Each is considered a masterpiece of American cinema and established Coppola as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time before his 41st birthday.
Unfortunately the '80s weren't as kind to the venerable auteur as a combination of mounting debt, ego and a changing cinematic landscape set the Oscar winner on an inauspicious path most of the decade, dabbling in musicals, coming-of-age tales and a Back To The Future-like time-travel fantasy. 1983's Rumble Fish was one those films.
Based on S.E. Hinton's 1975 novel (Coppola also directed the 1983 adaptation of Hinton's The Outsiders) Rumble Fish focuses on the relationship between teenage hood Rusty James (Matt Dillon) and his former gang leader brother Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke).
While Rusty James craves the gangster lifestyle and matching his brother's almost-mythical reputation, Motorcycle Boy covets a quieter, more transcendental existence. Unfortunately, a local lawman (William Smith) is unwilling to forgive Motorcycle Boy's past transgressions and sets the film on course for a noirish finale.
The plot is really that simple. Along the way we get a gang fight here and there, an intimate moment or two between Rusty James and his girlfriend (Diane Lane) and a confrontation between the brothers and their old man (Dennis Hopper). The whole film seems kinds of cartoonish, complete with unengaging dialog and one-dimensional characters. The running time is a svelte 94 minutes but it frankly seems like another hour has been added.
The one bright side is Coppola's use of black-and-white photography, adding a gritty starkness to the Tulsa, Oklahoma exteriors and populating each shot with unconventional camera angles for a noir-like quality. Coppola appropriately called it his "art film for teenagers."
Newly restored in 4k, Criteron's recent Blu-ray release looks absolutely suburb. Presented in its native 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the black-and-white imagery just pops off the screen. Details are tight and crisp and that Tulsa grittiness has never looked more menacing.
The 2.0 surround DTS Master Audio track sounds great and both dialog and Stewart Copeland's score are clear and robust at minimal levels.
As usual with Criterion, the disc features a bevy of extras and highlights include a Coppola commentary, an alternate remastered 5.1 audio track, new interviews with Coppola, Hinton, Dillon and Lane and the music video for the Stan Ridgeway/Stewart Copeland single "Don't Box Me In," a song I forgot all about and actually remember liking when in was in heavy rotation on MTV some 34 years ago.
Rumble Fish is not Coppola's finest hour, but it does feature some nice visuals and reminds us that truly great directors always seem to crave taking risks, making the films that speak to them, whether audiences embrace them or not.
