Blue Manhattan [1970]

Also the film print that they used to get this DVD transfer is pretty poor (it has not been digitally remastered so it looks about as good as a ten year old VHS copy) at times the picture is a bit fuzzy and the soundtrack pops in and out, And for some reason the picture jumps from wide screen to Pan scan and back again.

Some of the edits are a bit jarring too, I don't know if this film has been censored from it original release but some scenes feel like they have chunks missing.

All this is a shame because Blue Manhattan is in fact a really good film, which was well a head of its time. Mixing very funny comedy with very shocking horror. At times during the black and white sequences its easy to forget your watching a work of fiction - as these moments hit right to the bone.

It also has a very early performance by Robert De Niro, proving how hard he worked to become the well respected actor that he is today.

Brian De Palmer gets a chance to try out a lot of his flashy camera moves and bizarre edits which would later make him famous.

Sadly there is no Director or Actors commentary's on this disk. In fact there are no extras apart from the dull chapter menu and a trailer (at the very end of the film) which incidentally advertises it under its real name of: Hi Mom.

So to quickly recap: Good Film, but the DVD lacks the work the movie really deserves.


Hi Mom   November 12, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This was originally called Hi Mom in the Usa, and in this British dvd it is crudely re titled to Blue Manhattan, often using a silly looking title card which looks like its been made on an old spectrum home computer to overlap the points where the words Hi mom appeared on screen- even though the trailer at the end of the movie still advertises its self as 'hi mom'.

The picture quality on this DVD is pretty fuzzy, and the sound pops in and out from time to time, and the films editing and camera work is a little hard on the eyes at times switching from wide screen to full screen and back for no real reason, yet for some reason the film survives all of this, it has some funny gags and one great performance from a very young Robert De Niro.

There is 20 min segment close to the end of the film all shot in black and white which has some middle class people going to an 'experience theatre' and being attacked by a group of actors - even though this was filmed in 1970 this sequence still shocks and will stay with the viewer long after the movie has ended.

Give this film a look if your a fan of either Robert De Niro or Brian De palmer (the director).