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Chinatown
Movie:![4.5 Stars :4.5stars: :4.5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4.5_stars.png)
4K Video:![5 Stars :5stars: :5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/5_stars.png)
Video:
Audio:![4 Stars :4stars: :4stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4_stars.png)
Extras:
Final Score:![4.5 Stars :4.5stars: :4.5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4.5_stars.png)
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Movie:
![4.5 Stars :4.5stars: :4.5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4.5_stars.png)
4K Video:
![5 Stars :5stars: :5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/5_stars.png)
Video:
Audio:
![4 Stars :4stars: :4stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4_stars.png)
Extras:
Final Score:
![4.5 Stars :4.5stars: :4.5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4.5_stars.png)
AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.
And things come full circle! Chinatown was not only the very first film I reviewed when I got hired on as a “film critic” back in 2012, but also the first time I had ever seen the seminal classic, so this is sort of a milestone review for me. I get to look back over 12 years of reviewing films, and I get to do it with a classic that I had spent the better part of 30 years (at the time) avoiding for some oddball reason. And of course it doesn’t hurt that Paramount has gone out of their way to do a new 4K remaster from the original camera negative, and give it an amazing looking encode for it’s 50th anniversary (and 45th Paramount Presents film as well).
As is the case with these hard boiled “Sam Spade” detective stories, we start with a dame. A dame by the name of Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray to look into her high profile husband (who happens to be on the board of the L.A. water committee) on grounds of infidelity. It seems like a simple case, with Detective J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) digging up dirt on Mr. Mulwray and finding what appears to be evidence on his affair. However, things get hinky when the REAL Mrs. Mulwray (played by Faye Dunaway) shows up and rips the detective a new one and threatens to sue him if he continues the investigation into her husband.
Wanting to find out who set him up from the get go, J.J. decides to pay a visit to Mr. Mulwray and figure things out, only to find the man dead under suspicious circumstances. Mrs. Mulwray instantly switches stances on the detective, dropping her bluster and threats in order to hire him to find out who killed her husband new. Now J.J. is confronted with not only a seedy husband, but treachery, greed, lust and a path that leads back to his own personal demons and haunted past...Chinatown.
What really makes Chinatown is not just the story, but the characters themselves. The story itself is actually a fairly simple murder mystery tale. It’s not super special, but what makes the film is Nicholson and Dunaway, both who absolutely knock it out of the park with their respective roles. Nicholson is famous for his over the top characters, but here restricts and restrains himself a good bit, playing a more down to earth “hard boiled” character that is shockingly different than what he’s known for. Dunaway is perfect as the seductive and angst ridden widow with a dirty past. She’s equal parts bombshell and sympathetic victim, to the point where her final moments in the film literally rip your heart straight out of your chest.
Rating:
Rated R by the MPAA (both films)
4K Video:
![5 Stars :5stars: :5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/5_stars.png)
Audio:
![4 Stars :4stars: :4stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4_stars.png)
Extras:
![4 Stars :4stars: :4stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4_stars.png)
• NEW Chinatown Memories – Legendary producer Hawk Koch shares stories from his time as assistant director on the film.
• NEW The Trilogy That Never Was – Sam Wasson discusses the planned third installment of what would have been a trio of movies featuring the character Jake Gittes.
• Audio Commentary by screenwriter Robert Towne with David Fincher
• Water and Power
-- The Aqueduct
-- The Aftermath
-- The River & Beyond
• Chinatown: An Appreciation
• Chinatown: The Beginning and the End
• Chinatown: Filming
• Chinatown: Legacy
• Theatrical Trailer
• Collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the film's theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments
Final Score:
![4.5 Stars :4.5stars: :4.5stars:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/4.5_stars.png)
Chinatown is a fantastic noir murder mystery, and one that has held up incredibly well over the last half of a century. It’s brutal, rough, and bleak look on the reality of human corruption is sometimes hard to sit through, but never boring. Paramount has gone out of its way to create a fantastic collector’s edition here, with collectible packaging, a brand new 4K remaster, and the inclusion of the sequel, The Two Jakes, (which was released back in 2020) to supplement the already solid extra (my only complaint is Paramount not releasing The Two Jakes in 4K UHD as well, but that’s a minor nitpick). Great movie, great transfer, very good set overall.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, Diane Ladd
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Written by: Robert Towne, Roman Polanksi
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English (Restored Audio) Dolby TrueHD 2.0, French, Spanish, Portuguese DD 2.0
Subtitles:
Chinatown: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
The Two Jakes: English, English SDH, French, German, Japanese
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 131 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 18th, 2024
Recommendation: Great Watch