HD DVD Review: Carlito's Way -- Rise to Power

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

Carlito’s Way-Rise to Power is a prequel of sorts to Carlito’s Way reviewed previously. I say prequel of sorts as it does not star Al Pacino in the lead role. As noted in the press release which accompanied this release, the film stars Jay Hernandez, Mario Van Peebles, Luis Guzman and Sean Combs and tells the story of the early years of gangster Carlito Brigante. Assisted by two brothers in crime, Carlito is on the fast track to becoming Spanish Harlem’s ultimate gangster. However, he quickly learns that the only way to survive at the top is through loyalty to his friends and respect for the rules of the street. On the whole, this is a rather average gangster film with some good performances by the lead actors. However, I did not find it to be up to the level of Carlito’s Way. However, if is well worth a rental.

THE VIDEO: 4 stars out of 5

This is another in a string of very good transfers from Universal. The film was encoded with VC-1 and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1. The film boasts excellent color accuracy and deep blacks. Skin tones are very natural looking. For those who are concerned that VC-1 smooths out film grain, that is not the case here as there is plenty of film grain visible in this transfer. However, the grain is not distracting in any way. The transfer presents a nice three dimensional look but does not boast the image detail or clarity of the best looking high def transfers. Nonetheless, it is pleasing to the eye and enjoyable to watch.

THE AUDIO: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

Presented in Dolby True HD and Dolby DIgital Plus, the audio encode is not up to the standard of the video. While dialogue is clear and distinct and well placed in the mix, I found the overall sound of the dialogue to be on the thin side and sounding a little to bright. The soundfield overall was rather flat and lifeless which was disturbing to me considering that there was some nice period music in the disc which could have sounded way better than it did here. The mix mainly used the front three channels and I thought should have taken better advantage of the surround channels. Not that this was a bad audio presentation, just not up to the standards that I have come to expect from high rez audio on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

IN CONCLUSION

Carlito’s Way-Rise to Power is another in a string of fine efforts from the folks at Universal. It is well worth a look but as a rental only.