King of New York SE DVD Review:

The latest in film trends is to have all of past classics transferred to DVD, creating a library of films in what has become the next medium for
film. It has almost become an art medium of its own with the menus and assortments of extra features that come with the actual movie.

In yet another release of a film from the past, the King of New York DVD is perhaps one of the best so far.

King of New York is a film about a man, who once released from prison, decides to wage war on anyone unwilling to do things his way. Frank White is a powerful man, who continually grows stronger with each rival gang he cuts down. With the help of a group of black gang members he begins to take over the city, in order to finance a hospital for underprivileged kids.

Everything is working out fine until the cops who put Frank away start to realize that he is up to something, and decide to do whatever it takes to
put him away, one way or another.

King of New York takes a familiar ‘cops versus criminal’ storyline, and adds elements of complexity and truth to make it a groundbreaking film. Nearly every character is a walking paradox, a contradiction to what they stand for. Frank wants to clean up the neighborhood by keeping a hospital
open, and yet he does this with drug money. The cops want to put away a criminal, but they have no problem using crime as a means to do it.

Perhaps one of the most amazing elements of King is the incredible cast. When it was released in 1990, many of the actors involved were just starting
out, and not stars themselves at the time. Now each of them seem to have a reputation of their own. The cast includes Larry Fishburne, David Caruso, Steve Buscemi, Wesley Snipes, and of course, Christopher Walken, fantastic as always, as Frank White.

King has been remastered, and looks like a new film. A fantastic job was done so that the picture is incredibly sharp and the sound is unbelievably
reborn digitally. This is the best version of the film that I have seen, never having had the opportunity to see it in theaters.

The two disc special edition package comes with a slew of special features, but it still seems as though it could have been fit onto one disc. There are two audio tracks, one with the director, Abel Ferrara, and the other containing many other key players behind the scenes. Sadly, Walken is not
heard on any audio track. There are also two short features, one on the work of Abel Ferrara, and the other on Schoolly D, the father of gangsta rap,
which plays a part in the film soundtrack.


Although some of the features can be somewhat boring to a regular viewer, King of New York is a classic among crime films and definitely worth owning.

Ryan Izay

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