Carlito's Way - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Out of the so-called film brats of the 1970s, the filmmakers who redefined movie-making by being the first generation of directors to create film after being raised on movies, I have the softest spot in my heart for Brian De Palma. His visual sensibilities are closest to my own personal instincts as a visual storyteller. And like so many other directors, if he doesn’t have the right script, his efforts can feel all for naught. It doesn’t matter how incredible his production values are, if he doesn’t have the right story, it just doesn’t come together. He doesn’t seem to be able to elevate material—but if he’s given the right material, he can make it come alive.

Carlito’s Way, which was written by David Koepp, based on the novels by Edwin Torres, gives De Palma the perfect script to work with. It allows him to indulge in his excesses in a way that don’t feel like excesses. They feel like the best possible way to convey information to the audience: His frequent use of steadicam, slow-motion, stage-setting soundtrack selection, they all feel so appropriate and at home in Carlito’s Way.

Carlito Brigante, played by Al Pacino in one of his best performances, finds himself released from prison on a technicality after only serving five years of a thirty-plus-year conviction. Instead of going straight back into his life of crime, he decides to go legit. The thing is, he actually means it. There’s a sweet sincerity to his commitment to going straight, that he doesn’t consider the external forces that want to prevent that from happening. For someone so street savvy, there’s a naivete to him. Carlito isn’t just some violent thug. He may have been a criminal in a past life, and he was damn good at it, but it was all in the name of survival. From now on, he intends to survive by the book, even if he makes enemies along the way.

Carlito’s Lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld, played by a nervous, twitchy Sean Penn, is one of those external forces of nature that seems hellbent on pulling Carlito back into the world of organized crime. Kleinfeld has made a name for himself during Carlito’s stint in prison. He’s no longer a crooked lawyer who helps criminals. He’s gone full gangster, pocketing drug lords’ money without delivering on services and putting a target on his back.

Penelope Ann Miller is Gail, Carlito’s former girlfriend, from before his conviction. They reconcile not long after he’s released, and she serves as his voice of reason. When Carlito says he’s got to do one last thing, one last stupid thing before giving up and going legit entirely, she tells him, without mincing words, that his macho crap is going to get him sent right back to prison. Or worse, killed.

The entire cast is populated with young up-and-comers who weren’t quite household names yet, like John Leguizamo as Benny Blanco from the Bronx; Luis Guzman as Carlito’s trusted friend and advisor, Pachanga; and Viggo Mortensen as Lalin, a smalltime hood who tries, and fails, to turn rat.

Like so many of De Palma’s previous films, Carlito’s Way builds into an explosive finale. Here, though, the way it builds is a showcase for the exceptional work from the director, the screenplay, and all of the work the talented cast and crew put in. The film pulls out all the stops so that when the bullets start flying, it feels real in its moment, and that the tension feels earned. Every decision a character made to get to this point felt like an organic one. Every mistake someone made felt real and true to their character. It doesn’t feel like a manipulation to fit all the chess pieces together for this climax, which occupies almost the entirety of the final third of the film, it feels like a real moment and it’s a white knuckler.

Like the famous shootout at the train station in The Untouchables, it takes its time allowing everything to come together before the carnage begins, but where The Untouchables felt like an exercise in pure style from a confident filmmaker, Carlito’s Way feels like a gut-wrenching exercise in tension from a brilliant storyteller.

Carlito’s Way feels like a logical evolution for De Palma, combining elements from many of his past films like Scarface but twisting the perspective to a more mature reminiscence on a previous life. There’s a nostalgia to it, but also a sadness to it, in knowing that sometimes it doesn’t matter how much we want to change, there’s always a price to pay for a life built on crime.

Vital Disc Stats - The 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray
Carlito’s Way is housed in a standard case with the same artwork that has adorned previous releases of the film since its days on VHS—which is not a slam, it’s a great poster, and an ageless one. The case contains the film on both 4K Blu-ray and a 1080p Blu-ray, along with a digital redemption code for Movies and Fandango at home. All special features can be found on both discs.

Like many of Brian De Palma’s films, particularly his films shot by frequent collaborator and cinematographer Stephen H. Burum, Carlito’s Way has always looked terrific. I first came across Carlito’s Way in junior high when it was on VHS, and it looks great even way back then, on that archaic piece of tech. The DVD looked great. The Blu-ray looked great. And, so, the 4K UHD Blu-ray, presented in HDR10+ (with HDR10 of course) looks the best it’s ever looked on home video.

Carlito’s Way isn’t show-offy in the application of its HRD10+ grading—colors don’t obnoxiously pop and shadows aren’t crushed into oblivion just to demonstrate the capabilities of HDR in its contrast ratio. It simply allows these elements to look their best. Whether the scene is at a club and our characters are silhouetted in various shades of primary colors like a bright, neon red, or our characters are enjoying a quiet conversation in an apartment, everything looks sharp and clear. To its benefit, Carlito’s Way shows a healthy amount of film grain throughout. This being a 1970s period piece, colors are appropriately vibrant, without looking oversaturated.

I did a double-take when I saw that the default audio mix on the 4K disc was DTS: X, with no alternate tracks other than a 2.0 Dolby Audio mono track in Spanish, and a DTS 5.1 surround soundtrack in French. DTS: X? For Carlito’s Way? I mean, sure, there are some shootouts, some action sequences, but mostly… it’s people talking. Talking about their past. Talking about their future. Whatever. But this movie is like 75% dialogue.

You know what? The DTS: X mix is masterful stuff. Dialogue levels vary wildly throughout this film, from Al Pacino doing some of his post-Oscar overacting and screaming (it is, happily, much more restrained here than in, say, Heat), to characters speaking barely above a whisper as they bare their souls to each other. Regardless of the scene, or the context, dialogue is always given priority, so you won’t be reaching for your remote out of fear that the next moment is going to be punctuated with a way-too-loud car horn honking.

The final shootout is a masterpiece in sound design and the track delivers on it. Gunshots crack from the front speakers, echoes and bullets whizzing are clearly defined in the rear speakers, and the 3D object-based sound effects give the chaos a real sense of place in your home theater setup. And while the exciting climax is the real star of the show, club scenes with thumping disco needle drops really soar. The subwoofer comes alive with the LFEs and even the overhead speakers get in on the action, broadcasting the entire mix into a 360 degree bubble of room-filling sound. We hear the music, the dialogue and even ambient effects like background chatter and clinking glasses, all with total crystal clarity.

There are no new special features here and are all from the original DVD release in 2004, but the features that are here to give the viewer a decent understanding of production history.

• Deleted Scenes
• The Making of Carlito’s Way (SD, 34:36)
• Brian De Palma on Carlito’s Way (SD, 5:26)
• Original Promotional Featurette (SD, 5:13)
• Theatrical Trailer

Carlito’s Way is one of the best films of Brian De Palma’s career and what sets it apart from so many others in his filmography is the humanity at its core. It’s an enduring film that has attracted more and more fans throughout the years. It’s also one of Al Pacino’s best films, too. For fans of Carlito’s Way, if upgrading your existing disc is your primary concern, to have the best A/V experience possible, Universal’s release of the film is stellar. The HDR10+ application looks amazing and the DTS: X sound mix is fantastically realized.

If you’re looking for newly minted features like audio commentary or retrospective essays on the film’s legacy, you may want to shell out the additional cash for Arrow Video’s deluxe treatment. Judging the film in a vacuum, based solely on this release, despite featuring no new supplements, it still comes Highly Recommended for the sheer excellence of its technical specs.