Carlito's Way DVD Review

Looking excellent for an 11 year old film, the print shows very few signs of print damage bar the odd fleck here and there. The transfer is also excellent with blocking being kept to an absolute minimum and making only a few appearances on blocks of solid colour (the scene between Carlito and Gail in the strip club shows some slight blocking on the red light flooded walls) but this is real nitpicking with this disc providing a very nice image indeed.

Carrying the option of an English DD 5.1 track or an English DTS 5.1 track (as well as the Japanese DD 2.0 track) all camps should be catered for with this release. I listened to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track since I'm still not wired up for DTS and I can say I wasn't disappointed. Scenes featuring gun fights and (the many) scenes set in night clubs filled with 70s disco and pounding Latin music, as well as the realism of echoing court rooms and train stations, are never less than convincing with dialogue being crisp and clear throughout. A very nice mix

Brian De Palma never provides commentary tracks for releases of his movies and Carlito's Way is no exception. However “The making of Carlito's Way” is about as close as you're likely to get to one. In this, rather good, featurette we get to meet Edwin Tores who wrote the books that the movie is based on (“Carlito's Way” and “After Hours”), screenwriter David Koepp as well as Brian De Palma himself. Relating many stories regarding the background of the characters (Tores grew up in this world and based his books and the characters on people and events he knew, although he admits that the characters are composites of several characters he knew) as well as the work that went into scenes such as the train chase and the beginnings, production and a retrospective look back at the movie. Enjoyable, entertaining an informative throughout this is an excellent addition to the movie.

”Photo gallery” is split into three options; “Portrait Gallery” consists mostly of images from the movie itself showing such images as a moody Pacino in character as Carlito. “Poster Gallery” contains a variety of the posters and ad work that promoted the movie on its original release while “Brian De Palma” catches the director (in his heavily bearded days) on and off set.
A wonderful story telling the fate of a man desperately trying to change his life for the better. Magnificent direction by Brian De Palma and excellent performances by Pacino, Penn, Penelope Ann Miller and the supporting cast make for a cinematic treat. If you don't have it already or are a DTS fan then this is probably the release for you.