Walter Hill’s Undisputed is the very definition of a pulp movie. A prison boxing picture that sets two unmovable and unstoppable forces against one another. Hill’s lean style is a perfect match for the story’s gritty tale.
Lifer Monroe “Undisputed” Hutchen (Wesley Snipes) is unmatched in the underground illegal boxing circuit at Sweetwater prison. George “The Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames), the Heavyweight Champion of the World, is convicted of rape and is sent to Sweetwater. Mendy Ripstein (Peter Falk), a gangster who won’t breathe free air again, is the spark that will set these two men ablaze. Mendy maneuvers and cons the system to bring these two men into the ring for a bare-knuckle boxing match to end all boxing matches.
The script by Hill and David Giler is an example of economy in storytelling. There isn’t a wasted moment in the 90-minute film. Undisputed has a natural force at which Hill’s direction moves, ratcheting up tension and the drama, until the finale. Because of this unadorned style, Hill’s movie never feels like a cliché sports film. Rather, it’s a genuine human drama that one doesn’t know which combatant will win.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative looks near flawless. The film’s presentation in Dolby Vision is luminous, with the HDR encoding giving the low-light photography extra depth and definition throughout. The transfer’s color reproduction and film grain are so good that it looks like a freshly struck archival 35mm print. There is nary a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt to be found during the runtime. Strike up another win for Kino Lorber and their 4K UHD presentations.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historian Mike Leeder and Filmmaker Matt Routledge
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historian Mike Leeder and Filmmaker Matt Routledge
Personal Combat: Interview with Director Walter Hill
A Conversation with Wesley Snipes
A Conversation with Ving Rhames
Theatrical Trailer
The all-new Audio Commentary by Action Film Historian Mike Leeder and Filmmaker Matt Routledge begins with a discussion of the first of an unintended series (which eventually stars Scott Adkins). Some of the details include the film’s initial release in theaters and home video – and this came out during the change in those distributions in the early 2000s; a discussion of their first experience with the films of Walter Hill; an extended discussion of the life and career of Hill – including discussion of his early life, education, his career as an AD, his writing career, eventually getting into direction, a dissection of each of his directorial efforts (and discussion of some unrealized projects) with some great personal asides and tangents; a discussion of the career and work here of Wesley Snipes; the training that both Snipes and Rhames did separately outside this film and the work of boxing trainer Emmanuel Stuart; the inspiration that the film came from Mike Tyson’s legal issues; a discussion of the career and work here of Ving Rhames; a discussion of the career and work of Peter Falk including a great discussion of Columbo and Wings of Desire; a discussion of the final fight and the work fight coordination by Cole McKay; a great discussion of the series and the plot mechanics of the sequels; and much more. Leeder and Routledge provide a highly entertaining and informative commentary track that’s oftentimes non-specific but provides a wealth of knowledge about the key figures involved.
Personal Combat: Interview with Director Walter Hill (22:32) – in this all-new interview, Hill opens with a discussion of the tradition of boxing and physical combat throughout the centuries as eloquently as only Hill can be. The director goes on to discuss his favorite piece of literature about boxing (hint: it’s a Hemingway short story); the fact that he wanted to make a film about a fight and nothing else – no escape plan, et. al.; how the story began with Giler and Hill discussing Tyson going to prison and extrapolated from there; why Giler was a great writing partner and what his strengths were; his working relationship with producer Avi Lerner – including the cost of the film and where most of the budget went to; the casting process in getting both Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames; how he cast Peter Falk – who was a neighbor of Hill; the casting of Michael Rooker – including a great anecdote of him being initially cast in Streets of Fire; the casting of Wes Studi, Jon Seda, Dayton Callie; the shooting in the prison in Las Vegas under thirty days; his love of shooting fast – including the advice Don Siegel gave him about rehearsals; the access they had with the prison because of the Warden’s love of the idea of a film being produced there; the strength of the final boxing match – including the lack of doubles in the film; Hill’s notion that Rhames and Snipes did not like each other – beyond the character; how he works with his directors of photography; the way he worked with Editor Freeman Davies – who edited all of his films since The Warriors; and much more.
A Conversation with Wesley Snipes (4:39) – in the archival interview, Snipes discusses how he was cast in the film; what he liked about the character; the training with Emmanuel Stuart and the research he did for the character; and much more.
A Conversation with Ving Rhames (2:47) – in the archival interview, Rhames discusses the story’s metaphor and universal appeal; the training he did for the Sonny Liston story, and when that project didn’t happen, he took on this role; the training he did and the boxing scenes; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Undisputed (2:22); Jungle Fever (2:37); Out of Sight (2:35); The Long Riders (2:28); Johnny Handsome (1:31);
The Final Thought
Kino has produced another winner. Highest possible recommendations!!!
