39 pm

Image

Academy Award-winner William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) directs Al Pacino as an undercover cop pitched into New York’s seedy underbelly in Cruising – available for the first time on Blu-ray in a brand new director-approved transfer.

New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who is preying on the patrons of the city’s underground bars. Captain Edelson (Paul Sorvino) tasks young rookie Steve Burns (Pacino) with infiltrating the S&M subculture to try and lure the killer out of the shadows – but as he immerses himself deeper and deeper into the underworld, Steve risks losing his own identity in the process.

Taking the premise and title from reporter Gerald Walker’s novel, Cruising was the subject of great controversy at the time of its release and remains a challenging and remarkable movie to this day, with Pacino’s haunted lead performance as its magnetic centrepiece.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
  • Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, supervised and approved by writer-director William Friedkin
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Newly remastered 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio supervised by William Friedkin
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Archival audio commentary by William Friedkin
  • The History of Cruising – archival featurette looking at the film’s origins and production
  • Exorcising Cruising – archival featurette looking at the controversy surrounding the film and its enduring legacy
  • Original Theatrical Trailer

patrick
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Philadelphia

#2 Post by patrick » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:51 pm

Lino wrote:
Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:39 pm
Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Cruising (Deluxe Edition) on 18th September 2007 priced at $19.97 SRP. William Friedkin's murder thriller that is set against the gay S & M subculture of the late ‘70s and prompted widespread community protests when it opened in 1980 makes its long-awaited Region 1 DVD debut later this year.

Directed by Academy Award winner William Friedkin (The French Connection) from his own screenplay adaptation of Gerald Walker's novel, the film has as its magnetic centerpiece Academy Award-winner Al Pacino's (Scent of a Woman) performance as an undercover cop who infiltrates New York City's leather bar scene, and whose identity and relationships are hauntingly affected by his assignment.

Mr. Friedkin has personally supervised the creation of an all new high-definition master and new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track for the release with new director commentary. Also included are eminent documentarian Laurent Bouzerou's two new featurettes containing interviews with actors and filmmakers who provide thorough perspective on the incidents surrounding the production. In addition to Friedkin and producer Jerry Weintraub (Oceans 11 series, Diner The Firm), participants include editor Bud Smith (The Exorcist, Flashdance, Ladder 49) , actors Don Scardino (now a top TV director) and James Remar (48 Hours, TV's Sex in the City) and real-life cops Randy Jurgensen and Sonny Grosso.

Features include:

* Commentary by Director William Friedkin
* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
* 2 New Featurettes: The History of Cruising and Exorcising Cruising
* Original Theatrical trailer
* Languages: English & Español
* Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)


. . . .


It's official. More info below.
Tom Peeping wrote:In an interview on the French site dvdrama, Friedkin confirms he is presently working on a new cut of Cruising that will include the 40 minutes that were cut at the release of the film back in 1980.
+ more infos: the film will be shown this year in Cannes 2007 (in the Cannes Classics Selection). The DVD will be released mid-2007 and will include Friedkin's commentary, a Laurent Bouzereau's documentary & more.
Don't you just hate it when the internet starts getting this inconsistent with information? This just in:
"It split the gay community," director Billy Friedkin recalls his 1980 Al Pacino starrer, "Cruising. " It's coming out as a DVD from Warner Home Video this Fall with a premiere in Cannes. Friedkin has remastered it digitally as well as upgraded the sound. But there are no changes in the film itself, he says.

Daily Variety's review by James Harwood noted, "If this is an R, then the only X left is actual hardcore." Friedkin explains, "I was making a statement between the leather-vise world and those in the then-discreet gay community, which had not come out of the closet."

In "Cruising, " Al Pacino plays the young cop sent underground by police chief Paul Sorvino to search for a sadistic killer. Jerry Weintraub produced the film, and it is currently being DVD-augmented with behind-the-scenes background info by Laurent Bouzereau who has edited 150 DVDs, including Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" and "Jaws. "

Friedkin says he was "amazed" to learn that "Cruising" was the most-requested DVD reissue. When I read him critical comments on the rating-achievement of his film, he reminded, "It also took me 50 days of editing to get an R rating for 'The Exorcist'. " Yes, the "Cruising" DVD rating will be R.
Is there any info about what was cut from the original version? I bought this on VHS recently and watched it for the first time in years and I think an uncut version might fix a lot of the problems with the film.

