It's amazing watching Al Pacino chew the scenery. He manages to get every morsel almost sucking the air out of the room in the process when he goes over the top. "…And Justice For All" Norman Jewison's satire of the judicial system has more than a couple of scenes that allows Pacino to go on a high carb acting diet sucking every ouch of nutrition of the scene. That's all for the good because when Pacino does it, so do his fellow performers matching him bite for bite as they eat up the dramatic material of the film. That approach is essential to a satire like "…And Justice For All" where subtly in playing a role doesn't do the material justice. ***

Pacino goes from quiet to dominating a scene within a heartbeat sometimes and it is still pretty thrilling to watch nearly 30 years later in this special edition of this classic film. Featuring some marvelous turns by Jeffrey Tambor, Jack Warden, Lee Strasberg, Craig T. Nelson and Christine Lahti in one of her first major screen roles, "And Justice for All" is the type of film that Hollywood rarely makes any more because, quite frankly, they lack the bravery to do it and do it well. ***

Opening with images of a empty court house with children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, "And Justice for All" represents a satire as broad and powerful as "Network" in eviscerating the justice system as that other film did TV. Pacino plays attorney Arthur Kirkland the type of attorney who becomes very involved in his client's cases going to bat for them in a big way or in this case providing a knock out punch worthy of a boxing match. For example when we first meet him he's in lock up on a contempt charge for hitting a corrupt judge (John Forsythe) when he didn't agree with his decision. As luck would have it (or karma depending on your point of view), the very same judge has been charged with the rape of a young girl. He turns to Kirkland because he realizes that the attorney is passionate about his cases and that their adversarial relationship will prevent any later charges of a cover up. Kirkland has to overcome his distaste for the judge and manage a trial that could make or break what's left of his legal career. ---

Image & Sound:

A marked improvement over the first edition from 2001 which had plenty of analog imperfections and didn't look much better than a top notch high quality VHS transfer, the colors are more accurate and the film has much better detail and sharpness. Audio hasn't been remixed for 5.1 and is still in the original mono. It is a slight improvement over the original audio with slightly better clarity and dialogue coming through clearly but it still sounds flat without much depth. ***

Be aware that part of this digital clean up and remaster may have been prepared for the Blu-ray that will eventually hit the street. If you have a Blu-ray player you may want to wait to see if it does, indeed, street some time in the immediate future. ---

A marked improvement over the 2001 release, we get the original commentary by Norman Jewison ported over for this edition. It's a fun and involving commentary and it's clear that Jewison is enjoying watching the film as much as we are. ***

We also get a pair of extremely good interviews with director Jewison and co-writer Barry Levinson discussing the making of the film. Jewison is always a joy to listen to and he relates a story about Lahti first being cast. Jewison liked her and was hesitant about putting in the film because she's taller than Pacino (quite a bit actually) and he didn't know how Pacino would feel about it. He saw her performance and thought she was brilliant so he insisted that she be in the film. ***

We also get a preview for Pacino's new film "88 Minutes", the original theatrical trailer and deleted scenes. Although I haven't seen this thriller, it looks very promising with Pacino playing a Forensic Psychiatrist who has put a number of murderers behind bars. He receives a phone call that he has 88 minutes to live by someone he has really ticked off. This prompts his character to action--he decides to go after that mysterious person himself. As an additional promotional move Sony has included the acclaimed pilot for the excellent legal drama "Damages". As to how "Damages" looks you'll have to read my review of that TV show. ***

Finally we get previews for "Close Encounters: The Special Edition" which features all three versions of the film as well as a huge assortment of extras (you'll have to read my review of that set to get an insight into what is included, etc.) and "Taxi Driver: Special Collector's Edition". The latter preview is presented in a modern, annoyingly edited format with an annoying dance score that has absolutely nothing to do with the film itself. I suppose they are trying to suck in the younger crowd who have never seen one of De Niro's finest and most disturbing performances (and that's saying quite a bit). Finally we get a preview for the contemporary underrated thriller "We Own the Night". ---

Final Words: