2024 the best historical movies review

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Serpico is based on the true story of a New York policeman who discovers that honesty is not expected to be part of his job. He endures scorn and mistreatment from his fellow cops while attempting to perform his duties with integrity. The character of Frank Serpico, combining the best elements of the Establishment and counterculture, is a tour-de-force role for Al Pacino (The Godfather, Scarface). The film is a breathtaking suspense story and a fascinating character study as well as a memorable statement about government’s inherent flaws. Rendered with unflinching realism by director Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon), Serpico earned 1973 Oscar nominations for its screenplay by Waldo Salt (Midnight Cowboy) and Norman Wexler (Saturday Night Fever) from the acclaimed biography by Peter Maas (The Valachi Papers), and for Best Actor, cementing Pacino as one of the cinema’s most versatile and iconic talents. Featuring Cornelia Sharpe (Busting, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud) as Leslie, Serpico’s girlfriend.Special Features:
DISC 1 (4K UHD):
• Brand New HDR Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
• Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
• 5.1 Surround & Lossless 2.0 Audio
• Optional English Subtitles
DISC 2 (Blu-ray):
• Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
• SIDNEY LUMET: CINEASTE NEW YORK – Featurette (28:47)
• LOOKING FOR AL PACINO – Featurette (29:22)
• SERPICO: REAL TO REEL – Featurette (9:58)
• INSIDE SERPICO – Featurette (12:55)
• SERPICO: FAVORITE MOMENTS – Featurette (2:39)
• PHOTO GALLERY with Commentary by Director Sidney Lumet (4:24)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• 5.1 Surround & Lossless 2.0 Audio
• Optional English Subtitles
Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.69 x 5.43 x 0.55 inches; 8.32 ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Sidney Lumet
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray
Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 10 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ April 18, 2023
Actors ‏ : ‎ Al Pacino, John Randolph, Cornelia Sharpe, Tony Roberts
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
Studio ‏ : ‎ KL Studio Classics
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BVSLRH56
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
Reviewer: sandra Lynward
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good scenes of NYC. Cop movie. Good cop, bad cop.
Review: From NY originally. Loved to visit NYC. This gave me the sense of re-connecting with my home state. Never have blue sky there. Always gray and overcast cast with clouds. I do not miss that weather.

Reviewer: Jeremy J Clark
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: EXCELLENT
Review: Al Pacino gives an iconic performance as Frank Serpico. At the time of its release, Pacino had just done ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Scarecrow’, and after ‘Serpico he then did ‘The Godfather Part II’ and ‘Dog Day Afternoon’. One of the peaks of his career.

Reviewer: Eric S. Kim
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Success after The Godfather
Review: Ever heard of Al Pacino? Well, I'm sure you have. Ever seen Scarface, The Insider, Heat? Or how about Dog Day Afternoon, The Panic in Needle Park, or Scent of a Woman? Yeah, he's been in numerous movies ever since the early 70's, and I'm sure you recognize at least his face. But in case you haven't noticed, Al Pacino is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of 20th-century cinema. In fact, he's one of my favorite actors of all time, and there's a very good reason for it: this guy can really act. He's been parodied several times on film and on TV, but that's because everyone knows how good he is. From The Godfather trilogy to Insomnia, his performances are MORE then just solid gold. A professional method actor, he simply becomes his characters, whether they are fictional (Ricky Roma) or real-life (Lowell Bergman). He's not Al Pacino in The Godfather trilogy, he's Michael Corleone in the Godfather trilogy. He's not himself in Dick Tracy, he's "Big Boy" Caprice. No matter how you look at it, this guy is a living legend among actors. However, if Glengarry Glen Ross or Carlito's Way doesn't impress you enough, then maybe Serpico will.When The Godfather was released back in 1972, it made Pacino, who was unknown at the time, a movie star. Studio executives already saw him as a "profitable" performer, but it looked like Pacino was concentrating more on cinematic material rather than money, because his next movie didn't look and feel like a typical Hollywood-style film. Serpico is based on the real-life story of Frank Serpico, a cop who refused to adapt to the corruption that took place in the NYPD. The film was made back in the early 70's, and the budget looks pretty modest from the looks of it, but that's beside the point. What really matters is how mesmerizing this movie is. This is a carefully-directed tour de force that showcases not only Pacino's spectacular acting talents, but also gives us an incredibly solid character study of the man who would become famous in police departments everywhere. Here is an individual who is honest and is fully dedicated to his work, but who is also tormented by the fact that the people he is working with are secretly breaking laws. This would result in him fighting against corruption, with some severe sacrifices along the way. I must say that Pacino plays the part perfectly, of course. The appearance, the mannerisms, and the ANGER of Frank Serpico are shown with real strength and heart. This is one of his greatest roles.Aside from the fact that this movie showcases young Pacino at his best, the movie is photographed beautifully and written extraordinarily well. Director Sydney Lumet breaks away from over-the-top action and suspense and delivers with a slow and steady pace, which I think is really appropriate for this kind of film. The supporting cast (Barbara Eda-Young as Laurie, Tony Roberts as Blair, John Randolph as Sidney Green) is all-around excellent. The music by Mikis Theodorakis is a pleasure to listen to (except during one specific sequence, in which the music sounds as cheesy as the theme for a 70's cop show).After my first viewing of Serpico, I instantly fell in love with it. It has quickly become one of my favorite films of all time. I think that the movie is going to get better and better after repeated viewings. In conclusion, this is a great movie, and if you're a fan of Pacino, then you have to see this film. Too bad, though, that the DVD has now been discontinued. You'll have to buy a new copy as quickly as possible, or just purchase a used one from here or elsewhere.Grade: A