Tom Peeping
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:32 pm
Location: Paris
Contact:

#3 Post by Tom Peeping » Fri May 25, 2007 2:08 am

To put things straight, here is a post from someone who saw the new Cruising at Cannes.

From HTF Forum:

(quote)"Just got back from the one-time Directors' Fortnight screening of William Friedkin's newly restored version of CRUISING at Cannes. The film was presented in HD as part of the promotion for the Warner Bros. DVD to be released in mid-October. The image looked very crisp. Skin tones looked a little pale in the night and club sequences, but colors really popped for the most part, in particular, the yellow NYC cabs. Sound, in particular, the separation between the various songs and ambient noises, was excellent throughout.

The film attracted a packed house, including Quentin Tarantino. Friedkin appeared to introduce the film and was spirited and appeared quite appreciative of the film's positive reception and the Directors' Fortnight selection committee's decision to screen the film in this year's program. Producer, Jerry Weintraub was also on-hand as he is in Cannes to promote his latest film, OCEANS 13.

The crowd was enthusiastic from start to finish and gave a rapturous applause at the conclusion.

The film is not really much longer than the original cut."

Spoilers below

Friedkin has added bits of explicit club footage and digitally tweaked several existing scenes. The film opens with the new WB logo over the familiar creepy Barre Phillips/Jack Nitzsche underscore. Friedkin has eliminated the disclaimer which attempted to placate the gay community. He has added a scrolling ROCKY-style title credit, which announces CRUISING in bold white on black.

The opening club sequence in which the killer picks up his first on-screen victim has a few extra shots of jock-strap clad dancing patrons.

The "precinct night" sequence features much more explicit footage in the club, intercut with Al Pacino's reactions.

The killing in the park is punctuated by a digital effect which makes the film appear in reverse, negative form at the end of the scene.

When Pacino spys on suspect Stuart Richards as he enters a Columbia University building, the image goes black except for a spotlight around Pacino; the entire image then fades to black.

The sequence in which Pacino dances in the club in front of a flashing, lit-up American flag sign has also been digitally altered in what appears to be an attempt to mimic Pacino's reaction to the amyl nitrate he has just inhaled. There are more cuts to the image of the American flag and more shots of the club patrons and explicit acts going on.

A scene that is often omitted from video and tv prints has been reinstated: this is the scene in which Stuart Richards' friend is interviewed by police about Richards' father; the friend reveals that the father has been dead for ten years, but that Stuart still talks of him being alive.

End credits featured an addendum with credits for the restored version.

The newly inserted snippets, IMHO, are not any more explicit than the footage that has always been in the original R-rated cut. It's just a little more of things that were already there.

Certainly, there is nothing more extreme than the hardcore frames that Friedkin edited into the film prior to its original release."(unquote)

User avatar
Close The Door, Raymond
Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 11:33 pm

#4 Post by Close The Door, Raymond » Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:51 pm

I read somewhere that Friedkin says that the 40 minutes that he had to cut out of the film is missing or destroyed. He has reportedly recorded an audio commentary for the upcoming DVD - so perhaps at the very least we might get a description of what scenes are missing.

High-Def Digest reveals that the restored version screened at Cannes was from a "freshly minted high-definition master" and was 103 minutes in length with a new opening sequence, more "graphic scenes" and other footage previously left on the cutting room floor. But according to Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (along with imdb.com) the original theatrical release was 106 minutes. How can the restored version be 3 minutes shorter?

User avatar
Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

#5 Post by Jeff » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:53 pm

davidhare wrote:David Ehrenstein's significant posts are tanto, and so are mine. And others. Where are they Mods?
This is a different thread. Your posts and David E.'s are right here where you left them.

User avatar
Gigi M.
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:09 pm
Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep

#6 Post by Gigi M. » Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:18 am


User avatar
Lino
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Sitting End
Contact:

#7 Post by Lino » Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:16 pm

My God. September is going to be a killer month.

User avatar
Lino
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Sitting End
Contact:

#8 Post by Lino » Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:21 pm


patrick
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Philadelphia

#9 Post by patrick » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:03 pm

They should have just used the VHS cover with him in full leather daddy attire.

