Uncle Sam - 4K Ultra HD + Blu-Ray - Blue Underground
Release Date: June 21, 2022
Format: 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Company: Blue Underground
Synopsis:
It's Fourth Of July Weekend, and the recently discovered corpse of Sgt. Sam Harper - killed by 'friendly fire' during the first Gulf War - is returned to his all-American hometown. But when Sam rises from the dead to punish the unpatriotic, only his young nephew and a bitter Korean War veteran (Soul icon Isaac Hayes of Shaft and South Park fame) can stop his red-blooded rampage. Draft dodgers, tax cheats, crooked politicians and flag-burners beware: Uncle Sam wants you... DEAD!
Timothy Bottoms (The Last Picture Show), Bo Hopkins (The Wild Bunch), William Smith (Fast Company), P.J. Soles (Halloween, Carrie) and Oscar® nominee Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) co-star in this zombie horror hit directed by William Lustig (Maniac, Relentless) and written by Larry Cohen (God Told Me To, The Stuff).
Review:
There is no reason on earth that I can see why Uncle Sam wouldn’t be something of a triumphant last hurrah for genre and exploitation legends, and longtime collaborators, William (Bill) Lustig and Larry Cohen (of the Maniac Cop Trilogy fame). It has a strong premise that is ripe for satire and even more relevant today than it may have been back then, it has some wonderfully intended widescreen photography, it has plenty of inventive and funny kills, it has the highly impressive stunt work of Spiro Razatos and his team - the final full burn and ratcheting of a stunt man into an exploding house is particularly breathtaking in such a random and, comparatively, tiny budgeted movie - and it is packed with a wonderful menagerie of cult stars and genre character actors.
So, why then does it just not work for me? It almost does and I will definitely say that this viewing, on the 4K disc was the best time I’ve had with the film but still, despite the pedigree and the intent, something just didn’t work out with Uncle Sam.
It’s funny because during the commentary Lustig mentions that critics and fans at the time complained it wasn’t gory enough, he also admits he could’ve picked up the pace a bit and not cast two women who look identical - especially when, and I am sorry Leslie Neale and Anne Tremko, but they’re just no good in the film at all. A real head scratcher of a casting decision considering their screentime. He also says at one point “Larry I think we made a Lifetime movie, we should try and get a deal at Oxygen!”
So let me address all of that.
It’s true the film isn’t gory enough and it’s not because I like gore for gore’s sake or that I believe horror has to have tons of gore to be effective but that to really nail the satire in a way, outrage some of the straights and get a scrappy, genre audience behind you, they should’ve gone exploitation hog-wild with this thing - but I think maybe those days had passed by the time the later half of the 90s rolled around.
As for the pace, well it does have a very slow and, largely uninteresting, beginning. Both Cohen and Lustig say in the commentary track that audiences have shorter attention spans now and have no time for character building but I would say that the film doesn’t really have deep characters and maybe we’d have accepted the longer, slower first act if the characters were better or if the actors were better - Isaac Hayes though was superb in this, very watchable, and while not given much to do, Bo Hopkins is always a pleasure on screen. As a true fan, I really do love everyone involved in the movie, and it really pains me to say it, but the script just isn’t there. It’s not as satirical or biting as it needs to be, it’s not as funny or horrific as it needs to be and the so-called character development is sort of a lot of people hanging around filling in not-really-needed backstory that feels like padding the running time. Backstory and character are sort of two different things and one doesn’t automatically lead to the other. Backstory only, truly matters if it goes beyond the usual tropes and informs the action in the third act. If the audience can fill in the blanks because we get what’s going on before all the players start rambling on, then listening to them talk is nice an’ all but it’s neither required or adding anything to the proceedings.
I would’ve liked to have seen more from Robert Forster (who has a delightful cameo as a shitty politician) and it doesn’t make sense that you get P.J. Soles in a confusing, small and largely forgettable turn as a pissed off mother but then cast two bland, generic, blondes to play the main female roles.
