Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!

Title: To Live And Die In LA: Special Edition

Region: One

Genre: Crime Drama

Stars: William L. Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro, Darlanne Fluegel, Dean Stockwell, Steve James, Robert Downey, and Michael Greene

Writers: William Friedkin and Gerald Petievich

Based On The Novel By: Gerald Petievich

Director: William Friedkin

Feature length: 1 hour and 56 minutes

Extras: Director’s Commentary, Deleted Scene and Alternate Ending Featurettes, “Counterfeit World: The Making Of “To Live And Die In LA” Documentary, Photo Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailers, and Bonus Trailers

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French Language Dolby Surround Sound, and Spanish Language Monaural Sound

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 32

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Surround Sound, and Monaural Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1985/DVD Release: 2003

Theatrical Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Home Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

“To Live And Die In LA” was one of the most requested catalogue titles Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment has gotten for a DVD release. I vaguely remember the film being released theatrically and I think if I remember correctly the critics were quite hard by the film’s dark tone and violence. However nearly twenty years later I think the film has long since found its audience and while dated as being an 80s picture, the film has elements that still hold up well today. Particularly the opening scene with the terrorist on the roof top seems much more frightening now then it did then if only for the fact no one could have possibly predicted the events of the tragedy on September 11, 2001 in 1985. However “To Live And Die In LA” is not about cops tracking terrorists and while the film does focus on one Secret Service Agent’s relentless quest for revenge against the counterfeiter who killed his partner, it is more about people playing roles and wearing poker faces in general. I wish I could write that I figured this out all by myself, but since I have not seen this film in more than a decade, watching the DVD was almost like watching the film again for the first time.

Credit goes to Writer and Director William Friedkin who layers in the subtext of people counterfeiting each other through facades to a point where you never really know one hundred percent who is on the level and who isn’t at times. Adapted from the novel by Gerald Petievich, who also co-wrote the screenplay, the film follows characters that are so driven that as Friedkin notes in his feature length audio commentary, they are suicidal. So here if you live by the gun or play with fire, you die by the gun or fire respectively and this gives the screenplay a nice symmetry. There are some memorable lines layered liberally with four letter words that seem to echo the attitudes of the characters, who increasingly blur into a gray zone where the doppelgangers have more in common than either would probably ever admit. The two standouts in this film are William Peterson in his feature film debut and an early villainous role for Willem Dafoe, who gives his character great depth often by mere body gestures and facial expressions.

In the feature length audio commentary, Director William Friedkin states that this particular DVD release of “To Live And Die In LA” was specifically timed and restored for this home video release and even goes so far as to state it looks better than the original theatrical release prints so who am I to argue? The film is presented in an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio that preserves the manner in which the film was exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video users. There is a bit of grain visible in the film, but none of it is obtrusive and considering the movie is nearly twenty years old, I think it looks pretty good. Much of the locations where the film was shot were places that were not often used in films that depicted contemporary Los Angeles of that time. So for a New Yorker like me, some scenes look as though they could have been shot in one of the outer boroughs of New York City because they have a certain urban grittiness to them that adds a lot of nice texture to the film and is captured well on this DVD.

The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is better than expected though not as discrete as more recent films released on DVD. Though I am not a Wang Chung fan, the music in particular that the band composed for the film probably benefits the most from the 5.1 Surround mix. In general the English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is pretty loud. I am not sure whether that is a good or bad thing here. I like an aggressive soundtrack, but this mix just seemed to have a higher fidelity than what I expected, but not necessarily a better mix. A French Language Dolby Surround Soundtrack and a Spanish Language Monaural Soundtrack as well as English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles are also encoded on to the dual layered DVD as options.

Director William Friedkin delivers an excellent feature length audio commentary track that is not screen specific, but it is never the less very interesting. It is almost as if the user who listens to this commentary is attending their very own one on one seminar with Friedkin discussing the film and sharing anecdotes such as the reaction the Secret Service had to the all too real looking counterfeit money used in the film that got “accidentally” taken home as a souvenir and used by one of the crewmember’s kids to pay for some candy at a convenient store or something. He discusses the story in a very literate manner as well as philosophy by which he likes to shoot a film. “To Live And Die In LA” was produced independently with non-union crewmembers and much of the cast was largely unknown at the time. There is so much I can note about this commentary that I could probably write an essay about it alone, but since this is a DVD review let me sum it up by stating that of all the extra value features found on this DVD, Friedkin’s audio commentary in my opinion is the best.

The other extra value material on this DVD includes the thirty minute documentary “Counterfeit World: The Making Of To Live And Die In LA,” which features new videotaped interviews with William Friedkin, William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, and other cast and crew members. There is also a deleted scene featurette and an alternate ending featurette that thankfully was never used. One can also view the deleted scene and alternate ending individually without the featurette discussion in the beginning. A gallery of black and white production and behind-the-scenes photos as well as the original theatrical teaser and trailer for “To Live And Die In LA” are also included. Bonus DVD trailers for “Le Femme Nikita: Special Edition,” “Fargo: Special Edition,” and “Dark Blue: Special Edition” wrap up the bonus features included on this DVD.

The menus feature full 5.1 Surround Sound and animated transitions to standard interactive still frame menus and all are easy to navigate. Overall this is a solid DVD release that fans of the film should check out. “To Live And Die In LA: Special Edition” is available at retailers on and offline now from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.

Return To The Previous Page

Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!