Rating: 
Summary: To believe in Cinema
Review: Possibly Friedkin's best, a hormone pumped movie of the glossy, coke-addled eighties. This is a perfect example of how a pop movie can brilliantly reflect the zeitgeist of the times. This is indeed the mid 80s, when everything's up for sale, where the borderline between fake and real, crime and order, loyalty and betrayal has faded. A world so slick you gotta know how to skate on it.
Friedkin has somehow appropriated the MTV and Miami Vice cliches of the 80s without succumbing to their limiations. The movie's constructed of the b.s. of the mid 80s but the ensuing vision is truthful and compelling.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie Made Better
Review: I have always been a fan of this movie for its portrayal of the seedy side of LA, a place of which I am a fan. Viewed now, this is very 1980s. This DVD is probably best remembered as the starting point of the careers for William Peterson and William Defoe, two actor's actors. Both have gone on to fame but neither of who has sold out for money or fame only. And this is where the DVD is at it's best. Friedkin gives freely of his style and history of the movie for an excellent narrative that would be enjoyed by all aspiring movie making students. Of particular interest is the casting director used and how these actors were picked. I was so fascinated by Friedkin's narrative that I used the option to watch the movie in its entirety with Friedkin's tell-all voiceover. I then watched the alternate ending that I didn't like and am glad they stayed with the present version. Then I later watched the movie which I hadn't seen in years.Another advantage of watching an aged movie like this with the director narrative is the ability to research what has happened to actors you may have enjoyed but don't remember seeing anywhere else. I always use IMDB.com to do this. In this movie the two stars both have attractive girlfriends who played interesting roles. It was interesting to hear one of them on the remake and notice how she had aged (gracefully) in 16 years and then view their film history (limited). Also, I have always liked William Peterson for this role. The description of his commitment to theater and how he got this role is a tribute to William Friedkin as well as the actor. If you like studying movie history this is a must purchase. If you have an interest in street life in LA or like 80s culture and it's influences, this is a great review. I strongly recommend this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Simply a great crime movie
Review: I just want to add my support to this oft-overlooked, but truly great crime thriller. With 18 years of hindsight, it's interesting to note how prescient this movie was about the direction crime-thrillers would take us. No longer was the cop to be a "dressed-in-white, Joe Friday" good guy with a perfect moral compass. Now cops would fight for us, but on their own, less-than-perfect terms. We saw some of this in Friedkin's superior FRENCH CONNECTION, of course, but LIVE AND DIE...was even closer to the edge. And in many ways, I see this film as opening a door for films like NARC and TRAINING DAY, and shows like NYPD BLUE. It's great fun to see William Peterson, much younger than his current CSI days, playing a cop who really plays by his rules. And Willem Dafoe, in a fairly early role, really laid the groundwork for his future career as a creepy villain. But this character is more rooted in reality and really gritty, unlike his villain in SPIDERMAN, let's say. All in all, this is a most unpleasant, but totally fascinating film. There is a GREAT car chase, one that is both thrilling but again, rooted in some sense of reality. I like a good car chase, such as in BAD BOYS II, but those kinds of chases mostly make me admire the admiration of their creators. In LIVE AND DIE...we spend most the the chase kinda clutching our seats in anxiety. It hearkens to great chases like BULLITT or yes, FRENCH CONNECTION. The ending is a shocker. It's become a cliche about this movie to say it, but the big twist was more than just a gimmick when it first came out...it was making a statement about the brutality of the world these cops lived in. If you haven't seen this film and you enjoy cop movies or thrillers...do yourself a favor and watch it TODAY. It is very nearly a classic. (And yes, it is kinda fun to hear all the WANG CHUNG music. The music of this now obscure band really roots this movie in a specific time and place.)
Rating:
Summary: To Live and Die in LA is a winner
Review: To Live and Die in LA is a winner. Billy Petersen and John pankow are great as Secret Service agents on the prowl for the murderer of Petersen's former partner. Cool and cocky (and totally sexy) Richard Chance and by the book Vukovitch are perfect together. Don't expect the ending to match the book and prepare for a shock in the final scenes. There is never a dull moment in this action packed William Friedkin film.
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptional crime drama from William Friedkin
Review: To Live and Die in L.A. like Michael Mann's Manhunter had a huge impact on the look and feel of a lot of action films in the mid-80's. William Petersen stars as an FBI agent who tracking a counterfeiter (William DaFoe). Their game of cat and mouse and the relationships they destroy in their bid to achieve their goals is part of the larger tragedy of this classic action film. Petersen seemed briefly to be headed for major stardom after this and Manhunter appeared. It took a bit longer and he did eventually achieve the accolades he deserved with CSI. The strong cast also features a very young John Pankow (Mad About You)as Petersen's younger, by the book partner. There's a dark cyncism at the heart of L.A. that suggests that both Petersen and DaFoe are essentially tainted by their single minded obsession; Petersen 's obession is to catch Dafoe and Dafoe's to use his art to create riches for himself regardless of the body count. The transfer is an improvement on the crappy looking video transfers we've seen over the years. There's still some analog artifacts and some minor compression glitches but, on the whole, the picture is very good. The sound, on the other hand, isn't quite as sharp. The soundtrack seemed a bit compressed and flat to me. Yes, it was an improvement over the earlier video versions but hardly what I would consider top notch considering that this is a special edition. Still on the whole the sound is pretty good. Director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist)always makes L.A. vivid and visually interesting. The photography by Robby Muller is alive with color and interesting visual angles and choices. The soundtrack by Wang Chung is probably one of their better contributions. To be frank, I was never a huge fan of the band but the title track captures the films mood perfectly. The special edition features a number of deleted scenes and an alternate, absurd ending. It's clear that Friedkin made the right choices with his film. The studio shot alternate ending needs to be seen to be believed.
