Small Axe (2020)

[Scottie]

https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/6517-small-axe

[Steedeel]

We need a U.K. version.

[eightslicesofpie]

I love Steve McQueen, but for whatever reason the Small Axe films didn't really hit for me. Regardless, I'm always thrilled to see streaming-exclusive stuff finally brought to physical!

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

We need a U.K. version.

I was hoping there would be a UK BD too, so it would run at the native speed of 25fps.

I imported the UK DVD set.

[James Luckard]

Excited for this set! I collect Steve McQueen films and this was a glaring omission on disc.

I bought the UK DVD, but this really needed HD.

I kind of figured Criterion might do this.

[DAT_JB]

Ohh great news!! Was so disappointed that this only released on DVD in the UK. Can finally pick these up and watch them.

[DemonPreyer]

Can someone clear this up for me? Is this Steve McQueen the actor who died in 1980? Or is there another (director) Steve McQueen? Thanks in advance.

[Drexlore]

Originally Posted by DemonPreyer

Can someone clear this up for me? Is this Steve McQueen the actor who died in 1980? Or is there another (director) Steve McQueen? Thanks in advance.

The director of the Academy Award winning film 12 Years a Slave and other films such as Hunger and Windows.

[Protozoid]

They're a bit uneven in quality, with the first three being the best movies I saw that year, and the last two merely being very good. I'd love to own these but probably can't afford it. Highly recommend the movies, though.

[Hhal]

Can anyone explain to me the description from Criterion "New 2K masters of all five films, approved by director Steve McQueen?" Why does a series of 2020 movies need "new" director approved masters? Were the ones put online by Amazon a couple years ago bad, or is doing a new master for streaming material that moves to disc a standard practice? I'm not so technologically wise on this topic so I am sorry if this is a dumb question.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Hhal

Can anyone explain to me the description from Criterion "New 2K masters of all five films, approved by director Steve McQueen?" Why does a series of 2020 movies need "new" director approved masters? Were the ones put online by Amazon a couple years ago bad, or is doing a new master for streaming material that moves to disc a standard practice? I'm not so technologically wise on this topic so I am sorry if this is a dumb question.

Very good question. I'm curious to know the answer.

Perhaps it has something to do with the masters up to this point being 25fps.

The show was only ever streaming in the US, and US streaming can be 25fps, I remember Prime Suspect was 25fps when Netflix US had it up.

They would need 24fps masters for a US BD.

[Trevorblu66]

Just preordered the Blu-ray from Amazon. Down to $73

[Gacivory]

Just to confirm it is a Digipak release.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Just to confirm it is a Digipak release.

Better than nothing, and not really a surprise. Criterion hasn't done individual plastic cases in a set in ages.

[DAT_JB]

Thanks for review Randy!
Got this set myself during the current sale. Will finally start with it this weekend.

[James Luckard]

I bought the set and, interestingly, it's licensed straight from the BBC.

The BBC logo is on the back, and the small print says it's licensed from them.

No mention of Amazon at all. Their deal for the US must have just been for streaming, not physical media.

[James Luckard]

I'd still love to know if 25fps is the proper native speed for all five films. They were shot in a variety of formats - 35mm, 16mm, digital - so it's entirely possible that the native speed for one or more might be the 24fps that Criterion presents it at.

[McCrutchy]

There is a French release out today that could be 1080/50i, but I don't know about languages (France Télévisions Distribution sometimes does French only) and subtitles:

[James Luckard]

It took me a year to get around to watching this set, but I finally did.

Taken as a whole, the collection of films is a MASSIVE accomplishment. I can't think of another instance where a top-tier auteur filmmaker was able to get a TV network to finance not a miniseries, which McQueen says was his original concept, but 5 entirely separate standalone films. I give him ENORMOUS credit for willing these films into existence, and I give the BBC enormous credit for producing them.

They're each brilliant in their own way, and I know the three that are most acclaimed are Mangrove (for its epic recounting of a seminal event in British Civil Rights history), Lovers Rock (for its groundbreaking recreation of the tactile, intoxicating atmosphere of house parties that had a key place in London West Indian culture at the time) and Red, White and Blue (for its powerhouse performance from the biggest star in the series, John Boyega).

However, I think the towering masterpiece of the five is actually the final film, Education. It's the shortest of the five, at 66 minutes, but WOW, it packs an emotional gut punch. It follows a young boy whose intelligence is hidden behind shyness, and a mother who battles to save him from a school for "sub-normal" children that West Indian boys and girls are being diverted into. The young boy and the actress who plays the mother are both extraordinary, and McQueen's towering technical skills are matched with tremendous sensitivity here. It had me in tears multiple times.

I watched these when they were first broadcast in 2020, but I think the madness of that year dulled me to their brilliance. Watching them again, four years later, I can see that they're easily the most important and best films made that year.

I cannot recommend this set highly enough. The films are all magnificent, and the 30-minute interview with McQueen and his mentor, who served as a consultant on the series, is incredibly powerful and informative.

[eightslicesofpie]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

It took me a year to get around to watching this set, but I finally did.

Taken as a whole, the collection of films is a MASSIVE accomplishment. I can't think of another instance where a top-tier auteur filmmaker was able to get a TV network to finance not a miniseries, which McQueen says was his original concept, but 5 entirely separate standalone films. I give him ENORMOUS credit for willing these films into existence, and I give the BBC enormous credit for producing them.

They're each brilliant in their own way, and I know the three that are most acclaimed are Mangrove (for its epic recounting of a seminal event in British Civil Rights history), Lovers Rock (for its groundbreaking recreation of the tactile, intoxicating atmosphere of house parties that had a key place in London West Indian culture at the time) and Red, White and Blue (for its powerhouse performance from the biggest star in the series, John Boyega).

However, I think the towering masterpiece of the five is actually the final film, Education. It's the shortest of the five, at 66 minutes, but WOW, it packs an emotional gut punch. It follows a young boy whose intelligence is hidden behind shyness, and a mother who battles to save him from a school for "sub-normal" children that West Indian boys and girls are being diverted into. The young boy and the actress who plays the mother are both extraordinary, and McQueen's towering technical skills are matched with tremendous sensitivity here. It had me in tears multiple times.

I watched these when they were first broadcast in 2020, but I think the madness of that year dulled me to their brilliance. Watching them again, four years later, I can see that they're easily the most important and best films made that year.

I cannot recommend this set highly enough. The films are all magnificent, and the 30-minute interview with McQueen and his mentor, who served as a consultant on the series, is incredibly powerful and informative.

In 2020 I too wasn't super into them (although I did not dislike them at all) and I'm a big McQueen fan, so I think your writeup has inspired me to revisit them on Prime in the near future to see if I wanna grab the set in the next Criterion flash sale ~