Product Details

• Actors: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox, Don Scardino
• Directors: William Friedkin
• Writers: William Friedkin, Gerald Walker
• Producers: Burtt Harris, Jerry Weintraub
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 26, 1996
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301640659
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,719 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Al Pacino hunts for a serial killer in a lurid world of gay leather bars in Cruising. Because of his resemblance to the victims of a series of slayings, cop Steve Burns (Pacino) goes undercover as a gay man, wandering through wild, gyrating bacchanalias straight out of a Tom of Finland painting, hoping that the killer will be drawn to his dark, tormented eyes. Cruising is a peculiar movie, a gritty police procedural that director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) tried to push into a quasi-metaphysical dimension with some casting tricks and subliminal images. Due to the controversy the movie sparked in the gay community, Friedkin goes to great lengths in the commentary and featurettes to defend the authenticity of the movie's sources (about a bizarre scene where a muscular black man wearing nothing but a jock strap and a cowboy hat appears out of nowhere and slaps a suspect being interrogated by the police, Friedkin claims this actually happened, though no context is offered). The movie passes no apparent judgment on the overtly sexual scenes in gay bars...yet clearly these scenes are expected to provoke unease in the viewer. Cruising is sure to provoke arguments: Is Pacino's performance vulnerable or tentative? Is the movie about homophobia or homophobic itself? What does the ending mean? Yet there's no denying it's claimed a place in cinematic history; far more people know about it than have seen it. For that--as well as the stylish cinematography--Cruising is worth seeing. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Sexual thriller with Al Pacino as a young cop who must go undercover as a gay 'cruiser' in New York City. There's a homicidal homophobe on the streets, brutally killing gay men, and it's up to Pacino to stop him. Shot on location in several gay bars of the era.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites, May 7, 2006

By 

Larry VanDeSande - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cruising (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

I've always enjoyed "Cruising", Billy Friedkin's opus on violence, male homosexuality, leather and all things bizarre. Right from that great line, "Have you ever been porked?" between stars Paul Sorvino and a fresh-faced Al Pacino, this film draws me in like few others.

While the police action and the chase mystery are interesting, what I enjoy most about this film is Pacino's transformation from all-American boy cop to undercover cop to feigning homosexuality in the leather underground of New York and the changes he goes through to get there. The script suggests he and girlfriend Karen Allen lose their love life in the process; how could they not? Try chaning your sexual orientation sometime for the focus of your job.

The scene between investigative chieftain Sorvino and his boss, who makes it clear to Paul that he either catches the killer by the time of the upcoming 1980 political convention or "I'll put someone in your seat who can do just that" adds an element or reality to the film, which straddles the line between fantasy and reality much of the time.

After being given the ultimatum, Sorvino turns up the heat on his undercover cop turning gay man, Pacino. In a touching and dramatic scene, Sorvino not only turns down Pacino's request to be released from the case, he hands him potential new leads and in effect says, "Catch this guy."

So, for me, this film is full of human realities and conflicts that make it a great film. This transcends the somewhat mundane material -- the norish police drama focused on catching a serial killer in the gay leather underground -- that makes it a compelling film about people and situations and how the two come together in art.

One thing I've never understood -- the ending. All seems well afterward, but is it? Does the tug in the harbor signal some rumbling beneath the surface? Or does this signal a return to normalcy for everyone. This is the kind of emotion Friedkin generated in all his films. Since no sequel was produced, I may go to my grave wondering about this. If so, I'll be pleased to watch this film another half-dozen or dozen times trying to piece this together.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Frames Are Still There!!!, September 26, 2007

By 

Alex Honda "onyx575" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cruising (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

The CRUISING (DELUXE EDITITON) dvd has restored the movie and soundtrack, but doesn't add anything new. According to the film's director, William Friedkin, over 40-minutes of additional footage was cut from the original movie and has since disappeared. And though he would have liked to include the 40+-minutes on this dvd, Friedkin says that he feels that the movie is complete as is.

For those who aren't familiar with this movie, it's about a New York city cop (Pacino) who goes undercover in the S&M(Sado-masochism)/Leather subculture of the gay community looking for a serial killer who's targeting gay men. Even though he's a rookie, the cop is chosen for this assignment because he looks like most of the victims. The film is a gritty whodunnit and exposes an aspect of gay life that most will never see, and raises more questions than it answers. It can be very confusing at times and you never really know if the actual killer is caught; if the guy caught is the actual killer or if there's more than one.

For those who are familiar with CRUISING, I just like to say that the porn frames are still in it. I thought that they would take them out because of the dvd transfer, but they didn't, which is good. The film looks sharp and there are some graphic enhancements that I don't remember being on the original video, but it doesn't take away anything from the movie.

***Bonus Material***

***Friedkin's commentary

***Two featurettes that total about 45-minutes and include interviews with some of the actors from "Cruising," along with Friedkin (Pacino is not on it), which also talks about the controversy and backlash from the gay commmunity

***Theatrical trailer

40 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Serial killer case becomes a nightmare for rookie cop, June 24, 2002

By 

Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cruising [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It's not hard to tell that Cruising is from the director of The French Connection and The Exorcist. On the French Connection side of the cinematic coin, Cruising has the same documentary like and gritty, urban noir texture. On the other it has The Exorcist's blunt edged shock tactics, shoving unsettling imagery in the viewers face at every opportunity to do so.

Body parts are found in the rivers around NYC while a serial killer is hacking up men that frequent hardcore S&M gay leather bars. Desperate to close two unsavory cases (and not caring whether they are truly linked or not) top cop Paul Sorvino sends in rookie Al Pacino (who fits the victim profile) to lure the killer out of the shadows. The case seems to have an effect on Pacino's character, but director William Friedkin is far too objective, letting the unsavory events unfold without allowing the viewer to become emotionally involved in them, so it all seems shock for shock's sake. This movie was extremely controverisal when first released and (judging from the polarized reviews here) still packs a powerful and unnerving punch. Recommended for those that want a dark and disturbing ride.