I’ve been taking a look at all of the Nicolas Cage films that are currently available on Blu-ray in the UK. The movie that I am reviewing here sees him take on the role of a New Orleans police Lieutenant that has a few personal issues to contend with along with his job solving crimes. So without further ado here’s my Bad Lieutenant blu-ray review.
- Bad Lieutenant (2009) aka Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
- Genre: Crime Drama
- UK Rating 18
- Discs: 1
- Released By Lionsgate
- Blu-ray Released: 27 September 2010
Plot
New Orleans police Lieutenant Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) is having a bit of a hard time following an injury whilst on the job. Left with chronic back pain his life begins to spiral out of control and sees him struggle with a drug and gambling problem whilst he struggles to hold down his day job. In fact you could say his police work may actually benefit in a strange sort of way from his wild and unpredictable behaviour, but how long can it last?
Style / Direction
The film is directed by Werner Herzog with the cinematography side of things taken care of by Peter Zeitlinger.
Music / Audio Effects
The music is composed by Mark Isham but its maybe the songs used that really gives the film its wild New Orleans vibe.
Acting / Characters
Nicolas Cage is simply excellent as Terence McDonagh the cop suffering from chronic pain, a drug habit and gambling debts. This is one of those performances that you simply won’t forget. It’s a bizarre film and one with plenty of funny moments.
Backing up Cage is Eva Mendes as Frankie Donnenfeld his girlfriend, she also just happens to be a prostitute and also has drug problem. The two characters are strangely well suited and really work well together showing that the Bad Lieutenant does have some room for affection within his heart.
You will also see Val Kilmer play Terence’s cop partner, in fact I have to say all of the main characters are played very well.
Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Lieutenant Terence McDonagh
- Eva Mendes as Frankie Donnenfeld
- Val Kilmer as Stevie Pruit
- Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner as Donald “Big Fate” Godshaw
- Michael Shannon as Mundt
- Tom Bower as Pat McDonagh
- Jennifer Coolidge as Genevieve McDonagh
- Brad Dourif as Ned Schoenholtz
- Fairuza Balk as Heidi
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as James Brasser
- Shawn Hatosy as Armand Benoit
- Denzel Whitaker as Daryl
- Shea Whigham as Justin
Conclusion: Bad Lieutenant (2009) Film Review
Nicolas Cage is exceptional I highly recommend you take a look at this one, it’s a film in which the main character a cop, played by Cage spirals out of control due to his chronic pain, drug habit and gambling problems. The ending is maybe not the one you foresee but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in fact it’s nice when a film takes you slightly by surprise.
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Conclusion: Bad Lieutenant Blu-ray Review
It’s time to talk about picture quality, but then the film is only from 2009 and therefore has no issues to report. The image is sharp and clean free from any annoying flicker or speckles, in short there’s no reason not to buy this Blu-ray version.
Extras
On the extras front there’s a series of interviews with cast and crew along with a making of documentary which is really more of a video diary on location.
I must admit I found the latter pretty hard going and I think it should have edited into a proper narrated feature. That said it does give you a decent insight into the behind the scenes workings of filmmaking.
Popcorn Cinema Rating: Bad Lieutenant (2009)
MOVIE RATING: WELL WORTH WATCHING
BLU-RAY RATING: EXCELLENT
EXTRAS: GOOD
POPCORN CINEMA: RECOMMENDED
Purchase Bad Lieutenant (2009) On Blu-ray
Bad Lieutenant (2009) blu-ray is available now from Amazon.
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Bad Lieutenant (2009) Trailer
For those of you yet to see the film I’ll leave you with a little taster…
Clip may not be representative of the blu-ray version
That concludes Bad Lieutenant blu-ray review, if you have any thoughts on this film you can leave them in the comment section below:
Summary: Bad Lieutenant (2009) Blu-ray Review
Movie title: Bad Lieutenant (2009)
Duration: 122 mins
Director(s): Werner Herzog
Actor(s): Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, Michael Shannon
Genre: Crime,, Drama
- Movie Rating
- Blu-ray Picture Rating
- Extras
Summary
Nicolas Cage is exceptional as cop that spirals out of control.
