Hudson Hawk Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)
Hudson Hawk is a 1991 comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann (True Blood, Heathers, Airheads, & 40 Days and 40 Nights). Bruce Willis co-wrote the story & theme song for the movie. It was written by Steven E. de Souza (48 Hours, Die Hard 1/2, Commando, The Running Man, Bad Dreams, Beverly Hills Cop III, & Street Fighter) & Daniel Waters (Batman Returns, Heathers, Demolition Man, & The Adventures of Ford Fairlane). It was produced by the legendary Joel Silver (Die Hard franchise, Lethal Weapon franchise, Predator franchise, 48 Hours, & The Last Boy Scout). It was marketed as an action film despite being a comedy which backfired when it hit theaters. The budget was $65 million. It only grossed $17 million in the U.S. & it won three Razzies awards. Later on, it had success on home video. It did great overseas & it earned $80 million at the box office!!!!
Eddie “Hudson Hawk” Hawkins (played by: Bruce Willis from the Die Hard franchise, Pulp Fiction, Unbreakable, & Sin City 1/2) is a master catburglar & safe-cracker, attempting to celebrate his first day of parole from prison with a cappuccino. He is blackmailed right away by various entities including his own parole officer, a minor Mafia family headed by the Mario Brothers (Frank Stallone from the Rocky franchise & Carmine Zozzora from Die Hard), & the CIA into doing several dangerous art heists with his partner in crime Tommy “Five-Tone” Messina (played by: Danny Aiello from Léon: The Professional, Jacob’s Ladder, Do the Right Thing, & Once Upon a Time in America). The puppet masters behind all of this turn out to be Mayflower Industries, run by Darwin (played by: Richard E. Grant from Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Game of Thrones, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, & Warlock) & Minerva Mayflower (played by: Sandra Bernhard from The King of Comedy, Roseanne, Tales from the Crypt, & Hercules) with their blade-slinging butler Alfred (played by: Donald Burton from The Message & The Man from Moscow). They seek to take over the world by reconstructing La Macchina dell’Oro, a machine purportedly invented by Leonardo da Vinci (played by: Stefano Molinari from Edera & Teste rasate) that converts lead into gold. Sister Anna Baragli (played by: Andie MacDowell from Groundhog Day, Ready or Not, Beauty Shop, & Multiplicity) is an operative for a secretive Vatican counter-espionage agency. Hawk meets CIA head George Kaplan (played by: James Coburn from Affliction, Eraser, Young Guns II, & Midway) plus his CIA agents which includes Snickers (played by: Don Harvey from The Relic, Vice, The Deuce, & In Too Deep), Kit Kat (played by: David Caruso from CSI: Miami, NYPD Blue, King of New York, & First Blood), Almond Joy (played by: Lorraine Toussaint from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Night Before, & Point of No Return), & Butterfinger (played by: Andrew Bryniarski from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Beginning, Higher Learning, Batman Returns, & Any Given Sunday). People end up double crossed & no one can be trusted. Can Hawk get past all this chaos? Or Will he go back to prison or even worse….DEAD????
Hudson Hawk was marketed & promoted as an action flick. At the time, Willis was one of the biggest stars around especially for that sub-genre. If you ever seen this film, you know it’s more of a comedy than anything. It’s an over the top & ridiculous one at that. Fans were expecting a serious action feature & that got a big surprise with this. It’s nothing like Die Hard. It does have action in it but it’s done in such a silly way here. The script doesn’t take anything serious & it just has fun with everything. This was passion project for lead actor Bruce Willis. Hudson Hawk is loaded with talent when it comes to the cast which includes Danny Aiello, Richard E. Grant, Sandra Bernhard, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, & Andrew Bryniarski. Everyone in this hams it up & chews the scenery. It’s hit or miss at times, it has some hilarious moments & some WTF cringe worthy ones as well. Is this a good movie? Not at all but it’s so much fun & it’s beyond entertaining. This is good one to watch with friends & drink some beer while watching. Turn off your brain & just enjoy it!!!!
Let’s talk about high definition presentation from Mill Creek! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer looks a little better compared to the previous double feature release with Hollywood Homicide. That one had two films crammed on one disc & this brand new release has Hudson Hawk solo now. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track actually sounds better than I remember. The dialogue is very clean, all the action is elevated, & the music has a nice boost to it. Plus it actually has an additional French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. It has English SHD subtitles. Unfortunately, there’s no extras on the disc. The 2007 Special Edition DVD had all kinds of extras on it. It has an retro VHS slipcover plus different artwork underneath it. It’s the quality you would expect from an older catalog title but for the amazing price it’s definitely worth adding to the collection. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