User avatar
tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#10 Post by tavernier » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:58 pm

Lino wrote:Artwork
I love how they capitalize the title in the line "Al Pacino is Cruising for a killer," just so we know it's the title!

planetjake

#11 Post by planetjake » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:53 am

Kind of shocked that the beaver hasn't posted on this yet...

Anyone have the disc? Anyone???

planetjake

#12 Post by planetjake » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:41 am

Seems to me that whoever owns the rights to Boys From The Band missed out by not releasing it today... I sure as hell would have bought both of them?

User avatar
Lino
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Sitting End
Contact:

#13 Post by Lino » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:11 am

Boys in the Band is still coming this year. I read it somewhere online. And so is a SE of Sorcerer.

User avatar
jesus the mexican boi
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 5:09 am
Location: South of the Capitol of Texas

#14 Post by jesus the mexican boi » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:19 am

Lino wrote:Boys in the Band is still coming this year. I read it somewhere online. And so is a SE of Sorcerer.
According to this thread on another site, a 2-disc SE of The Boys in the Band is slated for 2008.

And from Scott Holleran at boxofficemojo.com:
According to the director, Warner Home Video is releasing Cruising on DVD—with a digitally remastered print, audio commentary and bonus features—because the movie ranked remarkably high in multiple choice retail surveys of titles customers wanted to see on DVD. William Friedkin also announced that his 1977 thriller Sorcerer, crushed at that summer's box office by Star Wars, will get a 30th anniversary DVD edition. He added that his gay-themed The Boys in the Band is also planned for DVD release.

User avatar
Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

#15 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:15 pm

Damnit...It's been delayed in Canada until the 25th. Not as bad as having to wait an extra week for If...., but still: I need me some indefensible trash. Maybe Warner Canada thought that releasing this and the DE of Deliverance on the same day would just be too crude (I jest).
Last edited by Cronenfly on Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
chaddoli
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:41 pm
Location: New York City
Contact:

#16 Post by chaddoli » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:26 pm

Some very interesting debate about the film over at Slant:

Ed Gonzalez's Blog Entry

Eric Henderson's Review

ranaing83
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:40 am
Location: http://directcinema.blogspot.com
Contact:

#17 Post by ranaing83 » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:27 pm

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered, but do we know if this is the theatrical version or a directors cut with additional scenes?

User avatar
Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

#18 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:46 pm

ranaing83 wrote:Sorry if this has already been asked and answered, but do we know if this is the theatrical version or a directors cut with additional scenes?
DVD Talk's review indicates that there are some changes (so it is a "director's cut" as opposed to theatrical), but that they're relatively minor. DVD Talk also seems to indicate there has been some colour manipulation (more of a blue-ish tint to everything), but DVD Beaver (without solid evidence) suggests this is how it looked theatrically. I guess that it's anybody's guess, outside of those who saw it theatrically or on VHS, but I have a feeling that Friedkin messed with the pallete, given DVD Talk's mentioning of one scene that's been given a blur effect: if he did that, would it be any surprise that he'd fiddled with the colours as well? Sheer speculation on my part, however: any more authoritative voice(s) care to speak?

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

#19 Post by Luke M » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:05 pm

tavernier wrote:I love how they capitalize the title in the line "Al Pacino is Cruising for a killer," just so we know it's the title!
I noticed on my DVD I got yesterday that line was omitted.

User avatar
postmodern-chuck
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 4:28 pm
Location: Freedonia
Contact:

#20 Post by postmodern-chuck » Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:01 am

Now if only someone would release Windows. Talking about garbage with a capital "g."

Ah, to dream...

User avatar
Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

#21 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:06 pm

postmodern-chuck wrote:Now if only someone would release Windows. Talking about garbage with a capital "g."

Ah, to dream...
Oh the things that happen when great cinematographers think they can do it all...

User avatar
Michael
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm

#22 Post by Michael » Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:49 pm

Last night I walked away from my first viewing of Cruising ultimately bored. How dreadfully dull and blah. What a waste. Who the killer was, I couldn't give a fuck. There was no development of anything or anyone. The camera simply dragged through Hell's Kitchen, screaming "look at them, how gay men spent their nights, how soulless they were" - the sole purpose of the film I felt.

I was offended in a way by how they were portrayed as "butcher/monster predators". Didn't Friedkin make sure to bring out the demonic menace in every gay guy's eyes?! But if the film was supposed to be seen in a homophobic heterosexual's POV, then I'd not be offended as much but Cruising ignored that, constantly blurring its POV all the way through.

