...And Justice For All

...And Justice For All Sale

A young lawyer begins to wonder where the justice has gone in the legal system when he is pressured to defend a judge who is guilty of raping and battering a young girl.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 23-MAR-2004
Media Type: DVD

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Description

• ISBN13: 9780767859523
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Al Pacino plays a Maryland lawyer who takes on a judicial system rife with dealmaking in this awkward blend of satire and sentimentality. Topical director Norman Jewison can't seem to help Pacino get comfortable with the mismatched material, which pushes the film into outrageousness at some turns and mawkishness at others. The script by Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin is more an accumulation of random ideas and moments than a congruent story. However, it's interesting to see the large cast of good actors, most of whom hadn't become well known yet. (Christine Lahti made her film debut here.) Pacino gets to work for a second time (following The Godfather II) with acting mentor Lee Strasberg. --Tom Keogh


...And Justice For All Customer Review


Please note: This review is ONLY for the 2008 re-release. If you are reading this and it is under the 2001 release, this review is not for that edition and amazon.com has grouped it together.


It's amazing watching Al Pacino chew the scenery. Norman Jewison's dramatic satire of the judicial system "...And Justice For All" has plenty for Pacino to chew on along with his co-stars Jeffrey Tambor, Jack Warden, Lee Strasberg, Craig T. Nelson and Christine Lahti (in one of her first major screen roles). Pacino manages to get every morsel of nutrition out of a scene. The meaty script allows Pacino's co-stars to equal him scene for scene which is perfect for a dramatic satire of this sort.

Opening with images of an empty court house with children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, "And Justice for All" represents a satire as broad and powerful as "Network" in eviscerating the justice system as that other film did TV. Pacino plays attorney Arthur Kirkland the type of attorney who becomes very involved in his client's cases going to bat for them in a big way or in this case providing a knock out punch worthy of a boxing match. For example when we first meet him he's in lock up on a contempt charge for hitting a corrupt judge (John Forsythe) when he didn't agree with his decision. As luck would have it (or karma depending on your point of view), the very same judge has been charged with the rape of a young girl. He turns to Kirkland because he realizes that the attorney is passionate about his cases and that their adversarial relationship will prevent any later charges of a cover up. Kirkland has to overcome his distaste for the judge and manage a trial that could make or break what's left of his legal career.

A marked improvement over the first edition from 2001 which had plenty of analog imperfections and didn't look much better than a top notch high quality VHS transfer, the colors are more accurate and the film has much better detail and sharpness. Keep in mind that this is a film made in 1979 so you are going to see grain (it was shot on a grainy film stock to begin with)and it's not going to pop like a film from 2008 but that's also part of the charm of this classic. It looks exactly how it should.

Audio hasn't been remixed for 5.1 and is still in the original mono. It is a slight improvement over the original audio with slightly better clarity and dialogue coming through clearly but it still sounds flat without much depth.

Be aware that part of this digital clean up and remaster may have been prepared for the Blu-ray that will eventually hit the street. If you have a Blu-ray player you may want to wait to see if it does, indeed, street some time in the immediate future.

The extras for this edition are a marked improvement over the 2001 release, we get the original commentary by Norman Jewison ported over for this edition. It's a fun and involving commentary and it's clear that Jewison is enjoying watching the film as much as we are.

We also get a pair of extremely good interviews with director Jewison and co-writer Barry Levinson discussing the making of the film. Jewison is always a joy to listen to and he relates a story about Lahti first being cast. Jewison liked her and was hesitant about putting in the film because she's taller than Pacino (quite a bit actually) and he didn't know how Pacino would feel about it. He saw her performance and thought she was brilliant so he insisted that she be in the film.

We also get a preview for Pacino's new film "88 Minutes", the original theatrical trailer and deleted scenes. As an additional promotional move Sony has included the acclaimed pilot for the excellent legal drama "Damages". As to how "Damages" looks you'll have to read my review of that TV show.

Finally we get previews for "Close Encounters: The Special Edition" which features all three versions of the film as well as a huge assortment of extras (you'll have to read my review of that set to get an insight into what is included, etc.) and "Taxi Driver: Special Collector's Edition". The latter preview is presented in a modern, annoyingly edited format with an annoying dance score that has absolutely nothing to do with the film itself. I suppose they are trying to suck in the younger crowd who have never seen one of De Niro's finest and most disturbing performances (and that's saying quite a bit). Finally we get a preview for the contemporary underrated thriller "We Own the Night".

A marked improvement over the 2001 release of "...And Justice For All", this edition looks better and comes loaded. I can highly recommend this digitally remastered classic.

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