Jackie Brown [Blu-ray]

Some 4K's are worth the double dip, and some aren't, but boy is this one of the good ones. Aside from being a great movie, with a great cast, this restoration just flat out beats the blu-ray in every respect. Plus, I got a great price on a buy 3 for the price of 2 deal!

Dialogue, screen writing does not get better, just brilliant. Lots of profanity, but hey it's Tarantino so you know going in. This is so realistic, the actors armed with the best screen writing deliver in spades. Was surprised at how good Pam Grier is as an actress, and Sam Jackson right behind along with De Niro, Forrester, Fonda, Keaton. But make no mistake, Grier was born for this role and commands the screen and story. The 4k disc is superlative, big quality jump over previous blu-rays.

It arrived on time and in excellent condition. Great movie, great cast!

I'll start with the soundtrack. Some movies are very much influenced and remembered for the soundtrack. Such examples of that would certainly be `Jaws' & `Psycho'. Background music is important, or lack there of, as is the case in the 2007 hit `No Country For Old Men', and so we tend to pay attention to it. In the case of Jackie Brown, the influence of the 70's musical touch creates a setting that compels us to maintain our focus, more so than with your run-of-the-mill movie. The music hooks us from the opening credits and never stops.The acting in Jackie Brown is fantastic. There isn't a character in this movie that you don't believe or buy into. Samuel Jackson stunned me with his powerful performance and Robert De Niro has mastered the bit of a dim-witted, always high, ex-con. Together they dominate the screen with their plans to become successful gun dealers during the 80's.What Quentin Tarantino does better than any other director, is he assembles a cast of actors who are able to portray characters which force the audience to both love and hate them at the same time. It doesn't matter whether the character is supposed to be good or evil, at some point during the movie; you're going to think of that character as both or either. You'll find yourself getting disgusted with the character and then laughing at or with them, sometimes in the same scene.Perhaps the greatest aspect of Tarantino's movies is that of the dialogue. Sure his movies are graphic and filled with more twists than a gun barrel, but what makes them click, and none better than Jackie Brown, is the dialogue. The characters give it to you hard and fast and you believe them. While Pulp Fiction & the Kill Bill movies gained the most recognition, Jackie Brown is his sleeper masterpiece that puts them all to shame when it comes to the script. If there was an academy award category for dialogue - Jackie Brown would be a runaway nominee.Jackie Brown is one of those movies that you don't need to put together, or try to figure out what is going on. That is a step away from what we have come to associate Tarantino with, but it works perfectly with Jackie Brown. We're allowed to simply sit back, watch, listen and enjoy a bunch of shady characters as they try to swindle and kill each other off - all in the name of the almighty dollar.Jackie Brown is a thrilling ride and certainly one that you will enjoy watching more than once.

Quentin Tarantino had a lot to prove after "Pulp Fiction" and I bet many people were a little disappointed when "Jackie Brown" debuted in 1997. Opening Christmas Day with the tagline "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag", audiences were treated to QT's most natural film to date. A film about older folks (gasp!) struggling to stay cool in a modern world. Not much of the verve and energy from "Pulp" was carried over to this film, but what was is Tarantino's fantastic dialogue mixed with Elmore Leonard's dense plot and characters. Sometimes it is tough to follow who is betraying who and where allegiances actually lie (I admit to still being a tad confused) but I think that's kind of the point. This is a film to be watched, and enjoyed, multiple times. In short, Tarantino proved he was much more than a one trick pony by creating a film that is the opposite of what had come before (and since) yet still is undeniably a Quentin Tarantino film. If you don't warm to his extreme genre-laced work then give this one a try.As far as this Blu-ray is concerned, the film has never looked or sounded better. With some caveats. The image has been tweaked to give it a more warm palette, specifically regarding skin tones. They can look a little too sun-burned at times. This didn't bother me as much as the lack of fine detail. Oh it certainly looks a lot better than it did on DVD but I expected it to be a bit more sharp. Still a satisfying transfer (approved by Tarantino apparently). I have very little complaints about the audio, however. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is tip-top, showcasing both the fantastic dialogue and songs. Another minor complaint: they've replaced the old Miramax logo with the new CGI one at the start of the film. A minor caveat that isn't as annoying as Disney replacing their classic blue logo at the start of their animated classics. Gotta stop that, Disney.The extras are mostly repeated from the previous 2 disc DVD (which is good) with the addition of a new critics round-table discussion called "Breaking Down Jackie Brown". The critics all love the film (including one who didn't like "Pulp Fiction" that much but loves this one) and their insights are all fun to hear. Other highlights include the retrospective documentary, a long interview with Tarantino where he talks about EVERYTHING, the Siskel & Ebert review, and, best of all, a huge gallery of vintage trailers featuring the two stars, Pam Grier and Robert Forster. Very cool. Still no commentary from QT but I wasn't expecting one. All in all, a great edition of a film that needs to be seen by more people.Film: 8/10Video: 7/10Audio: 8/10Extras: 8/10

One of QT's best films! Adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, Rum Punch. Really great performances from Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker, etc! The quality of the Blu Ray is great. No need, in my opinion, to upgrade to 4k unless you watch this movie frequently.