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Prince of the City (blu-ray)

Treat Williams (Actor), Jerry Orbach (Actor), Burt Harris (Director), Rated:
R
Format: Blu-ray
4.5 out of 5 stars 614
IMDb7.4/10.0
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August 24, 2021 		—
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$20.82 $20.76
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Prince of the City $3.99 $10.49
Genre Action & Adventure
Contributor Carmine Caridi, Richard Foronjy, Treat Williams, Jay Presson Allen, Kenny Marino, Don Billett, Jerry Orbach, Bob Balaban, Burt Harris, Norman Parker, tony Page, Paul Roebling, Lindsay Crouse See more
Language English
Studio Warner

Product Description

"The first thing a cop learns is that he can't trust nobody but his partners," Detective Danny Ciello tells an assistant D.A. "I sleep with my wife, but I live with my partners. I will never give them up." From Robert Daley's riveting book about New York City police-corruption investigations, director/cowriter Sidney Lumet's film portrays a squad that pays a terrible price when one in its ranks does just that. Treat Willams (as Ciello, inspired by real-life undercover narcotic cop Robery Leuci), Jerry Orbach, Bob Balaban and Lindsay Crouse give standout performances in this gripping film. Lumet also stands out, garnering the New York Film Critics Best Director Award and an Oscar nomination (iwth Jay Presson Allen) for the screenplay.

Product details

  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.65 x 5.35 x 0.28 inches; 2.36 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Burt Harris, Jay Presson Allen
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ August 24, 2021
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett, Kenny Marino
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ BBC
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B099XDZ1NW
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 614

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
614 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dumb Ox
5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty and Compelling Police Drama
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2005
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Some spoilers within; do not read if trying not to find out plot developments.

This is a film that was inexcusably blown off at the Oscars. It richly deserved the awards it never received. Lifted straight from the book with only minor name changes, Prince of the City was a compelling look into the world of a narcotics detective as he brings about his unit's downfall. Danny Cielo (Treat Williams) is the cop who belatedly develops a conscience and rebels against what he and his men have become in their war on drugs; they've corrupted themselves to nail the corrupt and maintain their fantastically high arrest and conviction rate.

At first, Cielo has no intention of turning in his unit. He actually tries only to go after the criminals. However, in making a deal with the feds he's made a deal with the devil. The prosecutors realize they have a gold mine in Cielo and dig into him for all the information they can obtain. Little by little, the circle tightens like a noose around Cielo until he ends up fingering his mentor, then his own men. For a cop to rat on fellow cops is a deeply imprinted anamoly, an affront to the brotherhood that binds the police more tightly than blood ties. Cielo disintegrates under the pressure and agonies of his betrayals, shaking and crying, popping Valium to alleviate his tortured guilt. Around him, his men rat each other out and one even commits suicide. Only one is strong enough to withstand the feds: Gus Levy (Jerry Orbach), who marches into the office of a weasely prosecutor to tip his desk onto him and offers to toss him through the window of his high-rise building. At the end, Levy despises Cielo for his decision, and though Danny has done the right thing in the eyes of the law, he suffers as a pariah in the view of some of his fellow police officers.