As for the Lifetime movie comment, I am glad Lustig said it before I could. Now, I’ll admit, the 4K Ultra HD treatment makes this movie look the best it ever has and it was certainly easier to enjoy this in that format than the DVDs or Blu-Rays that came before - it’s also very clear that director, Bill Lustig, was really trying to fill the 2.40:1 widescreen lens with atmospheric, interesting and genuinely well composed shots - but something just feels off because while I could certainly divorce myself from the story for a minute and appreciate what the camera was doing, the video or film stock (I am not sure which) just looks odd. It looks a notch above soap opera and hovers around, exactly what the man said, looking like a Lifetime Movie.
Now the look of film changes over the decades and definitely effects the way a movie plays. Evil Dead on the big screen and early VHS is still a much better and more visceral experience than the cleaned up, shiny more modern presentations (for example) and a low budget production like this, in the mid-late nineties, is never going to look like the gritty seventies, the scrappy, experimental eighties or even the glossy, studio, produced horrors of the nineties - and maybe it is unfair to knock the film on its look when clearly, not only effort was made on set but effort has definitely been made in the authoring of this 4K disc to make it look as good as possible - but due to the lack of gore, the sometimes TV quality look and feel of the film and some plodding dialogue and exposition scenes, it does take away from what the film is trying to accomplish and I just find it a little difficult to see passed it.
In my humble and never really needed opinion, the film should’ve made a decision which side of the fence to lean on - it’s either a brooding, dark, satirical piece full of complex characters that speaks to the very problematic and jingoistic soul of America or it needs to be a big, bombastic, brightly coloured, coca cola commercial of a goofy slasher that pins the audience to their seats, offends everyone and paints the walls crimson. It’s really neither and I think it tries to be both but while I am sure everyone had fun making it, it’s a true shame that it’s not more fun to watch. It has its moments but it’s not the finest hour or even an enjoyable, genre, sendoff from Cohen and Lustig - it’s perhaps a more telling epilogue to their filmmaking careers as neither directed another feature after this. Cohen had a slight return to form with his Masters of Horror episode and his script writing continued unabated and brilliantly into the 2000s but in terms of independent pictures, this was it for them both.
All that being said there are some things that make this worth watching and even owning (for Cohen and Lustig completists like myself). There was no one else out there really still trying mad stuff like this in the second half of the nineties, there’s a certain joyful audacity and anarchy to sticking an abusive zombie soldier into a garish, shopping mall Uncle Sam costume and have him carve up some teens, the last act really picks up the pace and gives you lots of Razatos executed eye candy and Isaac Hayes holds the whole picture together. They really don’t make em like this anymore and while it’s horribly hit and miss, I’ll take that over safe, predictable remakes and sequels any day.
4K UltraHD/Blu-Ray review:
I am not a quality junky and I certainly don’t understand all the specs but as I have said elsewhere in this review and on previous Blue Underground reviews, the transfer looks fantastic. Especially for this film as it is now the closest to looking cinematic that it’s ever looked.
The audio was decent too. The film doesn’t have much going on in the way of audio design but what there is, works nicely.
The extras are great, especially the first audio commentary with Lustig, Cohen and Braunstein. Probably the best way to watch the film, in my view. Also the gag reel has to be seen to be believed - the only one of these things to ever make me laugh out loud! The power of editing!
The Fire Stunts is a decent mini featurette and the deleted scene is just a chance for Lustig’s brother to get his one line seen.
EXTRAS:
Audio Commentary #1 with Director William Lustig, Writer Larry Cohen and Producer George G. Braunstein
Audio Commentary #2 with Director William Lustig and Star Isaac Hayes
Fire Stunts with Audio Commentary by Stunt Coordinator Spiro Razatos
Deleted Scene
Gag Reel
Theatrical Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery
OTHER DETAILS:
All regions
4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray
1997
Run Time: 89 min
Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) Widescreen 2.40:1 feature presentation
English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Subtitles: English SDH, Francais, Espanol
