Customer Reviews

Crime Story (Pilot Episode)

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Two of my favourite shows of the Eighties were Crime Story (1986-1988)and Wiseguy (1987-1990). Both shows introduced the Arc format in which a compelling story was told over a number of episodes. Wiseguy kept it to around 10 (at most) but I remember reading an article in which the creators' of Crime Story envision each season as a 22 chapter novel.

Back in the early 90's STARMAKER released the entire series on ten video tapes entitled Crime Story: The Complete Saga. This was fantastic at the time since I did not tape CS when it was on NBC. Some tapes were only 96 minutes (Pilot, Vol 5: Luca's Fall) but others lasted 144-288 minutes or higher (Part 2: The Mafia War, Part 9: Damaging Testimony). I believe these tapes may still be available on Amazon in the VHS section. Its fun to watch such notable actors as Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Julia Roberts, Laura San Giacoma, Gary Sinise (who also directed episodes of the show)and more early in their careers.

Unfortunately, the video quality of these tapes were substandard as they were duplicated in something called Quality Extended Play which is really just SLP mode. And of course tracking became an issue depending on the quality of your VHS player.

This has changed with the impending release of the Crime Story pilot on DVD. Although it appears to be a bare bones "movie-only" edition the video and audio can only be improved upon. Also, it appears Anchor Bay has taken care in creating new artwork for the DVD. Oddly enough, it looks like Anthony Denison is the good guy (Torello) instead of Luca. Perhaps this has occurred because of Farina's roles in such films as Midnight Run and Get Shorty?

Hopefully, if the pilot sells well Anchor Bay may release the entire 2 seasons in a similar fashion to the recent X-Files DVD set. Hmm... maybe enough interest will be developed to provide a resolution to 1988's cliff hanger (I won't spoil here but its a corker!). Heck, even Wiseguy got a tv movie back in 1996 (with a regular Crime Story actor: Ted Levine as a villain).

As with the other folks above, I remember watching Crime Story each week during it's two years on the air. It made TV bearable for a little while; remember, this show came in the days of such "classics" as Who's the Boss and The A-Team. The last couple of episodes of season one blew me away; a story arc that lasted a season with all the loose ends being tied up in an finale that was definitely unconventional.

I own the boxed VHS set from Starmaker. Although it is nice to have the entire run in one collection, the picture quality leaves something to be desired. Also, it is nearing the end of it's shelf life (the average for VHS is about 15 years) so a DVD set would be very welcome.

Thanks to Anchor Bay for taking the time to put this gem back on the market and here's hoping they release the rest of the series.

Before he directed some of my favorite films (Heat, The Insider, Manhunter), Michael Mann created two groundbreaking television series. Miami Vice got most of the viewers but its Crime Story that was truly ahead of its time. Crime Story dealt with Lt. Torello (played by Dennis Farina with a grimness that always allowed a sly wit to shine through) who fought organized crime on the streets of Chicago in the 1950's. His main nemesis is aspiring mobster Luca, himself a fascinating portrait of evil who somehow always managed to be somehow sympathetic in his raw need to be a true crime lord. Even while playing hommage to the crime shows of the past (I always thought of it as the Untouchables if Eliot Ness ended up having a nervous breakdown halfway through the series), Crime Story redefined the genre. It went over the head of most viewers but now, after films like Pulp Fiction changed the way we view entertainment, Crime Story has been rediscovered and its about time. Even as the show's talented cast of character actors dispensed the melodrama with a sly wink at the few members of the audience lucky enough to be in on the joke, the violence was often amazingly intense but never played for cheap thrills. As well, Crime Story had a simply amazing soundtrack. In fact, I first started watching it mostly to hear the wonderful rendition of Del Shannon's "Runaway" over the opening credits but each show was scored with some of the best blues I've ever heard and it created a moody atmosphere that, quite simply, sucked you in. If you're a fan of the crime genre but haven't seen Crime Story, do yourself a favor and track it down. This pilot film is a great place to start on what, I promise, will be one of the most entertaining rides of your life.

Crime Story is a a lean, mean cop show drama that features politically incorrect police officers battling it out with nasty criminals.

It's a testimony to Michael Mann's reputation at the time that Crime Story was even greenlighted. NBC would have never gone for the casting of Dennis Farina, with his pockmarked face and lack of acting experience, had Mann been a neophyte producer with no proven track record. The choice of cult film director Abel Ferrara (pre-Bad Lieutenant) must have also freaked out network execs. His previous films included a deranged psycho gruesomely killing people with a power tool and a rape survivor viciously killing the men who attacked her with a .45 pistol.

