Based on Joe Connelly’s novel of the same name, screenwriter Paul Schrader and director Martin Scorsese reteam in Bringing Out the Dead, another compelling story about a troubled man driving the streets of New York City at night whose attempt to save a young woman leads to his own redemption.
Buy Bringing Out the DeadSet in the early ’90s, as a new drug called Red Death, a mix of heroin with maybe an amino acid, is on the street and doing serious damage, ambulance driver Frank Pierce (Nicholas Cage) hasn’t saved anyone in a while when we meet him. He’s been doing the job for five years and it is clearly taking a toll on him, in particular the loss of a young woman named Rosa whose ghost haunts him after he was unable to save her.
Frank and his partner Larry (John Goodman) go to the home of Mr. Burke who is in cardiac arrest. Frank meets Burke’s daughter, Mary (Patricia Arquette, Cage’s estranged wife), and becomes enamored with her. At the hospital, Frank thinks he hears a comatose Mr. Burke speak to him asking for help.
One evening, Frank tries to rescue Mary from a drug den, run by Cy Coates (Cliff Curtis) but ends up taking something to ease his troubled mind, which leads to a wild hallucination viewers share with him. Frank eventually balances the ledger of his conscience in regards to Rosa by helping the Burke family.
Cage is captivating as the PTSD-suffering Frank as he maneuvers through multiple shifts with partners who all seem out of their minds to some degree, such as the religious (Ving Rhames), who teases bystanders while reviving their friend, and Tom (Tom Sizemore), a wild man, who feels an animosity towards many he is assigned to help, particularly drug addict Noel (Marc Anthony), whom he chases after with a baseball bat at one point. Scorsese and cinematographer Robert Richardson evoke Frank’s state of mind through the visuals.
The video comes from a Scorsese-approved new restoration and remaster of the original 35mm camera which is displayed at an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. NYC at night is a colorful place and the hues pop. Blacks are inky but can crush as objects gets lost in the darkness. Bright lights are intentionally overexposed. There is a noticeable film grain.
The audio is available in Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1. It’s a front-heavy track with the elements balanced well together in the mix. Dialogue is clear. Composer Elmer Bernstein’s score is predominantly in the fronts, occasionally appearing in the rears. The subwoofer offers solid support to the low end of effects and music.The rear and side speakers deliver rare sound effects, making their occurrences more dramatic.
On the Blu-ray, the Special Features are:
- Filmmaker Focus (HD, 12 min) – Scorsese talks of reading the galley, Schrader’s approach to the script, wanting work with Cage, cinematographer Robert Richardson, riding with EMS a couple nights.
- A Rumination on Salvation (HD, 15 min) – Cage is interviewed about coming to the project and working on it.
- Cemetery Streets (HD, 6 min) – Schrader speaks about his role in working on the film, his last with Scorsese.
- City of Ghosts (HD, 9 min) – Richardson talks about his approach and execution to shooting the film.
- On Set with . . . (HD) – archival EPK interviews with:
- Patricia Arquette (6 min)
- John Goodman (6 min)
- Ving Rhames (3 min)
- Tom Sizemore (3 min)
- Marc Anthony (5 min)
- Exclusive Cast & Crew Interviews (1080i, 11 min) – Archival promotional material of cast and crew members.
- Trailers (1080i, 6 min) – two theatrical trailers.
For their last pairing, Bringing Out the Dead sees Scorsese and Schrader go out with a bang, as colorful and explosive as the Manhattan-referencing firework scene where Frank works to save Cy. The dark story reflects the darkness Frank suffers but he eventually comes into the light. The UHD does a great job presenting the look and sound. If Scorsese approves of it, so do I.