And I didn't know leather guys love to dance that much.

User avatar
Michael
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm

#23 Post by Michael » Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:11 am

A personal observation: poor Al, he seemed so awkward wearing plain old jeans. They made him look strangely pudgy - especially his legs.

About leather bars: I think the Anvil, the Ramrod and the Manhole all closed before I moved to NYC when I was 18 years old (late 1987). The leather bars I remember from that time were the Eagle and the Spike, both facing each other. The Spike was more to my liking - a stew of construction guys, t-shirt jocks, etc. Both bars long closed. The only leather bar in NYC today is Lure which I visited once.

Cruising takes us to the sex video booth of a porn store but it doesn't bother taking us to the backrooms of 70s leather bars. That should tell you how much people making the film did their homework. The scenes of guys dancing, grinding, interlocking their bodies out in the open like a giant Twister game like there's no life, like there's no tomorrow, like the backrooms never existed, provoke images of Sodom and Gomorrah - the impression I got from watching the film. But remembering the conversation I had with an older NY friend long ago, he claimed that the Anvil had men getting fisted out on display so I don't know.

User avatar
Michael
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm

#24 Post by Michael » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:44 pm

davidhare wrote:As for Pacino the funniest scene (of many) is the colored kerchief diaolgue with the shop attendant. I don't even remember what "signal" he choose - beige?
Close. He chose yellow so he must like piss. Geez, I desperately want to scrub the Cruising stank out of my system, watching the to-be-released-on-this-Tuesday-from-Criterion Mala Noche (made only 5 years later) will be a revelation for me.

User avatar
Lino
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Sitting End
Contact:

#25 Post by Lino » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:43 am

I really wanted to watch this one for a long time and during this week I did just that. Twice. I went through all the extras and watched the movie again with the audio-commentary on. What follows are some of my thoughts.

What bothered me most about the whole movie was not the way S&M gay life was portrayed or even how close it resembled reality or not. This is only a movie and movies are works of fiction, given birth by people with a very personal perspective on life and human relationships. Anyone looking for accuracy in a work of fiction is deluding his/herself. Even documentaries are partly works of fiction because they unavoidably depict whatever its subject is in a subjective way - that of the documentarist. See Al Gore. Nuff said.

Now, what really bothered me about Cruising is how uneven it felt. The whole editing felt wrong and in the end you kind of feel that you've seen just another serial-killer movie, which is kind of sad considering the possibilities on offer. Midway through it, I could see that this movie was not about the killings or the killer himself (yes, the S&M gay life thing is merely a backdrop to a murder mystery, like Friedkin says on the commentary and watching the movie in its present format, I feel forced to agree with that statement) but more importantly, about a sort of descent to Hell by the undercover cop played by Pacino. In that way, yes, the bar scenes feel like a sort of Sodom and Gomorrah because that's exactly what the character experiences them like. Heck, even I was sort of scared at what I was seeing! And let's not forget that Friedkin's movies have been mostly about fear and experiencing extreme human situations - something clearly on display in Cruising.

But the thing is, the movie would have been much more effective if it showed us just how far down a personal hell the Pacino character went. That would instantly move Cruising to a pantheon of truly great movies about a character study. That said, I really miss the 40 minutes of footage that were excised prior to its theatrical run. And no, I don't buy for a second that they could not be found. I mean, come on! Don't give us that BS! I'm sure there must be some tight-arsed republican running around at Warner Bros. telling them what should be or shouldn't be released. The Devils, anyone?

Once again, we're not getting the full picture here and it really is a shame because all the while I kept thinking, "so when does Al kisses a guy?" or "will I ever get to see him get down on someone or vice-versa?". The mere fact that Pacino wasn't interviewed in the extras, I think really goes to show that we're not getting the whole story here. Even Friedkin doesn't sound convincing enough for me when addressing the cut scenes during the commentary. Pacino having sex with one of the Leather Queens would have made all the difference and changed the mood and the tone of the movie instantly. Because here is a straight guy that little by little is losing grip of what he really is or what he thought he really was. That would indeed make for a fascinating character study.

Here's hoping that someone has the balls to add those missing 40 minutes (and we're talking about 40 fucking minutes here!, not just 2 or 3, people!, there are still a lot more going on than we'll ever know).

Post Reply