Synopsis:

Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum star in Deep Cover. The Federal Government has its eyes on a drug lord importing all kinds of addictive deadly substances into the country. The kicker is they are afraid to go after the drug lord because of his connections to a foreign leader/diplomat. So, they focus on the tier of small to middle-sized drug couriers/pushers/suppliers working directly beneath him in an attempt to "sour the milk". This can only be done by having a long term under cover operative in the mix. The Feds look to a local police officer (Fishburne) with no family or outside ties that can essentially "become" a drug dealer for the sole purpose of hanging a few undesirables out to dry. The more involved he becomes, the more he realizes that the corruption the Government is so intent on wiping out, is the driving force behind his under cover role. The question really becomes, who are the bad guys? Slowly but surely, the lines begin to blur and what was once clearly black & white is now definitely gray. With Fishburne in the middle he realizes that if he's going to survive it's going to have to be on his own terms and without any help from his colleagues back on the force. Deep Cover is an awesome and immersing experience into the life of a man given very few, if any choices. Rock solid film all the way around.

Audio/Video:

The audio is incredible. The Soundtrack is scored by Dr. Dre' and boasts some of the most intense and perfectly suited musical textures I have ever heard for a film. The 5.1 platform delivers an aural experience that for lack of a better term…kills! The front to back/left to right action is right on target and the LFE really drives the experience home. There is a lot of bass in the film's score and you feel it thumping in your chest and throughout the whole of your home theater! With all that said, the score is not what one would call aggressive. It 's used for punctuation and quite nicely. Fishburne's character has a running dialogue throughout the film a'la Deckard in Bladerunner. The gravelly rich bass texture of his voice comes through in an incredible effect that only adds to an already great audio presentation. Really very well done audio. The dialogue is very clean and again, the surround effects are nicely done. The video shows a little wear but not much. The colors are rich and the flesh tones are actual. The print itself does suffer from a fair degree of flecking, but for the most part, the images are clean and stark. In particular the scenes staged at night are beautifully rendered. Both the widescreen and full frame formats are included on the disc. For the purpose of the review, I watched the widescreen version. The blacks are very deep and other than the momentary flecking, I noticed no pixellation or any other transfer/print errors.

Extras:

As for extras, while this is a Newline films release, it is not a platinum edition. Since the film, on the whole did not receive the kind of press needed to parlay it from critical success to aftermarket-home video sales, it's doubtful that a platinum edition for Deep Cover will ever see the light of day. That in and of itself is a shame. This is a really terrific movie and it deserves a better treatment than this disc boasts. The extras are confined to the film's trailer and static cast and crew bios. Additionally, the menus are bland and static as well.

Overall:

Let me start by saying I love these two actors in almost everything they have done and am a great fan of Bill Duke's work both in front of and behind the camera. That having been said, Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum are not only incredibly good actors; they are masters of their craft. The level of intensity that Bill Duke brought out in these two men is simply awesome. Their paring here shows not only the level of diversity in roles that they can pull off but, it also showcases how great actors can imbue a script with such life that it goes from watching a film to an appearance of voyeurism. The acting is so believable, it's like you are watching a documentary on the lives of actual people and not a movie. If the extras were there I'd easily classify it as a collector's edition however, as they are absent, I can only Highly recommend this title.