To Live and Die in L.A.

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.

To Live and Die in LA is one of the finest crime dramas of all time, right up there with Michael Mann's Heat or Carl Franklin's One False Move.It was also brutal in its depiction of graphic violence, which made it ahead of its time (as work coming from a major director). Thus, the critics perceived it as a slumming effort from Friedkin, barely above a drive-in splatter film. It was dismissed with a superior sniff. All the critics seemed able to comment on was the brutal, bleak nature of the film. Now, years later, the great film making that was present all along has gotten the chance to rise up through the blood.In a nutshell, this is a revenge film. A secret agent is after the counterfeiter that killed is partner, and he'll do anything to get the guy. All the Friedkin hallmarks are here. The very leanness of the film is classic Friedkin, the way he closely follows the main thread of the story without ever veering off course. Nothing is wasted. Not a shot - not a line. Also (much like Michael Mann) the viewer is immersed in a criminal world with great authority. Friedkin obviously did a great deal of research into the world of counterfeiting, and it shows in the dialogue and the cinematography.The film is expertly written (and the hardness of the dialogue was also ahead of its time) with ex secret service agent, Gerald Petievich, adding much blunt realism to the script. The acting is great, and it is a treat to watch William L. Peterson as the agent out for blood. Peterson, with his stint on TV's CSI, is now seen as professorial. But this is 1985, and back then he was much leaner and meaner - the cock of the walk, in fact, all strut and attitude. His nemesis is Willem Dafoe who is also tremendous as the genius/savant counterfeiter. His evil is so complete, he is nearly spiritual in his purity. Dafoe has never been such an effective and threatening bad guy. There are great character parts in this film as well, with the ever-psychotic John Turturro turning in a prototype eyes-like-coal-pits performance. I think my favorite bit part in the film comes from Dean Stockwell as Willem Dafoe's lawyer. Stockwell is the very essence of cool control in this role.The cinematography is by Robby Muller, and it is beautiful - extremely rich in texture and all vibrant color. The long, wordless scene where the camera watches the process of Willem Dafoe actually counterfeiting money is simply gorgeous and mesmerizing - one of my favorite sequences of any film.Finally, this film boast one of the most thrilling car chase scenes ever. I am a bit of a car-chase-scene buff, and this is one of my favorites. Suffice to say, this is one of the few car chase scenes that I actually felt myself flinching in reaction to the brilliantly filmed action onscreen.This film is a winner and built to last. I highly recommend it. -Mykal Banta

This is a superlative crime drama by great director William Friedkin - made over thirty years ago - yet has not dated - and is as fresh and exciting as if it were made yesterday - particularly the almost unbelievable car chase scenes - and in every wonderfully constructed episode - shot throughout in Los Angeles.

BLUE RAY TRANSFER, SO BAD YOU COULD NOT WATCH IT, TRIED DVD THAT WAS OKAY, GREAT MOVIE, WOULD PREFER REPLACEMENT COPY IF THEY ARE NOT ALL THE SAME. SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RELEASED IF THEY ARE ALL LIKE THIS. I REALLY WANTED B/RAY COPY...

Bought on a whim...and what great decision! The BluRay is excellent, colour,picture, sound and good subtitles. The film? It just never loosens it's grip on the viewer. Full on action from the outset. Vey realistic ie short) violent fights,a mind boggling car chase - how did Buddy Van Horn organise that little caper??? Plot twists galoreand fine performences from Petersen and Dafoe - well everyone really. I didn't have Petersen down as an action hero but here it is obvious he does 90% if not all his action scenes. Violent, brutal and action packed - surely one of, if not the, best of Friedkin's films. Not for the faint hearted, otherwise a gem!

A William Friedkin film always delivers. Surely he must rank in the top handful of directors of all time.This time however there is a slight sour note in the choice of the absolutely appalling soundtrack from Wang Chung (who?). They are the true criminals in this filmIf you can get past the execrable typically 80s din that these tin eared specimens dish up, then you should love this.The cinematography is out of this world, the locations beautifully seedy, the acting great.Special mention goes to Dafoe for a scintillatingly evil performance.Plus there is a magnificent car chase, a surprise ending and the beautiful Darlanne Fluegel (RIP)writhing around in fishnets.And Jane Leeves obviously moonlighting from looking after Frasiers dad.Brilliant apart from W.C.

I was really expecting to like this, but sadly it didn't impress me that much.The awful pop music intro was a turn off right from the start. Many a decent film of the eighties has been spoiled by synthesizers, drum machines and awful pop songs and this was no different. For example Manhunter made the following year (86) was a great film, but the music is so bad it almost ruins the film.......just terrible.As to the story in this case.....Spoiler Alert.....it's beyond stupid. We have an 'experienced' Agent going off investigating on his own without his partner THREE days before he retires, it makes no sense at all other than to make an really lame excuse for all the subsequent chasing around. Later on the bad guy is over the top upset about a bit of money owed him when he has the capability to print as much 'bad paper' as he likes. All poor reasons to set up some more violence. He then confronts three nasty big guys with no prepared weapon and no plan of action and is only saved by luck and his partner in crime. Is this the supposed master criminal ? How did he get to live so long ? It also stars unknown nameless women who seem to have no other purpose in the film other than to get their clothes off and immediately hop into bed with the various men in the film. A film needs a bit more than boobs and gory violence to make it a classic, especially with a poor story. To continue, needing some cash for a sting operation the cops resort to an inept 'illegal' robbery all witnessed by the FBI who instead of trying to arrest them end up pathetically killing their own agent. They are then chased by said FBI in cars through the streets and up the motorway the wrong way with everyone firing indiscrimanantly and no attempt at all by any of them to follow safe procedures for the innocent civilians involved. Nobody wears seat belts even whilst in exceptionally dangerous driving situations, not very realistic. Near the end the bad guy hits one of the cops several times in the head with a chunk of wood, but still gets shot by the wimpy cop he's supposedly just brained ! Wimpy cop then suddenly becomes macho cop (with sunglasses now) and hops into bed with his dead partners snitch......THE END.This film was so bad in so many ways. In fact I've wasted enough time on it already.