Overview: Academy Award winner Al Pacino reunites with his Scarface director Brian De Palma for this tough-minded thriller about a gangster looking for salvation down the mean streets of 1970s New York City.

Gangster Carlito Brigante (Pacino) gets released early from prison thanks to the work of his lawyer, Kleinfeld (Sean Penn, Milk). Vowing to go straight, Carlito nonetheless finds dangers waiting for him in the outside world. As Carlito works toward redemption, Kleinfeld sinks into cocaine-fueled corruption.

When Kleinfeld crosses the mob, Carlito gets caught in the crossfire and has to face a hard choice: remain loyal to the friend who freed him or protect a new life with the woman he loves (Penelope Ann Miller, The Relic). With enemies closing in from all sides, Carlito must find his way before it’s too late.

4K Blu-ray Verdict: As a cinematic walk on the wild side of crime and drugs, Carlito’s Way is both entertaining and challenging. The presence of Pacino make comparisons to Scarface inevitable, and Carlito’s Way could actually be a kind of sequel, assuming Pacino got nabbed at the end of Scarface, got out after five years thanks to a technicality and decided to go straight!

His hood friends and sleaze bag lawyer, however, make sure he gets sucked back into a life of not just crime but criminal intrigue, complete with double-crossing and murder. Scarface had a certain macho appeal to everything, but I always liked this one better. It’s a more hard-boiled crime thriller, and less superficially pretty in its production design and cinematography.

Also, for my money, the criminal scheming has a greater complexity to it, and the mobster characters seem more desperate and closer to the edge. Scarface was played out in the big money high stakes world of the cocaine trade, but here the possibility of death by double cross seems to hang on the heels of everybody much more.

Sean Penn’s lawyer character, like any good movie villain, seems capable of anything, and drives the action by weaving schemes around one character and then another and having them double cross each other. This makes for an interestingly plotted movie as we follow one scheme after another, each trickier and more desperate than the last, some succeeding, others falling apart.

The question is not whether it will all come down at the end, but rather who will manage to dodge the fallout. The 145 minute running time passes in a breeze and there are lots of interesting story developments to keep you hooked throughout. Much like several other classic Pacino performances, Carlito’s Way is an excellent showcase of his talent, and a time when crime films were a whole lot better than they are now (for the most part, in my humble opinion).

4K DUAL FORMAT LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly-commissioned artwork by Tom Ralston and Obviously Creative
Seven double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw and original production notes

DISC ONE: FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY):
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) presentation in High Dynamic Range
Original stereo, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-X audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by Matt Zoller Seitz, author of The Wes Anderson Collection and The Soprano Sessions
Brand new audio commentary by Dr. Douglas Keesey, author of Brian De Palma’s Split-Screen: A Life in Film

DISC TWO: FEATURE AND EXTRAS (BLU-RAY):
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by Matt Zoller Seitz
Brand new audio commentary by Dr Douglas Keesey
Carlito and the Judge, a brand new interview with Judge Edwin Torres, author of the novels Carlito’s Way and After Hours on which the screenplay for Carlito’s Way is based
Cutting Carlito’s Way, a brand new interview with editors Bill Pankow and Kristina Boden
De Palma’s Way, a brand new appreciation by film critic David Edelstein
All the Stitches in the World: The Locations of Carlito’s Way, a brand new look at the New York locations of Carlito’s Way and how they look today
De Palma on Carlito’s Way, an archival interview with director Brian De Palma
The Making of Carlito’s Way, an archival documentary on the making of the film, produced for the original DVD release
Deleted scenes
Original promotional featurette
Theatrical teaser and trailer
Image gallery

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