Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip 4K Review (Sony Pictures)

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip is a 1982 comedy special directed by Joe Layton (My Name Is Barbra, The Littlest Angel, Great Performances, and The Belle of 14th Street). It was written and produced by Richard Pryor (Bustin’ Loose, Mo’ Funny: Black Comedy in America, The Richard Pryor Show, Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, and Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling). Two live performances that were filmed back to back on December 9th and December 10th 1981. It grossed $36,299,720 at the box office in the United States and Canada. Comedian Richard Pryor takes the stage for an epic performance during this 80’s stand up special that was filmed during back to back nights. The legend makes his triumphant comeback to the mic after his tragic fire accident that almost took his life. Richard Pryor is looking for redemption and he’s ready to take back the crown in comedy!!!!!Richard Pryor (The Mack, Car Wash, Stir Crazy, The Wiz, Brewster’s Millions, The Toy, See No Evil Hear No Evil, Another You, Lost Highway, and Silver Streak) is my all time favorite comedian and Live on the Sunset Strip is one of his best comedic performances during his iconic career. He has influenced so many people over the years including Eddie Murphy, Mike Epps, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Robin Williams. Pryor openly chats and makes jokes about his near death experience that’s related to his previous drug abuse issues. He barely survived after getting burned all over his body. He tackles a variety of subjects such as his film career, racism, differences between cultures, women, traveling, drugs, his past, the mafia, and his wild upbringing. He talks about athlete and actor Jim Brown trying to help him when he was at his worst. Richard Pryor had one of the smoothest deliveries in comedy and his material hit like no one else. Stand up is clearly meant for laughs but the honest truth most of them are very hit and miss when it comes to their creative punchlines. Pryor was one of the few that always made me laugh out loud no matter what. Live on the Sunset Strip is no different, I’ve seen it numerous times over the years and it still holds up when it comes to making me crack up when Pryor is in his prime here. Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip is beyond hilarious and it’s forever entertaining with it’s excellent replay value. This is a must own when it comes to comedy, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Sony Pictures! This 2160p (1.85:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative. Personally, I’ve never seen or ever expected a comedy stand up special get UHD treatment for home video. Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip looks amazing in 4K and it’s a massive upgrade when it comes to picture quality. It’s last home video release in the states was 24 years ago on DVD. It’s great to see something like this get upgraded. It’s a very colorful and well shot show especially for the 80’s. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on the disc. The audio is definitely an improvement from the past releases. All of the jokes are crisp, the comedy is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it when it shows up. It has English SDH and Spanish subtitles. The only extra on the UHD is the “Trailer”. It comes with a slipcover and a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!