Reviewer's Rating 1 out of 5 听 User Rating 3 out of 5
Mean Streets DVD (1973)

Fans of Scorcese's early work will no doubt be excited that "Mean Streets" is now out on DVD. They'll also be baying for blood after they see the state of this UK Region 2 disc.

Why anyone lumbered with a fullscreen VHS copy of the film would want this DVD is a mystery. The ratio is the same for this disc, and the picture actually looks worse than the tape, with nasty digital dot crawl eating away at the darker shades. The source print is a shocker and the whole film looks washed-out.

The sound quality is just as miserable. The 2.0 mix carries a mono signal that distorts during any shouting (of which there is a lot!), loud effects or music. It's annoying and it piles further misery onto an already crap transfer.

Universal has handily provided a picture gallery on the disc, just in case you might want to see screen grabs from the lousy transfer. It's the final insult for a shabby release that treats the UK film fan with utter contempt.

Chapters: 18
Region: 2
Ratio: 1.33:1 (fullscreen)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
Extra Features: Scene selection, photo gallery, subtitles.

End Credits

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer: Martin Scorsese, Mardik Martin

Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson, Richard Romanus, Cesare Danova, George Memmoli, Robert Carradine, David Carradine

Genre: Drama

Length: 103 minutes

Cinema: 1973

DVD: 1 January 2001

Country: USA