The Walter Hill-directed cult classic Undisputed comes to 4K UHD thanks to Kino Lorber.
The Film
Walter Hill’s Undisputed is the very definition of a pulp movie. A prison boxing picture that sets two unmovable and unstoppable forces against one another. Hill’s lean style is a perfect match for the story’s gritty tale.
Lifer Monroe “Undisputed” Hutchen (Wesley Snipes) is unmatched in the underground illegal boxing circuit at Sweetwater prison. George “The Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames), the Heavyweight Champion of the World, is convicted of rape and is sent to Sweetwater. Mendy Ripstein (Peter Falk), a gangster who won’t breathe free air again, is the spark that will set these two men ablaze. Mendy maneuvers and cons the system to bring these two men into the ring for a bare-knuckle boxing match to end all boxing matches.
The script by Hill and David Giler is an example of economy in storytelling. There isn’t a wasted moment in the 90-minute film. Undisputed has a natural force at which Hill’s direction moves, ratcheting up tension and the drama, until the finale. Because of this unadorned style, Hill’s movie never feels like a cliché sports film. Rather, it’s a genuine human drama that one doesn’t know which combatant will win.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative looks near flawless. The film’s presentation in Dolby Vision is luminous, with the HDR encoding giving the low-light photography extra depth and definition throughout. The transfer’s color reproduction and film grain are so good that it looks like a freshly struck archival 35mm print. There is nary a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt to be found during the runtime. Strike up another win for Kino Lorber and their 4K UHD presentations.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The all-new Audio Commentary by Action Film Historian Mike Leeder and Filmmaker Matt Routledge begins with a discussion of the first of an unintended series (which eventually stars Scott Adkins). Some of the details include the film’s initial release in theaters and home video – and this came out during the change in those distributions in the early 2000s; a discussion of their first experience with the films of Walter Hill; an extended discussion of the life and career of Hill – including discussion of his early life, education, his career as an AD, his writing career, eventually getting into direction, a dissection of each of his directorial efforts (and discussion of some unrealized projects) with some great personal asides and tangents; a discussion of the career and work here of Wesley Snipes; the training that both Snipes and Rhames did separately outside this film and the work of boxing trainer Emmanuel Stuart; the inspiration that the film came from Mike Tyson’s legal issues; a discussion of the career and work here of Ving Rhames; a discussion of the career and work of Peter Falk including a great discussion of Columbo and Wings of Desire; a discussion of the final fight and the work fight coordination by Cole McKay; a great discussion of the series and the plot mechanics of the sequels; and much more. Leeder and Routledge provide a highly entertaining and informative commentary track that’s oftentimes non-specific but provides a wealth of knowledge about the key figures involved.
Personal Combat: Interview with Director Walter Hill (22:32) – in this all-new interview, Hill opens with a discussion of the tradition of boxing and physical combat throughout the centuries as eloquently as only Hill can be. The director goes on to discuss his favorite piece of literature about boxing (hint: it’s a Hemingway short story); the fact that he wanted to make a film about a fight and nothing else – no escape plan, et. al.; how the story began with Giler and Hill discussing Tyson going to prison and extrapolated from there; why Giler was a great writing partner and what his strengths were; his working relationship with producer Avi Lerner – including the cost of the film and where most of the budget went to; the casting process in getting both Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames; how he cast Peter Falk – who was a neighbor of Hill; the casting of Michael Rooker – including a great anecdote of him being initially cast in Streets of Fire; the casting of Wes Studi, Jon Seda, Dayton Callie; the shooting in the prison in Las Vegas under thirty days; his love of shooting fast – including the advice Don Siegel gave him about rehearsals; the access they had with the prison because of the Warden’s love of the idea of a film being produced there; the strength of the final boxing match – including the lack of doubles in the film; Hill’s notion that Rhames and Snipes did not like each other – beyond the character; how he works with his directors of photography; the way he worked with Editor Freeman Davies – who edited all of his films since The Warriors; and much more.
A Conversation with Wesley Snipes (4:39) – in the archival interview, Snipes discusses how he was cast in the film; what he liked about the character; the training with Emmanuel Stuart and the research he did for the character; and much more.
A Conversation with Ving Rhames (2:47) – in the archival interview, Rhames discusses the story’s metaphor and universal appeal; the training he did for the Sonny Liston story, and when that project didn’t happen, he took on this role; the training he did and the boxing scenes; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Undisputed (2:22); Jungle Fever (2:37); Out of Sight (2:35); The Long Riders (2:28); Johnny Handsome (1:31);
The Final Thought
Kino has produced another winner. Highest possible recommendations!!!
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Undisputed is out now.
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