![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/NoMansLand1987_BR.jpg\")
Film: Very Good<\/p>\nFilm: Very Good<\/p>\n
Transfer: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n
Extras: \u00a0Very Good<\/p>\n
Label: KL Studio Classics<\/a><\/p>\n Region: \u00a0A<\/p>\n Released: July 18, 2017<\/p>\n Genre: Action \/ Suspense<\/p>\n Synopsis: A young undercover cop begins to enjoy the high life of his target, and starts to fall for the pretty, sophisticated sister.<\/p>\n Special Features: Audio Commentary by\u00a0writer-director Steve Mitchell and film historian-Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson \/ “Lifestyles of the rich & Aimless” Interview with director Peter Werner” (16:15) + “Buckle Up & Drive” Interview with star D. B. Sweeney (15:58).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Review:<\/p>\n Filmed soon after Charlie Sheen\u2019s appearance in The Wraith<\/strong>\u00a0(1986), No Man\u2019s Land<\/strong> is a slick action drama supported by executive producers Ron Howard and Tony Ganz, and features a script by Dick Wolf, then a contributing writer to Hill Street Blues <\/strong>(1985-1986) and especially Miami Vice <\/strong>(1986-1988). With newcomer D.B. Sweeney (fresh from Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s Gardens of Stone<\/strong>) and a supporting cast of excellent character actors (Randy Quaid, Bill Duke, M. Emmett Walsh, unbilled George Dzundza), No Man\u2019s Land<\/strong> was a film that should\u2019ve been seen first in theatres, but seemed to get more attention on pay TV and home video.<\/p>\n Wolf\u2019s script is essentially a familiar tale of a good cop who gets too close to his subject – \u00a0gaining his trust and friendship, falling for his pretty sister, and enjoying the perks of high living and fancy cars before tragedy reminds him of his moral anchor point, and his job: to bring down a spoiled rich kid guilty of murder.<\/p>\n Sweeney and Sheen make for a charismatic team of moral opposites, while Lara Harris gives her role of the good sister a bit more depth due to the actress\u2019 own innate sensitive performance style. The car chases involving Porsches crisscross urban and industrial city quarters at fast speeds, and feature rock-solid stunt driving and an editing style that flatters vehicles in motion rather than attention-deficit cuts.<\/p>\n Basil Poledouris\u2019 all-synth score also gooses the films action scenes with grinding, motorized bass chords, and brief moments of formulaic character contemplation – Sweeney\u2019s good boy Benjy (yup, that\u2019s his name) tries to keep his simple personal life separate from his undercover role as an ace mechanic and car alarm expert, and avoid falling for the villain\u2019s sultry sister – are flattered with more somber, self-reflective cues with delicate tones on keyboards.<\/p>\n As limited as Sheen\u2019s character may be (and arguably Sheen\u2019s own skills at the time), he does strike a slick pose, fitting perfectly with the classic and muscle-bound Porsches that spoiled little Ted Varrick steals from turf \u2018owned\u2019 by a rival gang led by Frank Martin (Golden Year<\/strong>\u2019s R.D. Call).<\/p>\n The women\u2019s hair and clothes may be big and triangular in classic 80s style, but the set design and cinematography are very specific to understated colour palettes and modernism, which make No Man\u2019s Land<\/strong> much less dated, especially when TV\u2019s Miami Vice<\/strong> was moving from softer pastels to darker shades with now-dated geometric patters and textures.<\/p>\n Hiro Narita\u2019s cinematography is lush without being glitzy, and the soft colour palette with slight pink shading still looks elegant. After being available full screen in North America and widescreen in Britain, KINO’s release finally brings the film to Blu in a gorgeous transfer that’s sharp, balanced, but also reveals the use of high grain film stock used in the night scenes (and weirdly, End Credit scroll). The grain doesn’t detract from the film, but one suspects Werner and Narita opted for faster film stock for the extensive night shots in which characters drive in and around the city.<\/p>\n Both newly recorded interview featurettes offer great anecdotes on the making of the film. Director Werner accepted the assignment from Orion’s Mike Madavoy 3 days prior to filming (!) replacing original director Avi Nesher. Sweeney and Harris were part of Nesher’s original casting choices, and Sheen was added soon after.<\/p>\n Werner recalls the extensive location filming and describes\u00a0No Man’s Land<\/strong> as a Los Angeles story, shot in industrial areas and an upscale mall. Credits is also given to the film’s superb stunt coordinator and personnel who drove the cars at fast speeds, adding to the film’s production value.<\/p>\n Sweeney’s a bit more candid about the change in directors, script rewrites, and some amusing anecdotes on working with Sheen whose ego was bumped up after he earned an Oscar Nomination for\u00a0Platoon<\/strong> midway through filming.<\/p>\n More info from an historic perspective comes from a commentary track with Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson and filmmaker Steve Mitchell who maintain a steady discussion of the film, its talent, and place within the Orion catalogue and the genre pictures that flooded screens large and small during the 1980s. (Mitchell is especially nostalgic for the era’s product, and one can play a drinking game based on his steady use of the nonsensical catch-phrase “Back in the Day”.)<\/p>\n Dick Wolf\u2019s brief fling with feature films began with the unlikely comedies Skateboard<\/strong> (1978) and the CanCon clunker Gas<\/strong> (1981), but also includes the slick\u00a0Masquerade<\/strong> (1988), another tale of wealthy snots behaving badly, before the writer \/ producer returned to TV with New York Undercover<\/strong> (1994-1999) and Law & Order<\/strong> and its spin-off streams.<\/p>\n Director Peter Werner (TV\u2019s Grimm<\/strong>), who won an Oscar for his short film In the Region of Ice <\/strong>(1976) made just a handful of feature films \u2013 the officially unreleased Prisoners<\/strong> (1981), Don\u2019t Cry, It\u2019s Only Thunder <\/strong>(1982), and The Good Policeman<\/strong> (1991) \u2013 but earned several Emmy Award nominations for his heavy work in TV, such as the bio teleplays LBJ: The Early Years<\/strong> (1987) starring Randy Quaid, and Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story<\/strong> (1996).<\/p>\n Tied to the 2014 review was a short-short nonsense video I made on the video\u2019s packaging, which is still archived on KQEK.com\u2019s YouTube and my own Vimeo channels:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/NoMansLand_Beta_b.gif\")
The above review was originally written in 2014 and sourced from a vintage Betamax tape release (yes, really), which included a unique contest promotion that’s archived in the original Editor’s Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n