Press Release Arrow Video Press Release: American Gigolo (1980) (4k UHD) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Coming to 4K UHD in June from Arrow Video
American Gigolo 4K

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand new 4K remaster from the original negative by Arrow Films
• 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original mono, stereo and 5.1 audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with film critic Adrian Martin
• Brand new interview with writer/director Paul Schrader
• Six Ways to Sunday, a brand new interview with actor Héctor Elizondo on detecting his character
• The Business of PLEASURE, a brand new interview with actor Bill Duke on Leon’s profession
• Montages and Monologues, a brand new interview with editor Richard Halsey on putting American Gigolo together
• The Non-Conformist, a brand new interview with camera operator King Baggot on American Gigolo
• Man Machine, a brand new interview with music supervisor & KCRW DJ Dan Wilcox on the music of Giorgio Moroder
• American Icon, a brand new interview with Professor Jennifer Clark on American Gigolo and the fashion landscape of the 80s
• Original trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
• Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
• Six postcard-sized reproduction artcards
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Neil Sinyard, an archival article by Bill Nichols, and original pressbook materials


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Amazon.com

 

[Jimbo.B]

I never thought this was a very good movie but at the time of its release it had a HUGE cultural impact. What young man didn’t want to look like Richard Gere in 1980? I sure did!

 

[darkrock17]

Arrow releasing this instead of Paramount themselves is odd as this easily would have been part of their current "Paramount Presents" collection.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Arrow releasing this instead of Paramount themselves is odd as this easily would have been part of their current "Paramount Presents" collection.

Not any longer is it odd based on some other Paramount titles being released by Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome and of course, Kino.

 

[titch]

I would be very interested in seeing this again - I haven't seen it for decades and was unimpressed as a teen. I think I was expecting more explicit sex - if I remember correctly, there was a scene where Richard Gere was full-frontal, which was probably the first time I'd seen a naked man on screen. Whatever the reviews were at the time, are likely irrelevant to my experience in 2024. Arrow Video are proving themselves very adept at selecting cult movies for release and this time we don't have to double, triple or quadruple-dip (I'm looking at you: Invasion of the Body Snatchers) for a stellar video.

 

[bujaki]

I've grown to admire this film as it fits into Paul Schrader's other stories: Redemption of a morally conflicted character. As such, it works very well. And yes, there's Gere's full frontal nudity...

 

[titch]

I've grown to admire this film as it fits into Paul Schrader's other stories: Redemption of a morally conflicted character. As such, it works very well. And yes, there's Gere's full frontal nudity...

I've really grown to appreciate old-school Hollywood film-making, pre CGI, MTV-editing, Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson. Films made for grown-ups, before everything was previewed to ensure regression to the mean. There was marked shift in American film making, between the 1970s and 1990s. If I go back to American films made before the 1990s, I'm surprised to find that I'm generally always positive, especially towards films I didn't like back then. And the commercial stuff I relished during the 1990s and forward, I don't think has aged well.

I will be picking this up and I'm quite certain that I'll have a completely different experience, this time round!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Amazon preorder is live

Amazon.com

 

[Ethan Riley]

I would be very interested in seeing this again - I haven't seen it for decades and was unimpressed as a teen. I think I was expecting more explicit sex - if I remember correctly, there was a scene where Richard Gere was full-frontal, which was probably the first time I'd seen a naked man on screen. Whatever the reviews were at the time, are likely irrelevant to my experience in 2024. Arrow Video are proving themselves very adept at selecting cult movies for release and this time we don't have to double, triple or quadruple-dip (I'm looking at you: Invasion of the Body Snatchers) for a stellar video.

I think that male nude scene caused a stir back in the day. Because if you think about it, there's really not much else going on in this movie. The murder subplot wasn't exactly action-packed. But I literally remember people going on and on about that 2-second shot of Richard's gear.

 

[Will Krupp]

I literally remember people going on and on about that 2-second shot of Richard's gear.

Frame advance makes it longer (just sayin')

 

[Malcolm R]

Frame advance makes it longer (just sayin')

Interesting. Is that how they did it before they sold pills on the interwebs?

 

[Ethan Riley]

Frame advance makes it longer (just sayin')

Seriously. I was in the 9th grade when that movie came out and the next Monday all these girls were like, 'yeah, we saw his weiner haha we saw it.' And I was like...hmm--tell me more. Then the same thing happened when The Blue Lagoon came out a few months later. I wasn't allowed to see R-rated movies in those days and I was just a little too curious lol

 

[lark144]

Frame advance makes it longer (just sayin')

A magnifying glass--at our age--might also help. Of course, this is purely for aesthetic purposes, to explore that compositional mastery.

Seriously, though, I always considered AMERICAN GIGOLO Schreder's version of Bresson's PICKPOCKET, and in spite of the film's emphasis on over-the top expenditure, the dreams money can buy--a bit like Rossellini's RISE OF LOUIS XIV. come to think of it--I always felt a real sense of mystery and spirituality in those images.