Rating:
Summary: Are you people a bunch of shills or what?
Review: Okay, it's a great movie. I agree with everything said about the quality and importance of this film. Why John Pankow didn't appear in more films is beyond me.
But I didn't expect that the DVD would SELL OUT by 1 PM on the day it was released!!! What the hell is going on here? Were people lying in wait for this thing?
The picture quality is good; in fact, the digital effect seems like an improvement in some places. However, the sound quality leaves something to be desired. And nobody seems to have admitted this. Kinda like other movies WHICH SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS that look terrible and yet everybody says "I give the picture quality a 5 out of 5."
In the fullness of time the truth will come out.
Rating:
Summary: A sometimes uneven but highly under rated thriller.
Review: To Live and Die in LA is an excellent movie, despite any minor flaws I may have noticed during my recent viewing. It stars William L. Petersen (Manhunter) as federal agent Richard Chance. He's an adrenaline junky, seemingly living for that next fix, unable or unwilling to establish any real connections with other humans other than that of his long time partner and mentor, a soon to be retiring agent. Did I say 'soon to be retiring' agent? Maybe I should have said soon to be dying, as, in Hollywood, they mean the same thing...major cliché, but I got past that, as the film is really good. Anyway, the old-timer agent gets kakked, in a particularly nasty fashion, during a solo investigation of a recent facility used by a particularly skilled counterfeiter Eric 'Rick' Masters, played by Willem Dafoe. Seems Masters has been under investigation for a while, and this agent just happened to get a little too close. (As the editorial review gives away this plot point, I didn't feel like I was spoiling anything giving it up, too...) With the death of his friend and partner, the investigation becomes personal for Agent Chance, and the boundaries of the law and proper procedures become blurred in his quest to take Masters down. This raises some serious conflicts with Chance's new partner, John Vulovich, played by John Pankow. The pace is a little uneven, but that wasn't a negative issue for me. Friedkin does a wonderful job in keeping the viewer drawn to the screen. Sometimes I wondered how the investigators got from point A to point B, as there was some minor muddling in the plot, but this did little to reduce my enjoyment of the movie as a whole. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the car chase scene where agents Chance and Vukovich procure monies needed to make a deal with Masters outside of normal practices, and are subsequently pursued by a number of mysterious individuals interested in stopping them. The scene is extremely gripping and realistically portrayed, reminiscent of the chase scene from The French Connection (1971), also directed by Friedkin. While this movie is not at the level of The French Connection, it certainly holds it's own. It was really nice to see Friedkin return close to form with this movie. Also, this movie is helped along with a strong, supporting cast including John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, and Debra Feuer. The picture and sound quality are excellent, and there are enough special features to make this 'special edition' actually fit the label, including an alternate ending and deleted scene, commentary by the director, a making of documentary, a photo gallery, and various trailers for the movie. After watching the movie, be sure to watch the alternate ending and see how the studio almost botched the movie by trying to tack on a completely goofy ending for fear that the original ending would not sit well with audiences. It's truly hilarious and serves as an excellent example of what happens when studio executives try to get involved in the creative process.
Rating:
Summary: TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA
Review: A neglected classic, a very underated masterpiece.
This is a rare example of a film from the 1980s that still has an impact. The ambigious view of the bad and good guys, represents the tone of this movie throughout. To Live And Die In La is a very violent film, that still shocks.
In merry old England it was on television a few years ago and it totally blew me away. The following day I went to my local HMV and to my horror I found it was unavaliable for years. So in dire desperation a paid a small fortune to purchase a old VHS copy, from a UK deleted Video company.
Seeing it on DVD makes me love this film even more.
Any one who is interested in becoming a film maker should have this in their collection.
Rating:
Summary: Underrated movie at all!!
Review: A lot of people bash that movie because they don't saw the half of the movie!!! This movie is intense and represent perfectly L.A. in the mid 80s. You have an ending that will stunned you for years!! I can assure you, this movie is a must-buy and the DVD is perfect!!! The bonus are very good! I'm just less happy because no video clips of Wang Chung songs in the movie or others. That band did almost all songs in the movie! You won't be dissapointed!
Rating:
Summary: The mean streets of L.A. is where the action is
Review: To Live and Die in LA is as good an example of crime drama as any you're likely to see. Using a straightforward, high tempo approach in the plot, director William Friedkin delivers a realistic look at intense, down and dirty police work. In making a comparison, this movie was in 1985 to what Training Day was in 2001. Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William M. Perterson) and his partner John Vukovich (John Pankow) are on the trail of a ruthless counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe) who operates without a conscience and evolves into a stone cold killer when the wrong people cross his path. To be able to make an arrest, the agents need front money to buy counterfeit money from Masters that the Treasury Department won't allocate. Using an ill-advised tip from Chance's informant, the agents plan to steal their needed money from an unknown person completely unrelated to their case which completely unhinges their own operation. The designated victim ends up being killed, the agents grab the money, and soon after they learn that they took down and undercover cop working for another agency. As the movie progresses, Agent Chance is willing to do whatever it takes to destroy Masters while his partner struggles with inner demons and his conscience on how to proceed. Living on the edge and taking risks around each and every corner, the agents methodically and ruthlessly pursure Rick Masters to the end building up to an excellent climax in the movie. It was a long wait to get this beauty out on DVD but it was well worth it. The acting is top notch, the plot is fast and exciting, and there are a few good extra features thrown in. The most noteworthy of these is the featurette on the making of To Live and Die in LA that is very revealing and shows the surprising lengths that director William Friedkin went to while making this film.
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