Payback [The Director's Cut]

The new transfer of "Payback: Straight Up" holds up rather nicely on the high definition Blu-ray transfer (and its nearly identical HD-DVD release). The level of detail is striking. I feel fairly certain that the process of cutting "Payback: Straight Up" from film and creating a brand new film from the master materials allowed for a strong level of detail and thankfully, the source materials held up strongly, as "Payback" is clean and without any noticeable blemishes on the Blu-ray format. Black level of the 1:85:1 MPEG-2/1080p widescreen film is strong and perfectly compliments the mildly bleached look of the film. Comparing the Blu-ray release to the original standard definition DVD releases was truly like comparing apples to oranges, as the films underwent entirely different post-production processes, but "Payback: Straight Up" on Blu-ray is a huge improvement. Comparing the HD-DVD release to the Blu-ray release shows that the HD-DVD has a very minor advantage in color reproduction. It is hardly noticeable, but the Blu-ray variant of "Payback: Straight Up" just looked more bleached.

Sound:
The soundtrack portion of "Payback: Straight Up" is completely reworked as well. Director Brian Helgeland turned to his musical editor Scott Stambler to create an entirely new theme for the title sequence. This work resulted in Stambler completely rescoring the entire picture. While I did enjoy the new theme song, I felt the new theatrical score was far less impressive than what was contained in the theatrical release. The new score is an exercise in minimalism when compared to the grander theatrical release. Stambler has not done a bad job with "Payback: Straight Up," but the theatrical release was just a more dynamic and enveloping soundtrack and much of this is attributed to the original score.

The soundtrack has also been fully reworked and mastered to Dolby Digital 5.1 multi-channel surround. This is a quite rewarding soundtrack, as the dynamics of the soundtrack are just as detailed as the Blu-ray´s visuals. The film does not possess a lot of aggressive moments, but what sounds do accompany the action on-screen are so finely detailed, the actors sound as if they are talking right beside you. Bullet casings can be heard bouncing off the concrete during the film´s final act, where Porter must face a number of assassins to claim his seventy thousand dollars. Comparing the film to its original version is another exercise in trying to judge different produce. The theatrical score was more impactful, but the mix is cleaner and better engineered. The Blu-ray release is identical to the HD-DVD release in sound quality.

Extras:
Brian Helgeland was given a second chance to make the film he wanted and he lived to tell about it in the Commentary by Writer/Director Brian Helgeland. The director points out the various differences between the two films and at times is critical of the decisions and other times sympathetic. He offers up anecdotes on the making of both versions and comes across as warm and intelligent in his commentary. This was a very good listen. Paybacks are a Bitch is broken down into two parts, On Location in Chicago (30:01) and On Set in Los Angeles (19:38). They can be played separately or together with a "Play All" option. These documentaries combine footage from the original shooting and presented by Helgeland in more recent interview footage. This was a nice Behind-the-Scenes feature that was all the more interesting because of the two films that resulted from the shoot.

The absolute best supplement on the high definition disc is Same Story, Different Movie: Creating Payback the Director´s Cut (28:52). Featuring new interview footage with director Brian Helgeland, this is a wonderful look at the two different versions and the reasoning behind the theatrical release and the painstaking process that was undertaken to bring the Director´s Cut to life. A very bushy-bearded Mel Gibson is also involved in this documentary and kudos to Gibson for helping make this happen. The editing, cinematic score and other details of "Payback: Straight Up" are discussed in this nice feature. The final supplement, aside from some Previews is The Hunter: A Conversation with Author Donald E. Westlake (10:46). Westlake details the story and his memories of creating the book.

Closing Comments:
"Payback: Straight Up" is the rare occurrence of a studio allowing a filmmaker to right a wrong caused by the Hollywood system. Brian Helgeland was stripped of his directorial duties when "Payback" was in post production and Mel Gibson and a large number of reshoots created a "Payback" that was far from the picture Helgeland intended. Although "Payback" is a good film in its own right, this new director´s cut is a superior effort. Far grittier and straightforward in its storytelling and with a completely different third, this newly created film is an all new experience. The visuals are greatly improved over the older standard definition release of the theatrical version, but sound is a mixed bag. Of course, this is comparing apples to oranges, as the releases contain two different films. The supplements nicely detail the differences between the two releases and the painstaking process of bringing Brian Helgeland´s version of the film to fruition. The only complaint I have with this release is that the theatrical version was not included on the flip side of the disc.

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