Search - At Close Range

Amazingly, At Close Range was based on a true story. Bored teenager Sean Penn meets his prodigal father (Christopher Walken) for the first time in years. Though Penn is vaguely aware that his father is a criminal, he is nonetheless impressed by his dad's high life style and creature comforts. But Walken's veneer of charm is fragile indeed, and it becomes clear that he is willing to kill anyone--even his family--if they get in his way. When Walken rapes Penn's girl friend (Mary Stuart Masterson) to keep the boy from cooperating with the DA, it is only a warm-up for the horrors to come. The screenplay for At Close Range was written by Nicholas Kazan, the son of prominent film director Elia Kazan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sean Penn - Brad Whitewood, Jr.
Christopher Walken - Brad Whitewood, Sr.
Mary Stuart Masterson - Terry
Chris Penn - Tommy Whitewood
Millie Perkins - Julie Whitewood

1986

In Competition ()

Berlin International Film Festival

James Foley

This two-sided disc for =At Close Range offers viewers the choice between a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a full-frame transfer. The widescreen transfer works wonderfully to convey the bleak atmosphere of the film. The black levels are very solid, and the colors are well-defined and impressive. This film does show signs of its 1985 release, with its naturalistic look and shady colors, but these things detract only slightly from this nearly blemish-free transfer. The full-frame transfer doesn't provide nearly the same picture quality or viewing experience. In terms of audio, the Dolby 2.0 transfer stands out as one of the best of its kind. While it fails to match the depth of a true surround experience, a surprising amount of complexity is present anyway. At times, birds are chirping from the far right speaker while the characters speak on the other side. The atmospheric sound is striking and springs from the high quality of this audio track. Once again, an MGM catalog release sadly includes only a theatrical trailer as an extra feature. The trailer comes in the widescreen version, but its transfer is not on the level of the film itself. The onscreen menus do look better than on comparable MGM discs, and the 32 chapter stops provide numerous opportunities for viewing the best individual scenes. But the lack of any significant special features is still a major disappointment. ~ Dan Heaton, All Movie Guide

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70	Natural Born Killers [Director's Cut] (NR)
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25	The Falcon and the Snowman (R)
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