ZAP News
Rumble Fish
It’s detailed, sharp, alive and marvellously…black and white.
On Location in Tulsa: The Making of Rumble Fish (11:40) is our making-of featurette. As with other Coppola discs, this one is better than most because it blends modern-day interview footage with archived stuff that was recorded as the film was being shot. You get let in on some cool info, like how since the production was in black and white they could actually paint shadows on things to create a more natural, or rather unnatural, feel.
The Audio Presentation
We've got a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix here and it's one that I enjoyed listening to. What struck me was how well the music was separated amongst the side-channels. Much of the soundtrack consists of thumping drums and other percussion instruments and the it's great having one set of instrument beats come from the left and another from the right. Another good example of the channel separation is in the big gang fight early in the film, mostly it's worth noting how full the entire fight sounds, but you'll also hear the pitter-patter of rain falling on concrete with the sound coming from all over.
Rumble Fish DVD in LA Times 9/12/05:
By Susan King, Times Staff Writer
In his commentary for the special edition of his 1983 film "Rumble Fish" (Universal, $20), director Francis Ford Coppola talks about wanting to make an art-house film for teenagers. And he found the perfect material in S.E. Hinton's moody novel for juveniles, "Rumble Fish."
After he finished production on Hinton's "The Outsiders," he gathered most of the same cast for this stylized, expressionistic drama set in Tulsa about a teen gang leader (Matt Dillon), his girlfriend (Diane Lane), his older, influential brother Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke) and their drunken father (Dennis Hopper).
Cast members also include a very young Nicolas Cage and Sofia Coppola, Laurence Fishburne, Vincent Spano and Tom Waits.
Critics were sharply divided on the black-and-white film — some found it too arty and others relished that Coppola was not afraid to take risks.
The DVD includes a splendid new retrospective documentary that features new interviews with Coppola as well as producer Doug Claybourne and cinematographer Steve Burum; a look at the seminal percussion score by Stewart Copeland of the Police, deleted scenes and passionate commentary from Coppola.