Dennis Hopper's "The Hot Spot" Blu-ray - Don Johnson @FilmsRadiance
Added 2023-07-10 20:30:49 +0000 UTCDennis Hopper's "The Hot Spot" Blu-ray - Don Johnson @FilmsRadiance
BONUS CAPTURES:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/dennis-hoppers-50626746
OUR COMPARISON:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film9/blu-ray_review_137/the_hot_spot_blu-ray.htm
Harry, a drifter (Don Johnson, Miami Vice) rolls into town and talks his way into a job at a car dealership where he becomes caught between two beautiful women, the boss’s conniving wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen, Candyman) and Gloria (Jennifer Connelly, Requiem for a Dream) a naïve young accountant whose life is complicated by blackmail. When Harry plans to rob the local bank, he becomes enmeshed in a lethal web of lust, greed and extortion, whose only escape is murder. Adapted from Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams, The Hot Spot is a dusty, sweaty modern noir that updates the pulp formula of twists and turns with an intensity to match director Dennis Hopper’s earlier film roles. Directed by Hopper (Easy Rider, Out of the Blue) with verve, the stellar cast are supported by William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption), Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables) and Jack Nance (Eraserhead) accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack featuring Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal and original music by Jack Nitzsche.
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Radiance Films, in the UK, have transferred Dennis Hopper's Neo-Noir The Hot Spot to Blu-ray. Kino released the film on Blu-ray in 2021. This Radiance Films transfer is said to be a "2K restoration by Kino Lorber, overseen and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger". The HD presentations are very similar - the UK edition may be slightly brighter but many would be hard-pressed to identify the negligible disparity in-motion. It is, likewise, on a dual-layered disc with a very high bitrate. Radiance utilize a linear PCM 2.0 channel track - no surround bump option. My ears couldn't distinguish much difference. It, also, offers optional English (SDH) subtitles but the Radiance Blu-ray is Region 'B'-locked.
So, the differences are largely in the supplements. The UK version does not have the Reesman commentary but does repeat the interviews with Virginia Madsen (Fire With Fire) and highly recognizable actor William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) recollecting the production. Radiance augment their extras with a brief archival interview with Dennis Hopper who discusses The Hot Spot, Nick Dawson on Dennis Hopper and The Hot Spot, a new (2023) interview with the editor of Dennis Hopper: Interviews, plus 20-minutes with Duane Swierczynski on Charles Williams’ source novel, the crime writer and expert looks at the adaptation and provides a background of the author. There are a number of trailers strung together. The Radiance Blu-ray package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and new artwork by Time Tomorrow and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critics Elena Lazic on the film; Leslie Byron Pitt on the erotic thriller genre and the film’s place within it; and an archival piece on the film featuring an interview with Hopper by RJ Smith.
Dennis Hopper's The Hot Spot is fabulous and sexy Neo-Noir. I loved every minute of it. There is a definite Noir homage vibe supported by Hopper and the excellent Radiance Blu-ray a/v that is also stacked with the new interviews and booklet. Wonderful stuff. Absolutely recommended!