Reviewer: Julia X
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great film, interesting 1973 release
Review: [SPOILERS INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW]MOVIE REVIEW:I very much enjoyed learning about the true story of Serpico and along with it some great time-capsule elements of old New York. The romantic interest scenes and related acting were not very compelling and barely functioned to show that Serpico was human and had normal desires to connect relationally, which I supposed was to make sure the character was likable and we didn't see him as a heartless whistleblowing outcast. That aside, I felt the best parts of the movie were the police focused scenes, whether the antagonism from his enemies or the support of his allies, or the busts on the street, and of course the main story of his struggle to reveal the corruption and the gripping drama of that story as it unfolded. Al Pacino is as compelling as always.THE TIMELINE OF THE STORY AND OF SERPICO'S LIFE (spoilers ahead)Sept 1959: Joined the NYPD1967: First corruption report1970 (April): he gives the NY Times his story1971 (February, 10 months later), Serpico was shot during a drug arrest. The movie shows Serpico laying there bleeding after the other officers left but doesn't make it clear how he ended up getting taken to the hospital; per Wikipedia, it's shocking to note that they really did completely abandon him and he only survived b/c an elderly tentant in the building called emergency services and stayed with him.1972 (June, 16 months later); Serpico resigned the polic force, and the movie states he moved to "some area of Switzerland". Per Wikipedia, he stayed there almost a decade before returning the US, and lists him as of 2015 as living in upstate New York (town of Stuyvesant)1973: The Serpico film was released 1973, based on book by Peter Maas (also published 1973) (Peter Maas was also later the author of 1997 best seller "Underboss" about Sammy "The Bull" Gravano). I was curious how it was possible for a book to be released and the movie based on it also released in the same year (how fast can they film and release a movie!?), and found this:The Producer Dino De Laurentiis bought the rights to make the movie after having read only the first 20 pages of Peter Maas's book, before the rest was even written. Some instinct!The impetus to check the timeline of the whole thing was that I'd just seen "All The Presidents Men" a month ago and had that whistleblower movie fresh in my mind, and wondered if the 1970s whistleblowing in the police force was concurrent with the whistleblowing in the US government. I looked into that timeline; and it turns out that indeed the Watergate scandal was made known to the public that same year, beginning with the newspaper story in January 1973. I'm trying to guess about the zeitgeist in the minds and impressions of the public in 1973 when both Serpico and Watergate were revealed. Of course, with Snowden's whistleblowing movie and I don't need to mention the current political climate, I guess revelations of secret corruptions and people's sense of it is not a zeitgest limited to the early 1970s.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A classic from the 70's with a great cast led by Al Pacino

Reviewer: Saul
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Buena película! las puedes mostrar sobre todo a los cadetes de las academias de policía, mas si eres un instructor de dichas academias.

Reviewer: Korben Dallas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Edizione steelbook francese contenente bluray e bluray 4k. Ottima qualità video e audio, presenti sottotitoli inglesi. Steelbook molto bella, assolutamente consigliata

Reviewer: Javi 86
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excelente película, contada una buena historia basada en una historia real