This is a great piece of cinema. The direction is tight, the acting fantastic, and the dialogue heavily laced with coarse language that deepens the realism. Treat Williams never again received a role or acted so well as he did in this film. Jerry Orbach was so immersed in his part that Dick Wolf wanted him as a detective on Law & Order after seeing him portray Gus Levy. Sidney Lumet sculpted this movie into an intense drama that, while long, is never boring. Done by Lumet as an apology for his hatchet job on the NYPD in Serpico, this film succeeds in more ways than mere atonement; it is brilliant in its own right and ends more ambiguously, letting the viewer sort out who did the right thing. This is an excellent movie, highly recommended for those who enjoy tough moral dilemmas and superb cinema craftsmanship.
64 people found this helpful
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David & Izelenn Marsh
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, we both loved this movie!
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2023
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Great cop movie and knowing it’s based on a true story adds to the movie (post watching it). We will definitely be watching it again. I’m glad we have it in our collection. Fascinating story and interesting dynamics between family and friends. Worth watching!
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James M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Cops and you
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2023
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Great movie a bit like son of no one
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Eric F. Holly
4.0 out of 5 stars I knew Raf Alvarez
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2022
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I was in the home of Raf Alvarez several times a week from 1979-1981. His oldest son was one of my best friends in high school. Kids being kids, he could not resist telling me, his best friend, the story that led to this movie. I laughed and told him he was full of crap. But a few days later he called and told me to watch 20/20 that evening. He claimed his parents would be interviewed with their faces blacked out but that I would recognize their voices. When it all happened just like he said it would, I was stunned! I mean, this was the COOLEST friend I ever had, or at least that is what my 15-year-old mind thought at the time. I lost track of them after 1982. Sadly, many tragedies beset this family in the years that followed. This movie did an adequate job of depicting the events that transpired.
6 people found this helpful
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David E. Baldwin
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Tale of Police Corruption
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2007
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About ten years ago, I picked up a paperback of Robert Daley's "Prince of the City". I found Daley's account of corruption in the ranks of the New York City Police Department and the Knapp Commision hearings mesmerizing. This led me to Peter Maas' "Serpico". Naturally I hunted down the two films that director Sidney Lumet based on these books. As much as I liked "Serpico" I found "Prince of the City" a much more compelling story. I think this has more to do with the fact that Danny Ciello(Bob Leuci in the book) is a much more enigmatic figure than Frank Serpico. Serpico was a maverick but there was no questioning his integrity. Ciello's motives for blowing the whistle are a little more problematic. As a high profile narcotics detective, Ciello took bribes from organized crime figures and provided his stoolies with drugs among his many sundry offences. Now you can say that a lot of what Ciello did were necessary evils in conducting his day to day affairs but he also feathered his own personal nest. When he decides to go clean with the Commision he wants to do it on his own terms, meaning he'll bring down people he has a personal distaste for but not his friends on the force or his partners. Ciello's handlers have a different agenda, however, that doesn't naturally cohere with his. "Prince of the City" is a long film but it never sags. Aside from Lumet's crisp direction he also has crafted an engrossingly complex script with Jay Presson Allen. Treat Williams as Ciello gives a wrenching account of a man in turmoil. This is the kind of performance that gets overlooked probably because Ciello is a morally ambiguous figure. This is one of the great American films of the Eighties and one for all time.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Paul Seguin
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Treat Williams best performances
Reviewed in Canada on August 25, 2023
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Treat plays and undercover cop as he unravels drug pushers....He should have gotten the oscar for this film
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desmé alain
5.0 out of 5 stars lumet
Reviewed in France on December 15, 2023
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ai reçu le colis
alain
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Mauro Dieghi
5.0 out of 5 stars Film
Reviewed in Italy on September 5, 2020
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Bellissimo film; peccato che non ne esista una versione in lingua italiana.
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Gerni
5.0 out of 5 stars Sehenswerter Film
Reviewed in Germany on January 29, 2019
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Sehr guter Polizeifilm, eigentlich der beste aus den 80-er Jahren, habe den Film vor ca. 30 Jahren das erste Mal gesehen und auch auf Video aufgenommen. Nunmehr auf DVD bestellt, da man so einen Film einfach zu Hause haben muss. Anspruchsvoll mit gutem Hintergrund. Versand verlief super, sehr guter Zustand für gebrauchte DVD - besser als erwartet.
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harry georgatos
2.0 out of 5 stars What could have been but isn’t
Reviewed in Australia on December 29, 2020
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I found this film pedestrian dull and tedious. Sydney Lumet can’t make this film exciting and visceral corrupt police thriller. This was going to be directed by Brian DePalma when Lumet stoled the film from DePalma. Big mistake. DePalma would go on to steal Scarface from Lumet. The material is riveting but needed riveting direction. Lumet would go on to make the powerful Q and A that also deals with police corruption.
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