The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Michele Arbir.
Crossroads is a coming of age musical drama with a mix of the devil came down to Mississippi. As a musical movie fan (Grease is my #1 movie) when this came across my path as a pick for a review, I jumped at the chance. The film is inspired by legendary blues musician Robert Johnson. Directed by Walter Hill (48 Hours, Another 48 Hours) and released in 1986, the film features a terrific story, not to mention a great soundtrack and cast. Crossroads should appeal to any music lover.
A young Juilliard student fascinated with blues music named Eugene Martone (Ralph Macchio) helps Robert Johnson’s old friend escape from a minimum security hospital. In return for having broken Willie Brown (Joe Seneca) out of the hospital, Brown promises to give Eugene Robert Johnson’s last song, which he never recorded during his lifetime due to his untimely death. What follows is an astounding journey of learning the ways of the blues.
The best moment in Crossroads comes in a Mississippi ”jook house” – home to down-home blues. There Mr. Seneca delivers the blistering ”Willie Brown Blues,” which he wrote with Ry Cooder, who also scored the movie. This zippy number seems to express the movie’s unrealized fire in the belly. The guitar virtuoso Steve Vai makes an appearance in the film, as well as on the soundtrack. Did I say the music in this one is phenomenal?! The dueling-guitar battles are wickedly awesome. Crossroads lacks superb acting, but it’s still good enough to keep you interested. The strong point of the film is not the acting, but rather the deeply emotional story.
Crossroads is one great film with terrific storytelling, capable performances and a wicked Blues soundtrack. Just curl up on the couch and watch this one – you can’t go wrong. The film is a must-see for rock and blues lovers of any age. My only criticism is that the romance with the young hitchhiker Frances (Jami Gertz) did not play out as I had wished. This is a memorable film using one of the best, most emotional musical genres there is out there, the Blues.
Video Quality
Crossroads gets a decent upgrade to Blu-Ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment, but with it comes many issues that could have been avoided. The transfer is sourced from a reasonably solid older master provided by Columbia Pictures that shows off some semblance of natural film grain underneath some pesky digital issues. The biggest issue with this disc is not the occasional speck of damage to the print, but rather the ugly compression artifacts and macroblocking that plague most of the film. The presentation shows off some worthwhile textural details in the production design, but it’s not a knockout in that regard. The colors are somewhat muted, but it offers a solid core fidelity. Skin tones look natural, and the presentation offers up some fairly deep black levels. The disc experiences an extremely minimal of black crush, but nothing overly problematic. Mill Creek Entertainment has provided a Blu-Ray disc that is a step up from DVD, but not the massive improvement you might expect thanks to avoidable digital nuisances.
Audio Quality
This new Blu-Ray comes with a lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix that capably captures the intention of the film. The dialogue holds up really well, coming though clearly without being stepped on by the music or sound effects. The environmental effects are delineated nicely from the rain drenched scenes to the rolling thunder. The track mostly avoids instances of age related wear and tear or distortion. The climactic showdown is not quite as vibrant as it could be, but it holds together sonically so that distinct elements maintain their own identity in the mix. This is a track that represents the film in a worthwhile manner. Optional English subtitles are provided on this disc.
Special Features
There are no special features included on this disc. The only notable aspect of this release is the “VHS-Style” slipcover that ships with the packaging sporting some superior cover art.
Final Thoughts
Crossroads is a film that plays into a lot of tropes from other films, but still manages to bring an electricity to the proceedings that make it a blast to watch. The inventive way they use classic musical lore to tell a new story works really well. Ralph Macchio and Joe Seneca have a playful chemistry with one another that brings an added layer of joy to the story. Mill Creek Entertainment has delivered a Blu-Ray with unfavorable-but-passable picture quality and pleasing audio. This movie deserved a higher level of care when it came to its high definition debut, but fans of the film will still appreciate being able to own it on the format.
Crossroads is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
