DVD Corner

Mad City Blu-ray Review

“Mad City” deserves a second chance. 

Written by Tom Matthews, 1997’s “Mad City” is a dramatic thriller from director Costa-Gavras (best known for “Z” and “Missing.” The story begins with a Madeline, California TV news reporter (Max Brackett) doing a piece on a museum. Max is in a rut career wise after his bigger gig in New York with renowned reporter Kevin Hollander didn’t pan out. When a disgruntled former security guard (Sam Baily) bursts into the museum with a gun and dynamite and holds the place hostage, Max sees this as an opportunity to revitalize his career. Not only is he becoming part of the story, but he manages to worm his way into orchestrating the press situation in regards to Sam. Unfortunately, a series of circumstances causes the situation to spiral out of control for Sam. Moreover, Max’s big story is in danger of being taken over by Kevin Hollander who has traveled to California to cover the story.

A box office bomb at the time of release, “Mad City” has gone on to become a rather forgotten hostage crisis 90’s movie. Having re-watched it for this review for the first time in 26 years, it’s safe to say “Mad City” deserves another look.

While the media landscape has completely changed since ‘97, the story and themes of “Mad City” remain all too relevant in this day and age. The story’s exploration of a media circus, media manipulation, and unemployment somehow hits harder now in this perplexing era that we live in. It just goes to show that some things never change and that Tom Matthews and Costa-Gavras were ahead of the curve.

The cast is loaded with talent that includes Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Alan Alda ,Ted Levine, Blythe Danner, Robert Prosky, Mia Kirshner  and Bill Nunn. Travolta got some flack for his performance, but it’s unwarranted. He does a fine job playing a desperate simple everyman who makes some very serious mistakes. Hoffman is great as always. He plays a shrewd reporter whose ambitions cloud his judgment. The rest of the cast has parts of varying size, but everyone commits to the project.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? This catalog title gets a nice clean hi-def transfer.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Viewers can expect a crisp 5.1 track.

The lone extra is a theatrical trailer.

November 26, 2023 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Alan Alda, Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Mad City Blu-ray Review, Mad City Movie, Media, Warner Archive