‘Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence’ 4K Review – Worth Buying for the Commentary Track Alone
Anthony Arrigo
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While nearly everything necessary to make a worthy sequel went right on Maniac Cop 2 (1990) the same cannot be said of its follow up, Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993), where director William Lustig found himself in quite the conundrum. To make a long story short, Lustig had written a script that would feature a Black detective investigating a string of murders in Harlem. Pre-production had begun, scouting was underway, casting was happening… and then the Japanese distributor told Lustig they wouldn’t accept a Black lead. Instead, they asked for Robert Davi to return; something Lustig was not planning to do. This was a significant hurdle to be sure, but not impassable because writer Larry Cohen could just rewrite the script… if the producers were willing to pay him. They were not, and so he did no additional writing.
An undeterred Lustig cut out everything in the script that referenced the detective, shot what he could, and wound up with a feature running around 51 minutes, a far cry from the minimum requirement for a film. Then, he left. In Lustig’s mind, he had done his job and had no interest in anything further. This is where producer Joel Soisson stepped in to take over directing duties—his first credit in that capacity. He added over 30 minutes of footage to cobble together an 85-minute feature. Due to all of this (and certainly more), neither man wanted his name on the finished Maniac Cop III, giving credit to Alan Smithee, the old Hollywood pseudonym used for films nobody wants on their filmography.
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Truthfully, Maniac Cop III isn’t even all that awful. I wrote a review on this film back when the “remastered in 4K” Blu-ray came out and gave it a mere two-and-a-half stars. But on this re-watch, I actually had more fun with the picture. Sure, it’s a disjointed mess lacking cohesion and featuring an out-there voodoo plot that feels off (yet also very ‘90s) but Officer Cordell still brings the goods in terms of slashing and supernatural stunt work.
Robert Davi, despite not being wanted back by Lustig, does the best acting in the film. Robert Forster has a decent role as a doctor but it’s fairly insignificant. Spiro Razatos is the most important returning player. Although he and his team recreate some of the previous film’s novel stunts—like the full-body burn and crazy car chases—they also manage to up the ante a bit by combining the two. The finale is wild.
The story isn’t the important part here. What does matter is that this new 2021 4K edition features a fresh commentary track… with “Alan Smithee”, which is really Bill Lustig and Joel Soisson together trash-talking the production, trying to remember who shot what, and offering incredibly candid opinions on everything in between. Hearing these two reminisce nearly 30 years later, with the benefit of hindsight and nearly-finished careers in the industry makes this one of the best commentary tracks of all time. How often do you get to hear details on this level from directors who walked off a project? Exactly. This alone is worth the cost of purchase.
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Maniac Cop III features a stunning 4K restoration that improves on the prior Blu-ray in all the ways Ultra HD can: colors, contrast, and fine detail. The 2.35:1 2160p image shows a film that was competently shot, with plenty of eye-catching imagery and inventive framing. Colors are rich and nicely suffused. Black levels are spot-on. Definition is impeccable in every scene. The work Blue Underground does is always at the highest level and this release is yet another reminder. You can’t ask for better quality.
As per usual Blue Underground has upgraded the old disc’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 track to an English Dolby Atmos track (which folds down to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 if you aren’t equipped to run Atmos) and with all this action going on the audio is a real banger. Explosive stunt work and gunfire erupt from every corner, creating a deep soundfield that immerses viewers in Cordell’s violent world. Although I do miss the compositions of Jay Chattaway the composer this time around is Joel Goldsmith, son of the legendary Jerry, and his work keeps the energy high. Subtitles are available in English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Russian, and Swedish. Whew.
Special Features:
DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
- 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- BRAND NEW DOLBY ATMOS TRACK
- NEW Audio Commentary with Director Alan Smithee
- Theatrical Trailer
DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
- 4K Restoration of the film
- NEW Audio Commentary with Director Alan Smithee
- Wrong Arm Of The Law – The Making Of MANIAC COP 3
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer
- Poster & Still Gallery
- Original synopsis
ADDITIONAL CONTENT AND TECHNICAL SPECS
- First pressing only: Limited Edition embossed slipcover
- Audio: English (Dolby Atmos, 2.0 DTS-HD)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Français, Español, Português, Deutsch, Italiano, Mandarin (Traditional & Simplified), Korean, Japanese, Russian, Dansk, Nederlands, Suomi, Norsk, Svenska
- REGION-FREE
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Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence
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Special Features
Summary
Normally I’d suggest weighing the personal importance of a/v quality before upgrading this disc, assuming you already have it on Blu-ray, but the inclusion of the “Alan Smithee” commentary track makes this an instant recommendation.
