Rating: R
Starring:
Pam Grier as Jackie Brown
Samuel L. Jackson as Ordell Robbie
Robert Forster as Max Cherry
Bridget Fonda as Melanie Ralston
Michael Keaton as Ray Nicolette
Robert De Niro as Louis Gara
Michael Bowen as Mark Dargus
Chris Tucker as Beaumont Livingston
Lisa Gay Hamilton as Sheronda
Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister as Winston
Hattie Winston as Simone
Sid Haig as Judge
Special Features:
Breaking Down Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown: How It Went Down Retrospective Featuring Interviews with Quentin Tarantino, Pam Grief, Robert Forster, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Elmore Leonard and Crew
A Look Back At Jackie Brown Interview with Quentin Tarantino
Chicks With Guns Video
Siskel & Ebert At The Movies – Jackie Brown Review
Jackie Brown on MTV
Marketing Gallery
Still Galleries
Trivia Track
Deleted and Alternate Scenes
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1)
DTS-HD MA 5.1 Sound
Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 154 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Quentin Tarantino (‘Pulp Fiction’) scores with an explosive mix of intense action and edgy humor in his “twisty crime yarn” (Entertainment Weekly). What do a sexy stewardess (Pam Grier), a street-tough gun runner (Samuel L. Jackson), a lonely bail bondsman (Robert Forster), a shifty ex-con (Robert De Niro), an earnest federal agent (Michael Keaton) and a stoned-out beach bunny (Bridget Fonda) have in common? They’re six players on the trail of a half million dollars in cash! The only questions are… who’s going to get played… and who’s going to make the big score?
Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Forster), ‘Jackie Brown’ is now presented for the first time in eye-popping High-Definition Blu-ray with a stunning new transfer overseen by Tarantino and new lossless 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.”
“Jackie Brown” is rated R for strong language, some violence, drug use and sexuality.
Mini-Review:
“Jackie Brown” finally makes the jump to Blu-ray in this new set. This was actually my first opportunity to check out Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film. There’s a lot to like about it. First off, it features a top notch cast. Samuel L. Jackson is imposing as the arms dealer Ordell Robbie. Michael Keaton shows his stuff as the cop Ray Nicolette. And Bridget Fonda is memorable as the stoner surfer girl Melanie Ralston. But like he did with “Pulp Fiction,” Tarantino pulls some familiar faces from the ’70s to star in the film as well. We get the beautiful Pam Grier as Jackie Brown and Robert Forster as Max Cherry. They make an interesting on screen romance. It was also cool to see Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister as Winston and a young Chris Tucker as Beaumont Livingston. The film has a lot of Tarantino’s other trademarks. It features witty dialogue, a great mix of music, and a setting that’s hard to pinpoint in time.
On the down side, this movie moves at a rather glacial pace. It’s one scene after another of dialogue heavy exchanges between two characters sitting in a room and it takes quite a while for the plot to kick in gear. It’s also pretty light on action compared to Tarantino’s other films. Oddly enough, despite the fact that Tarantino’s fingerprints are all over it, “Jackie Brown” is the least like his other films. One other minor gripe – I didn’t think Robert De Niro was used to his full potential in this movie. In fact, he sleepwalks through much of it.
So overall while this wasn’t my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie, “Jackie Brown” was still enjoyable and worth checking out.
The Blu-ray is pretty jam packed with bonus features. You get a retrospective featuring all of the main cast and Tarantino. You also get some ‘making of’ featurettes, deleted scenes, trivia tracks, and galleries. You also get the “Siskel & Ebert” review of the movie, an MTV special, and the full “Chicks with Guns” video. Overall the bonus features are going to make “Jackie Brown” fans pretty happy.
