I wasn't familiar with Band of the Hand before it was mentioned in this forum. Being a fan of 80s genre flicks, I decided to buy it. After watching it, I'm glad I did.
Band is a blast of 80s nostalgia. The premise of the film is ridiculous, but the plot couldn't be more entertaining. Seeing Laurence Fishburne and James Remar as baddies is a bonus. The music throughout is perfectly evocative of the period. Dylan's title song is fantastic.
Glad some of the folk on here recommended it.
So, after (not much) careful consideration, I say Band of the Hand is:
FYI it's currently back in stock at Barnes & Noble, so I ordered one at $4.57 shipped after the current 20% coupon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Woo
Oh boy! Mill Creek at their best again.
I just don't really understand why they have devolved. Years ago, Mill Creek did surprisingly release quite nice budget Blu-rays of films licensed from Sony...with ported bonus features, lossless audio and even subtitles. Lately though it's like they do whatever is possible to make them the cheapest quality possible.
It's actually a pretty good disc for the price. You get what you pay for, but in motion it looks pretty authentic. Nothing really wrong with MPEG-2, especially for $6.
Growing up in Miami during the Miami Vice days this film brings back a lot of memories. Never saw it before and was thoroughly entertained. Michael Mann being the producer put me over the edge to buy it.
FYI, the audio track is mono, while the film clearly has a Dolby Stereo logo at the end. I can forgive lossy DD 2.0 if the bitrate is higher than 192 kbps (which this one is), but to present it in mono...
FYI, the audio track is mono, while the film clearly has a Dolby Stereo logo at the end. I can forgive lossy DD 2.0 if the bitrate is higher than 192 kbps (which this one is), but to present it in mono...
Yep, that's Mill Creek for you. They've done the same exact thing with a few other Blu-rays they've released...probably quite a few.
I'm almost beginning to think they purposely crapify some of their releases by doing that, MPEG-2, etc..
I just finished watching my Mill Creek Blu-ray of Band of the Hand.
Five teenage juvenile delinquents whose crimes are serious enough for them to be penalized as adults are recruited by survivalist, played by Stephen Lang (Tombstone, Don't Breathe), for a special rehabilitation program, where they are left in the middle of the Florida Everglades to fend for themselves and to work together to find their own way to safety. Once they are back in Miami, the five are then placed in charge of rehabilitating a rec center in a rough city neighborhood. When a local drug kingpin jumps into the fray to prevent their work, however, the "Band of the Hand" must use all of their newfound soldiering skills to fight back.
Band of the Hand was produced by Michael Mann, who was also executive producer of the Miami Vice television series around the same time, and the movie has the same air of sleekness, cool fashions, and great music as that television series did. Paul Michael Glaser, who directed the iconic Season Two premiere of Miami Vice, helms this film as well. I've just finished binge-watching all five seasons of Miami Vice, as I do roughly every 10 years, so this movie serves as a fun addendum to that nostalgic trip.
On top of that, Band of the Hand features a great many cast members who also appeared in Miami Vice episodes.
Michael Carmine, who plays Ruben, appeared in the Miami Vice episodes "Nobody Lives Forever" and "Everybody's In Show Biz."
Al Shannon, who plays Dorcey, appeared as an unfortunate teenager in the Miami Vice episode, "Milk Run."
Laurence Fishburne, whom we all know from Apocalypse Now and The Matrix, stars here as a drug dealer, and he also appeared in a Miami Vice episode, "Walk Alone."
Paul Calderone, who starred in Pulp Fiction ("My name's Paul and this is between y'all.") plays a henchman in this movie, and he also appeared in several Miami Vice episodes, "The Home Invaders", "The Prodigal Son", and "Everybody's In Show Biz."
James Remar, who plays the big bad drug kingpin, starred in the Miami Vice episode, "Buddies", as Sonny Crockett's best friend.
Finally, Martin Ferrero, who routinely guested in all five seasons of Miami Vice as the goofy informer, Izzy, is featured here in an awesome role as a hardware store clerk.
Lauren Holly, who would later find fame as Jim Carrey's love interest in Dumb and Dumber, is a hot little firecracker in this movie as the girlfriend of one of the delinquents turned heroes.
The movie soundtrack for Band of the Hand is perfect.
Bob Dylan's "Band of the Hand"
Shriekback's "Faded Flowers"
"Waiting for You" by The Reds
"Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister
I used to rent Band of the Hand on VHS all of the time back in the late 1980s so this Blu-ray, which is available for only five dollars from Amazon, was a great trip down memory lane.
Standard Mill Creek complaints may apply to the technically focused crowd, but I personally think that this movie looks awesome on Blu-ray, and I think that the music comes across superbly well (*cough* *cough* I don't have surround sound, though.). Subtitles are a welcome feature.
I used to rent Band of the Hand on VHS all of the time back in the late 1980s so this Blu-ray, which is available for only five dollars from Amazon, was a great trip down memory lane.
Laurence Fishburne, whom we all know from Apocalypse Now and The Matrix, stars here as a drug dealer, and he also appeared in a Miami Vice episode, "Walk Alone."
Paul Calderone, who starred in Pulp Fiction ("My name's Paul and this is between y'all.") plays a henchman in this movie, and he also appeared in several Miami Vice episodes, "The Home Invaders", "The Prodigal Son", and "Everybody's In Show Biz."
Paul Calderon was actually almost cast as Jules in Pulp Fiction. The story goes that Jackson basically had the part, but gave a bad audition (he says he didn't realize it was an audition, he thought the part was already his), and Calderon was so good that Tarantino was going to cast him. So Jackson came back and did a real audition and blew everybody away. (According to Calderon, Tarantino offered the part to Fishburne before anybody, who turned it down.)
Was pleasantly surprised with this disc from MC. With subtitles which seems to be a rarity for them these days. More than satisfied with the PQ. Would like to find other gems like this from the 80’s.
Just re-watched Band of the Hand, but for the first time on Blu-ray. Wow. I am extremely impressed by the PQ here. For an obscure '80's film, they did a fantastic job with the restoration. For the most part, the print was crisp & clear, and I was especially impressed by most of the daytime scenes.....though much of the rest of the film was nice as well.
Unlike most on here, I don't mind the lack of special features. There wasn't even a trailer, so this was an extremely bare-bones release. However, IMHO this was not a big deal whatsoever since the film's restoration is so great - that's more than enough for me.
Needless to say, this Blu is a huge improvement over the older, full-screen DVD. I wish all '80's films on Blu looked this impressive.
Just re-watched Band of the Hand, but for the first time on Blu-ray. Wow. I am extremely impressed by the PQ here. For an obscure '80's film, they did a fantastic job with the restoration. For the most part, the print was crisp & clear, and I was especially impressed by most of the daytime scenes.....though much of the rest of the film was nice as well.
Unlike most on here, I don't mind the lack of special features. There wasn't even a trailer, so this was an extremely bare-bones release. However, IMHO this was not a big deal whatsoever since the film's restoration is so great - that's more than enough for me.
Needless to say, this Blu is a huge improvement over the older, full-screen DVD. I wish all '80's films on Blu looked this impressive.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
. This movie is a lot of fun, a bargain at the Mill Creek price.
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