‘Number One With A Bullet’ Blu-Ray Review – Knockoff Lethal Weapon Still Offers Some Mindless Fun

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Billy Dee Williams (Nighthawks, Return of the Jedi) is Hazeltine, a smooth and sophisticated narcotics detective. Robert Carradine (The Long Riders, Revenge of the Nerds) is Barzak, Hazeltine’s hot-tempered and not-so-suave partner. Their humor hits as hard and fast as their fists, and they never miss in the lawless world of killer drugs. Then, suddenly, Hazeltine and Barzak are stopped cold. When a key witness escapes while in their custody, the partners are sentenced to the unthinkable—desk jobs. So Hazeltine and Barzak decide it’s time to take the law into their own hands. Their L.A. manhunt takes them from dark alleys and seedy nightclubs to luxurious mansions filled with every imaginable pleasure. And when they discover that their most deadly enemy may be another cop, they’d better find out who—and fast. Number One with a Bullet is an edge-of-your-seat adventure for every fan of action, suspense and comedy, from director Jack Smight (Harper), co-writer James Belushi (Red Heat) and legendary producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus (52 Pick-Up), with co-stars Valerie Bertinelli (C.H.O.M.P.S.), Peter Graves (TV’s Mission: Impossible) and Doris Roberts (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three).

For thoughts on Number One With A Bullet, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

[youtube https://youtu.be/Gq72yhAZ0tk?si=ObVfBcMtBcOrhrlt&t=1034]

Video Quality

Kino Classics presents Number One With A Bullet with a great release in the form of a new 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that comes from a new 2K scan of the 35mm Interpositive. This debut provides some exceptional detail within the outfits, production design and environments. The transfer appears very filmic with no trace of digital manipulation. There are some small deficits in the video quality, but you will not find any compression artifacts or other preventable digital anomalies. 

The presentation delivers black levels with agreeable depth, but certain moments veer slightly milky without crushing. Highlights are kept in check with no blooming or clipping. Skin tones are a touch warm due to being under the blazing sun, but they appear to be natural with fine detail such as sweat and grime. There has been some care put into cleaning this one up even if there are some minor specks remaining. This release looks quite fetching with a robust color palette that captures the bright hues of the location. Fans should be more than happy with the work put forth by Kino Classics. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a good DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that handily executes everything that is thrown at it. Dialogue and background noises work in harmony with all competing elements. The sound effects and music appear to be authentic to the original intent. The soundtrack comes through with immense clarity and fidelity which grounds the narrative in something tangible. Despite the prominence of the music, nothing ever overshadows the dialogue or other important information. This track shows no particularly nasty instances of age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. This is a perfectly solid presentation of the film. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. 

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Action Film Historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema deliver a very informative and entertaining new commentary track in which they discuss the background of the production, how this fits into the Cannon Films catalog, interesting factoids about background performers, the aesthetic and tone of the film, the shooting locations and more that is well worth a listen. 

• Trailers: There is a minute-and-a-half trailer provided for Number One With A Bullet. There are also trailers provided for Gloria, Wanted: Dead or Alive, 52 Pick-Up, The Hunter, To Live and Die In LA, Taffin, The Package and Murphy’s Law.

Final Thoughts

Number One With A Bullet is a poor man’s version of Lethal Weapon, but it delivers in its own second-class way. There are some very dated and problematic elements in this one and the actors are not always the most believable, yet you find yourself forgiving many of the faults due to how much fun it is. It is not a great action movie, but it will get the job done if you are looking for dumb ‘80s fun. Kino Classics has provided a new Blu-Ray featuring a mighty fine A/V presentation and a good commentary track. This is one of the better “bad” action movies we have seen. Recommended 

Number One With A Bullet 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: Kino Classics 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.