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Road House (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review

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    Ian Jane
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  • Road House (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review

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    Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
    Released on: November 25th, 2022.
    Director: Rowdy Harrington
    Cast: Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara
    Year: 1989
    Purchase From Amazon

    Road House – Movie Review:

    Directed by Rowdy Harrington in 1989, Road House is beautiful in its simplicity. The story opens at a bar where things get out of hand to the point where the bouncer, James Dalton (Patrick Swayze), has to step in and make things right. Dalton's reputation as one of the best in the business brings him to the attention of Frank Tilghman (Kevin Tighe), a businessman who has recently taken over a dive called The Double Deuce. He hires Dalton to work for him, and basically gives him free reign to clean it up however he sees fit.

    Shortly after Dalton walks in the door, things get heated. He fires one of the existing bouncers (Terry Funk!!!) and cans the bartender scamming from the till (John Doe of X!!!??). He trains the rest of the staff to be nice… until it's time to not be nice and gives them a few lessons in just how he goes about doing that. That night, as the band (played by Canada's own Jeff Healey Band) fire up behind that chicken wire fence, things get as rowdy as ever - but Dalton's there to keep things cool. It turns out that the bartender he canned is related to a crime boss named Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara) and he's irked enough about this turn of events that he turns off the bar's booze supply. When Dalton gets stabbed he gets stitched up by a foxy doctor (Kelly Lynch) who soon falls head over heels for him, but as tensions rise between Dalton and Wesley's crew, our spinkicking bouncer knows he's going to need help, and so he calls the only man he can turn to: Wade Garrett (Sam Elliott).

    Roadhouse is all about testosterone, it's a film almost entirely populated by the manliest of men. Chief amongst these men, of course, is our hero. Dalton doesn't need a haircut. He can live in a barn if he wants. He drives a muscle car and stays cool under pressure. He doesn't need a shirt any more than he needs someone to help him lift Kelly Lynch into the air for maximum boner jam action. He's a man's man, the kind of guy that practices martial arts on a farm and takes care of things his own way, without involving the fuzz. He's very 'Zen' about everything and he is, for all accounts and purposes, kind of a superhero. The other men in the movie all play male stereotypes too. Kevin Tighe is all business. Ben Gazzara is the slimy bad guy who holds the small town in his grip. Terry Funk is the guy who thinks with his fists and not with his head, while John Doe is the weasel who thinks he can get away with things because of his connections. And then there's Sam Elliott, the one man who is more Dalton than Dalton himself - and the perfect goddamn casting choice! Swazye is cool here to be sure, he kicks like a champ and woos the ladies like no other, but Elliott is cooler and wooier than even Swayze himself and seeing these two team up towards the end of the film? That's action movie gold, right there.

    Harrington keeps things going at a good clip. There are fights every few minutes, there's some gratuitous sex and a bit of nudity. There's tough talking and some solid stunt work and there's a decent amount of tension as the completely predictable storyline plays out exactly as you know it will (and exactly as you want it to). The music is perfect (Jeff Healey doesn't just play guitar on stage but is actually a character in the film itself and it's pretty cool to see he and Swazye yapping away now and then!). Dean Cundey handled the cinematography so it looks great from start to finish, lots of cool neon signs lighting up some of the darker scenes and the compositions are really strong from start to finish. Throw in some genuinely impressive fight choreography and a lot of rock solid stunt work and yeah, this is it - and if that's not enough, we get monster trucks, strippers, loads of homoerotic (unintentional?) overtones, and a cameo from none other than Keith David!

    Road House – UHD/Blu-ray Review:

    Road House arrives on UHD from Vinegar Syndrome in an HVEC encoded 2160p transfer taken from a new 4k scan of the original 35mm negative and framed at 2.35.1 widescreen with HDR10 enhancement. Colors look excellent here, appearing bright and bold without looking artificially boosted or oversaturated. Black levels are nice and deep but darker scenes avoid crush, and we get really solid shadow detail here. In fact, detail in generally is very impressive throughout, with strong depth and texture easy to spot in pretty much every frame. Skin tones look perfectly natural, never too hot or too pink, and while the image retains the expected amount of film grain, it shows pretty much no print damage at all. There aren’t any issues with any noise reduction or edge enhancement and the picture is free of any noticeable compression artifacts. All in all, Road House looks damn good on UHD.

    English language DTS-HD tracks are provided in the original 2.0 and a 5.1 Surround Sound remix with optional subtitles available in English only and there are no complaints here. The 5.1 track shines in the bar fights or whenever The Jeff Healey Band fires up and does their thing as dialogue stays almost entirely up in the front channels. Bass response is fine, the hits and effects have the right amount of power behind them in the lower end. There are no issues with any hiss or distortion to note - the movie sounds really good here. Purists will no doubt prefer the 2.0 mix, no shame in that, and it also sounds great.

    Extras on the UHD include director Rowdy Harrington's commentary that was recorded for the 2006 deluxe edition DVD release through MGM. For those who haven't heard it, Harrington does his job well here, talking up the film in a fairly scene specific manner and covering the casting, the fight choreography, the locations and sets, and quite a bit more. He's got a very relaxed demeanor to his speaking style but the content is pretty interesting. Also carried over from that DVD release is the 'fan commentary' from Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. These guys have a lot of fun on this track, they do occasionally poke fun at certain aspects of it but it's clearly out of love. They also offer up some interesting analysis about what works and what doesn't in the picture, provide some thoughts on the effectiveness of certain performances and offer up a lot of their opinions on the film. The director's track is the one that really gets into the details of the production but this is more than just an MST3K style riff-fest, some of their insight is actually pretty clever. Menus and chapter stops are also found on the first disc.