And yet, the final product proves that Mann's instincts were right on the money. Farina delivers the hard-boiled dialogue with the perfect amount of intensity (at one point Farina says menacingly to one goon, "you hurt anybody else, when this is all over I'm gonna find what you love the most and I'm gonna kill it. Your mother, your father, your dog. Don't matter what it is -- it's dead."). You can see it in his eyes and the way he barks out orders that this a no-nonsense guy who isn't going to let anything get in the way of his job.

Ferrara directs with the same proficient skill of crime auteur, Don Siegel. Crime Story depicts a harsh world where life is cheap and characters will do anything -- even if it means bending or breaking the law -- to achieve their goals.

One of the most striking aspects about Crime Story is that it feels like it was ripped right from the pages of a James Ellroy novel. It is even more surprising that this show was done before Ellroy had written his famous L.A. Quartet of books that features L.A. Confidential, which Crime Story most closely resembles. The author claims that he hadn't seen the show until after he wrote these novels but he does admit to being a fan since then. This, of course, begs the question, when is someone going to reunite Farina and Ferrara to do a proper Ellroy adaptation?

The DVD disappoints in the extras department. No audio commentaries from Ferrara or Mann (both of whom have done them before), or even the show's creator, Chuck Adamson. A retrospective featurette would have been nice but instead we are left with nothing.

If you are willing to overlook the appalling lack of extras and are a fan of Michael Mann or James Ellroy's fiction then this is definitely worth checking out. Hopefully, the folks at Anchor Bay will redeem themselves with the first season of Crime Story that their website says is due out in July of this year with the second season coming out in December.

It only took a couple of seconds to know that this was going to be great. By the opening credits, I was hooked by the characters, the action, and the style. (Speaking of the credits, it's too bad that the wonderful montage of stock footage from Chicago intercut with shots from the series was replaced with Torello and company "in formation.") It leaves Miami Vice in the dust. Allow me to add my voice to those above in urging whoever owns the rights to this gem to get both seasons on DVD as soon as possible. It's a keeper.

Love that show. A great show that didn't have to rely on special effects, but relied solely on emotion.

A&E Network is re-running all of "Crime Story" on Monday nights at 8 p.m. central time. I'm taping them, but if the series is released on DVD, I'm there.

While I am a transplant to Chicaga (the way the locals say it) the 'real' feel of the locations seep into this video. The main characters of Ray Luca and Mike Torello join in a pas de deux of crime and justice. Luca is amoral, staying strictly focused on making money as easily as possible, while Torello is so squarely on the line between good and evil that when he walks, one foot lands on the good side and the other foot lands on the side of evil. It is this conflict that generates and develops the characters. Michael Mann has succeeded in adapting Film Noire to Color. The pilot is a great lead in to the rest of the series, and was years ahead of the quality storylines of the Sopranos. The only way it could be better was if the rest of the series was also on DVD.

I don't know what gets into the studios sometimes. This was one of my favorite series at the time I would not miss a week night that it was on. Great characters, lots of drama, supense, and tough guys from back in the day. Cooool hair & Cool Cars. Ray Luca, cold as Ice, Paulie, ruthless, stupid and funny, All the cops old skool cool and hard core. I was sad to see this go but a note to the studios who can make it live again: Set it free and I will buy it!!!! The pilot is not enough!!!

OK I cannot comment on the quality of the DVD, but I must tell you I have nothing but fond memories of one of the great TV shows of the 80's.

The Pilot (which oddly I just rented about 4 months ago) serves both as a stand alone crime drama, but also as an amazing spring board that does truly leave you wanting for more. With Dennis Farina in one of his early roles (same year as the GREAT Manhunter, and well before he became first a repeat of himself in the early 90's then found the perfect roles for himself in Get Shorty and Out of Sight) nailing the Lead Detective role to a T, David Caruso pre-King of New York and providing a hint of what would make him a good T.V. Star, and A.J. Denison providing one of the great TV badguys of the 80's (along with the vilians from "WiseGuy") and last but not least the great Able Ferrara, delivering a plot driven story that worked in a medium (tv) that was much tamer than his later explorations into crime (King of NY and Bad Lieutenant)yet delivered intensity that (for better or worse) leaves the viewer wishing that Michael Mann's incredibly stylish tv series (and CERTAINLY the better of his two tv efforts of the 80's, Miami Vice of course being the other) finds more of its episodes re-released soon.

This series was one of the best ever on television. It made you want to be living in that era and be a cop going after the "bad guys". The inclusion of the blues songs throughout each episode helped with setting the correct moods of the moment. Torello (Dennis Farina) could be sitting at the bar with an early Stones or Muddy Waters song on the jukebox and you could read his mind! Michael Mann's best work, even better than Miami Vice.