Sony Pictures | 1993 | 102 mins | Rated R
In the early 1990’s, Bruce Willis was one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood. Given the major success of the first two Die Hard films he was often cast in films in that genre. One can only believe that Willis thought his acting skills and box office clout would make up for what the script lacked, when he signed up for 1993’s Striking Distance. Directed and co-written by Rowdy Herrington, the guy who brought us that 1989 gem, Roadhouse; Striking Distance is a real D-list action yarn starring a surprisingly A-list cast. I remember seeing this one years ago on HBO and sadly, it fairs no better in high definition. In plain language, Striking Distance will likely appeal to diehard (pun intended) Bruce Willis fans only.
As the film begins, Pittsburgh cop Tom Hardy (Willis) and his father (John Mahoney), also a cop, are chasing the elusive Polish Hill Strangler through the streets of the city. By the time the chase is over, the father is dead and the suspected strangler is in custody.
Two years later, Hardy has been demoted to river patrolman and a mysterious killer is going after all the women in Hardy’s life. The killer incapacitates women with a stun gun, kidnaps them and then taunts cops by phoning them up and playing Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ “Little Red Riding Hood” before slaying his victims. Even though a suspect has been long convicted, Hardy believes the killer is the same Polish Hill Strangler from two years before. Of course, when the first man was convicted as the Polish Hill Strangler, Hardy was convinced they had the wrong man and publicly and drunkenly told the assembled courthouse press that the real serial killer must be a cop, based on knowledge of police procedures. His outburst instantly made him the least popular man on the force and led to his demotion to the river unit.
Predictably, he’s no more popular there and keeps up his heavy drinking ways. His first partner is a hapless fellow named Tony Sacco (Timothy Busfield) who Hardy repeatedly knocks into the water. Therefore, it’s no surprise when Sacco eagerly steps aside. Hardy’s new partner is–aghast. A woman! Jo Christman (Sarah Jessica Parker) quickly proves more than capable as well as smitten with the dedicated but tortured cop at her side. Because this is a movie, the men wear shorts, while Jo wears short shorts: not exactly catching the bad guy attire. Whatever; this movie is so bad it doesn’t really matter.
What struck me (ha, ha, get it?) was the surprisingly strong supporting cast that includes Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore (before he was a total mess), the late Robert Pastorelli and Andre Braugher. At one point Willis gains access to a bad guy’s barge, knocking out a thug and saying “Land shark,” a reference to a Saturday Night Live sketch that parodied Jaws (from way back in 1975 – nothing like topical humor); when Willis asks Sizemore what life on the west coast is like, he says, “The Simpsons are on an hour earlier” – Geez.
I rarely say a movie is flat out lousy but Striking Distance is one of those cases. About a decade after the films initial release, Bruce Willis publicly apologized to the movie going public on the film’s behalf. That’s saying something.
The MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer isn’t awful but it’s far from perfect.
There is a fair amount of grain throughout the entire movie, particularly noticeable in sweeping shots of the city in the daylight. The nighttime shots fare better, with a great amount of depth. Generally, blacks look deep and skin tones are solid but nothing special. There aren’t a noticeable number of technical glitches, aside from some haloing and noise, but the transfer is far too soft to give it a solid recommendation. The movie was shot poorly, going for a kind of grittiness that just comes across as drab. Wide establishing shots suffer the worst, with interiors and close-ups faring somewhat better.
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is solid. Dialogue is always clear and well prioritized, with strong front channel support. There’s more ambience than you’d think with this kind of film but it could have been sharper and more focused. As it stands, in these quieter scenes, the midrange can become muddled. Action scenes are fairly dynamic, with the surround tracks being vitally utilized, but the upswing in volume is annoying. This is a solid, workmanlike mix, but nothing outstanding.
Accompanying the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track are French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes as well as subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
There are no special features included.
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