    The rest of the extras are found on the two Blu-ray discs included in the set. The first Blu-ray includes the feature and those same two commentary tracks as well as a selection of new featurettes stating with the twenty-five minute Henchman #2, which interviews actor Anthony De Longis. He speaks quite candidly about how he landed his role in the movie, what it was like on set, handling the stunts required of him, Swayze’s insane popularity at the time, getting along with Herrington and his co-stars and quite a bit more.

    The thirty-one minute I Did It My Way featurette is an interview done via video conferencing software with second unit director Charlie Picerni where he goes over how he got into the film business and early work doing stunts before then going on to learn his trade and become a stunt coordinator. From there, he talks about getting a big break when landing a gig on Die Hard, going on to work on Road House and what his specific responsibilities where, some of the challenges that arose on set, working with the cast and crew and how he feels about the movie in hindsight.

    Actor Travis McKenna is up next in the twenty-one minute Ain’t Nothing Gonna Kill Me But Me! featurette. He talks here about how he worked as a bouncer in his younger days, landing the part in Road House, getting into shape and doing his own stunts, how much he enjoyed working with both Harrington and Swayze, making friends on the shoot and how much fun he had working on the movie overall.

    In the nineteen minute Blonde Ambitions, special talent coordinator Laura Lee Kasten discusses how she got her start working for Playboy where her specialty was getting casting directors access to actresses that weren’t shy about doing nude scenes. From here, we learn how she got the job on Road House, getting along very well with Swazye (this is a recurring theme throughout pretty much every interview in this set!), where she was responsible for casting certain actresses in the movie and why and how producer Joel Silver was a big help in getting her own career up to the next level.

    The last of the new featurettes on this disc is the fourteen minute Fightin’ Man, which interviews actor Roger Hewlett about edits that were made to the movie that resulted in a lot of his footage getting cut from the film, how he got his start in the film industry in the first place, forming relationships with his co-stars, Swayze’s kindness but also his temper, having to do stunt work and more.

    Finishing up the extras on the first Blu-ray is a still gallery, a trailer, menus and chapter selection options.

    As far as what you’ll find on the second Blu-ray, we start off with I Thought You'd Be Bigger: The Making Of Road House, a sixty-three minute featurette carried over from the Shout! Factory special edition Blu-ray release. This one gathers up everyone around (though clearly Swayze and Jeff Healey have both passed away and Sam Elliott is unfortunately nowhere to be seen) to talk about their experiences on the film. It covers some of the same ground as the commentary and the earlier featurette but it also covers a good amount of new ground. Kelly Lynch talks about the Bill Murray rumor, which is reason alone to watch this, but on top of that we get insight into the cinematography, the soundtrack, the action set pieces and martial arts seen in the film, the locations, the stunts, casting the picture and a whole lot more. This is very thorough, but it's also really interesting and entertaining. If you're a Road House fan, you're crazy not to take the time to check this out.

    There are a few other extras here as well. A Conversation With Director Rowdy Herrington is just that, a half hour long talk with the director about his experiences in the movie business, working with Swayze and company on the film, the producers he worked with and other projects he has had a hand in over the years.

    Pretty Good For A Blind Boy: The Music Of Road House is a great nine minute piece that takes a look back at the life and legacy of the late, great Jeff Healey. He passed away quite young in 2008, sadly, but this is a nice examination of his unique talent and the importance of his work in Road House.

    On The Road House is a seventeen minute piece from the 2006 release that covers the making of the movie and which contains interviews with Harrington, Healy, Swayze, Lynch, Teague and fight coordinator Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez. If you haven't seen it before, it's interesting and worth checking out.

    Pain Don't Hurt: The Stunts Of Road House gets stunt coordinator Charlie Picerni, Rowdy Herrington, John Doe, Dean Cundey and a few cast members in front of the camera to talk about the slam-bang action set pieces that are so important to making the movie as entertaining as it is.

    Along the same lines is the fifteen minute Remembering Patrick Swayze featurette featuring some input from the late actor's widow that looks back on his career and what he was like as a person. Swayze passed away in 2009.

    What would Dalton Do? is a twelve minute piece wherein real life bar bouncers talk about Swayze's character in the movie and how he deals with certain characters and situations in the movie.

    Also found on the disc is four minutes of on-set footage from the film's shoot, an eleven minute EPK collection of Sound Bites that are basically just some random archival interview bits and pieces from various sources compiled here into one single featurette, a three minute EPK style profile of Swayze and some menus.

    Vinegar Syndrome has also done a beautiful job with the packaging on this release, putting the discs inside a black keepcase with reversible cover sleeve art and an embossed slip cover that in turns finds inside their limited edition high-end, spot varnished magnet clasp box which is adorned with some great new artwork. Also included inside the box is a full color forty-page book featuring essays by Sean T. Collins and Christina Cacioppo.

    Road House - The Final Word:

    Road House is, in a word, FUN. It's nonsensical and preposterous but it's entertaining as all Hell and really just a good time at the movies. Vinegar Syndrome’s new UHD/Blu-ray combo pack is an obvious labor of love, presenting the film in a gorgeous presentation and with a host of extras old and new, making this the definitive home video release of the film.


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