 

[Will Krupp]

And I was like...hmm--tell me more. Then the same thing happened when The Blue Lagoon came out a few months later. I wasn't allowed to see R-rated movies in those days and I was just a little too curious lol

Same about "R" rated movies for me. I was 12 when American Gigilo came out and barely 13 for Blue Lagoon, but I was very aware that I was on the periphery of something B-I-G. Even though I wasn't allowed to see them, I knew someday I would and I just had to wait it out, lol. Not to go off on a tangent but I have always credited the Blue Lagoon ads alone for making me realize I was different from other little boys (and also that, apparently, I had a type!) Mr. Atkins, I can't thank you enough!

 

[cineMANIAC]

I love Arrow's collector's edition sets but not sure if I want to blind buy this one. I've seen more than one person say the film didn't do anything for them despite the pedigree behind it. Maybe it's too arthouse-y? Personally, the very idea of male prostitutes turns me off.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I love Arrow's collector's edition sets but not sure if I want to blind buy this one. I've seen more than one person say the film didn't do anything for them despite the pedigree behind it. Maybe it's too arthouse-y? Personally, the very idea of male prostitutes turns me off.

This post made my morning.

 

[johnmcmasters]

I had a huge crush on Richard Gere back in the day, so this was a must see for me when it opened. I didn't really warm up to this particular film at the time -- it was annoying that the Gere character's descent into the lower depths when he needs cash was apparently at its nadir when he pleads in absolute desperation to one of the pimps in the film, to paraphrase, "I'll even do guys." I believe that in later years, Mr. Gere has expressed some regrets about that particular line and its potential homophobia (Mr. Schrader isn't exactly a patron saint of the gay community) -- but I may be wrong about that. The film was such an exercise in drooling over a male physique, that that line always struck me as comical, and of course, also a bit offensive to me as a gay man. As far as the full frontal moment, I believe you see the same amount of Mr. Gere's body, if not more of it and for a longer period of time, in Jim McBride's "Breathless." I adore "Breathless." But I should probably give "American Gigolo" another chance. If only for Mr. Gere's swoony presence.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I love Arrow's collector's edition sets but not sure if I want to blind buy this one. I've seen more than one person say the film didn't do anything for them despite the pedigree behind it. Maybe it's too arthouse-y? Personally, the very idea of male prostitutes turns me off.

I like the film, it is not one my favorites from Schrader, it would be fairly far down the list, but as with all his work he makes a really interesting, really thoughtful picture and it does look and sound great. So, what you get with this is a really well-made picture, strong writing, beautifully shot, good acting...the pieces are all there...but I think what makes or breaks the film for people is how into the story they get. This is one of those kind of films where there is no "hero" and everybody is flawed to the extent that you may not like or really want to root for any of them. This makes it a film some people will not enjoy watching. Schrader is not giving you a hero, a good guy, he is giving you a story told through the flaws of the characters.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I like the use of Blondie in this, and I like that this was made in a time when you could tell stories that are told in a gray area, not the pure black and white of so much of the filmmaking of the last 20 years.

 

[JoshZ]

I didn't really warm up to this particular film at the time -- it was annoying that the Gere character's descent into the lower depths when he needs cash was apparently at its nadir when he pleads in absolute desperation to one of the pimps in the film, to paraphrase, "I'll even do guys." I believe that in later years, Mr. Gere has expressed some regrets about that particular line and its potential homophobia (Mr. Schrader isn't exactly a patron saint of the gay community) -- but I may be wrong about that. The film was such an exercise in drooling over a male physique, that that line always struck me as comical, and of course, also a bit offensive to me as a gay man.

I can totally see that, but I would try to look at it as more the character's homophobia than the movie's. That type of character in that culture at that time would very likely have been a homophobe and apt to blurt an offensive comment like that without thinking twice about it. It was the nature of the times. The movie does not otherwise take a position on the subject. My $.02.

I love Arrow's collector's edition sets but not sure if I want to blind buy this one. I've seen more than one person say the film didn't do anything for them despite the pedigree behind it. Maybe it's too arthouse-y? Personally, the very idea of male prostitutes turns me off.

I rewatched the movie on streaming when the short-lived Showtime spinoff series premiered in 2022. I found it pretty interesting (the movie, not the show). It sets you up to think it's going to be a fun look at a lifestyle of decadence, and then the story begins its descent into darkness. Schrader does tell the story and direct in the sort of clinical style he's known for, but I think this one is more approachable and less alienating than a lot of his work. I think it's worth watching.

The Arrow remaster will almost certainly look better than what was available on streaming when I watched it (which I believe was the same master from the old Blu-ray). That old transfer looked really dated and left a lot of room for improvement.