Reviewer: Bluntwolf
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) wurde ins Gesicht geschossen und wird lieber in einem Streifenwagen, als in einem Krankenwagen ins Krankenhaus gebracht, weil es in dieser bestimmten Situation ganz einfach sicherer ist. Als er aus dem Auto in den Operationssaal gebracht wird, ist er kaum bei Bewusstsein und lebhafte Erinnerungen an seine Zeit bei der Polizei schwimmen an die Oberfläche seines Geistes: die Absolvierung der Polizeischule, sein erster Einsatz als Streifenpolizist und wie er und seine Familie sich darüber freuen, dass er in das gleiche Geschäft einsteigt, in dem sich sein Vater und sein Onkel hervorgetan haben. Doch schnell stellt sich heraus, dass er keinen durchschnittlichen Polizisten repräsentiert, da er sich als weitaus gesetzestreuer erweist, als die meisten seiner Kollegen und nicht wie diese Bestechungsgelder annimmt.Während sich der über zwei Stunden lange Film entfaltet, eskaliert die ganze Angelegenheit letztendlich immer mehr, bis Serpico unter unglücklichen Umständen angeschossen wird. Doch als er vor einem Ausschuss für Polizeikorruption stand, wurde er in den Vereinigten Staaten schnell als einer der ehrlichsten Polizisten des Landes berühmt, wenn nicht sogar als der ehrlichste. Als das Buch veröffentlicht wurde, das auf seinen Heldentaten basiert, sicherte sich Paramount die Filmrechte und begann sofort damit den Stoff zu adaptieren (solange das Eisen noch heiß war), wobei die Produktion dadurch deutlich beschleunigt wurde. Für die Hauptrolle konnte Al Pacino gewonnen werden, der im vorangegangenen Jahr für seine Rolle im Oscar-Preisträger The Godfather (Der Pate, 1972) gefeiert wurde und somit seinen Platz als aufregendes neues Gesicht der siebziger Jahre festigen konnte.Regisseur Sidney Lumet (der in letzter Minute rekrutiert werden konnte) musste schnell arbeiten und erreichte das scheinbar Unmögliche, indem er den Film innerhalb eines Jahres nach den Aussagen des echten Serpico in die Kinos auf der ganzen Welt brachte. Der Film brannte diese Ereignisse in die Köpfe von Millionen von Zuschauern ein und zwar so akkurat, wie es mit einer Besetzung von Unbekannten bewerkstelligt werden konnte, um die Authentizität zu erhöhen. Al Pacino steigerte sich in dem Maße in die Rolle des Whistleblowers hinein, sodass er sich mit dem echten Serpico anfreundete, um ihn und seine skurrile Persönlichkeit besser studieren zu können. Letztendlich verstand er es in einer seiner erfolgreichsten Vorstellungen stark zu überzeugen.Das Publikum erwärmt sich beinahe sofort für Serpico, der sich von Anfang an als Außenseiter etabliert, während man ihn in seinem benommenen und verletzten Zustand beobachtet. Dank der Rückblenden kann man schnell erkennen, dass es sich bei Serpico um einen ungewöhnlichen jungen Mann handelt, der im Takt seiner eigenen Trommel marschiert, die offenbar auf der gesetzestreuen Seite der Korruptionskluft spielt. Sein persönliches Problem dabei ist, dass fast alle anderen, denen er in der Truppe begegnet (einschließlich derer, mit denen er jeden Tag zusammen arbeiten muss) auf der anderen Seite stehen, von Straßenpolizisten über Kriminalbeamte bis hin zu deren Vorgesetzten. Es ist zu spüren, dass ein Mann versucht, nicht nur ein Loch in einer Mauer des Fehlverhaltens zu stopfen, sondern sich einer Flutwelle schädlichen Verhaltens zu widersetzen, die für alle, mit denen er in Kontakt kommt, zum Lebensstil geworden ist. Lumet sorgte auch dafür Serpicos Charakter mit etwas Privatleben auszustatten, also lernen die Zuschauer zwei seiner Freundinnen (von denen die letztere bei ihm einzieht) und seinen Hund kennen (der fast so groß ist wie er). Auch seine Eltern bekommt man kurz zu Gesicht.Das Wichtigste für Serpicos Mission ist jedoch seine hartnäckige Weigerung mit dem Strom zu schwimmen. Es gibt keinen richtigen religiösen Blickwinkel (jedenfalls nicht offen) aber es gibt vieles von einem Märtyrer an diesem Polizisten zu beobachten, der, obwohl sein Leben unerträglich wird (aufgrund des Drucks, unter dem er steht) seinen moralischen Kurs noch immer entschlossen fortsetzt und niemals dem nachgibt, was als gutgemeinte Ratschläge beginnt und mit Drohungen und psychologischer Folter endet. Man muss den Menschen Serpico bewundern, denn der Film macht deutlich, dass er sich immer wieder klar machen musste, dass er das Richtige tut, während sein Status als Hippie-Polizist in Zivil beim Publikum sehr gut ankam (in Italien ließ Pacinos Aussehen sogar einen neuen Hauptprotagonisten für poliziotteschi entstehen: Tomas Milians Nico Giraldi, u.a. in Squadra antiscippo zu sehen). Frank Serpico hatte eine extrem harte Zeit zu durchleben, denn er wollte ein guter Mensch in einem Sumpf von Unmoralität sein und wurde von genau den Leuten zu Boden getreten, von denen angenommen wurde, dass sie zum Wohl der Gesellschaft handeln. Lumet sollte mit dem noch versierteren, allerdings nicht so erfolgreichen Prince of the City – Die Herren der Stadt (1981) zu diesem Thema zurückkehren.Auf der Blu-Ray Edition von Studiocanal befindet sich neben den Featurettes „Sidney Lumet über New York. Eine Liebeserklärung“ und „Auf der Suche nach Al Pacino“ auch noch die äußerst interessante sowie informative Dokumentation „Frank Serpico“, in der der echte Frank Serpico und einige seiner damaligen Weggefährten ca. 98 Minuten lang zu Wort kommen und relativ ausführlich über Franks Leben sowie dessen Kampf gegen die Korruption berichten. Sehr empfehlenswert !!!