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To Live and Die in L.A. (Special Edition)

To Live and Die in L.A. (Special Edition)

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $11.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Classic
Review: Just ordered my DVD. Can't wait. I've burned up my VHS over the years and this upgrade has been a long time coming. Those who "get" this movie just get it. Yes, parts come off as cheesy these days. But there is some stuff in this film that is as good as it gets. Dark dark dark. Bold enough to end the way no film dares end these days. Every performance is great. Probably the best car chase of all time. On my all time top ten films list (I ain't playin').

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Keystone Cops in LA
Review: The car chase and the cops are about as good as a good ole Keystone Cops comedy.This sure as hell isn't no LA Confidential.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cops R Cops
Review: This is the premiere example of how police officers, regardless of what level, be it municipal, state or federal, bond and build relationships that may be all that they have to rely on between live and death. That the movie is set is LA is perfect. Total and modern decadence and being teasury agents that chase "funny" money fuels the fire. And fire is a major theme as well. The bonus of seeing three excellent character actors hone their craft, unrescrictedly, is a tribute to Friedkin as a director. Pacing is well done, and the action only breaks long enough to catch one's breath before the next jolt of excitement. The secondary characters are well acted as well. None of the actors overshadow the characters that weave the story to a splendidly, twisted ending, especially for a hollywood movie. Good enough to watch several times.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: About time!!!
Review: A movie that was well overdue for remastering and re-release, TLADIL was one of the best movies of it's day. Performces by Willem Dafoe and Bill Petersen are some of the finest in both of their respected careers. Why this movie didn't garner more attention at the time is beyond me.

The "Special Edition" is well worth the price for the deleted scene and alternate ending. Plus it's one of the only commentaries I can stand to sit through.

Next to French Connection (Friedkin), probably the best car chase scene ever filmed.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: stereotyping muslims in the opening scene
Review: its typical of American Media to typecast muslims as they do in the opening scene as terrorists.

history of American Terrorism:
1. Native Indians
2. Black Slaves
3. Creation of Banana Republics in Latin America
4. American Mining interests in Africa, East Timor
5. Double Standardism (a term i call Americanism) when dealing with countries like Saudi Arabia etc...
the list goes on...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best car chase, EVER
Review: I know, the classic is the Mustang vs Charger in Bullitt, but this one is very good. Awesome driving and music when the deal goes bad under the bridge. That Impala sounds good!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another great 80's classic
Review: back in the day (1980's)thewre was a swamp of teeny bopper flicks like ferris bueler,breakfast club and the rest of the brat packs bs. thus it was refreshing to have seen a cop thriller sleeper like LA. although this movie has beeen compared to the miami vice series, it surpasses vice on the fact that it had a different plotline (no high fashioned cops chasing after your stereotypical hispanic drug dealer)regarding a counterfiet artist along with a few twists and turns and not to mention the near ending. you get to see everything that miami vice can NEVER show due to fcc's rules and regulations. the soundtrack from wang chung easily rivaled jan hammer's stuff on VICE. as for the bonusus, you get to see the alternate ending which made sense why freidkin left it on the cutting room floor. (it was a bit too comtemporaly, although a more "happier ending") and one deleted scene which i did not care for. but the retrospective MAKING OF feature was cool to watch. thanks to MGM's special edition line. (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK,HOWLING,FOG,TERMINATOR and hopefully soon ROBOCOP)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gritty and gut wrenching cop thriller
Review: William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Hunted) directed this gritty, gut churner that fully displays that there is a very thin line between enforcing the law and breaking it. William Petersen (Manhunter, TV's CSI) stars as a hot shot special agent who, after his partner is killed, will go to any length and any means necessary to catch the killer who is a career counterfeiter played by Willem Dafoe in psycho mode. Soon, Petersen is teamed with an idealistic and green behind the ears agent (John Pankow) who reluctantly helps his new partner bend the law farther and farther in his quest for revenge. The acting is superb. Petersen, Dafoe, and Pankow are sights to behold, with Petersen and Dafoe coming close to brilliant. Friedkin's direction is also the best of his career since the classic French Connection, showcasing one of the most memorable and exciting car chases to ever be caught on film; a car chase that film makers would mimic for years to come in films such as Ronin and recently in The Matrix Reloaded. MGM finally had the good sense to release To Live and Die in L.A. on a generous Special Edition DVD which includes a commentary by Friedkin and an alternate ending which Friedkin wisely chose not to go with.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Overrated
Review: The story fizzles out. The best things in it are Dafoe and Turturro, who could have kept it charged as interesting villains, but their screen time is given to William Peterson and John Pankow, as the "almost" good guys, who have zero charisma. They are woefully miscast (Where is Al Pacino when you need him?). The "wrong-way" chase scene is good, but it's ten minutes out of two hours.

Don't get your expectations too high and you'll be reasonably entertained. If you're looking for a classic of the genre, this ain't it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A real waste of talent and time.
Review: This is a chronically bad movie. The worst part is the soundtrack. Don't waste your money or time.


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