American Gigolo appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Gigolo came with a largely appealing Dolby Vision presentation.
For the most part, sharpness worked fine. A little softness impacted the occasional interior, but these instances remained modest and non-intrusive.
No signs of jagged edges or moiré effect appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. With a natural layer of grain, the image didn’t seem to suffer from egregious noise reduction techniques, and print flaws became a non-factor.
Colors opted for a semi-natural feel, though we got some more vivid hues at times. The tones seemed appropriate and well-rendered, with an extra boost from HDR.
Blacks appeared pretty deep and dense, while shadows offered appropriate clarity. HDR gave whites and contrast added emphasis. This was a nice rendition of the film.
An “update” came with the disc’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, as it remixed the film’s original monaural audio – which also appeared on the disc. This didn’t feel like a problematic alteration, as the 5.1 version didn’t go crazy.
This meant a soundfield that oriented toward the front channels. In that domain, music showed good spread, and effects created a decent impression of place and movement.
Surrounds added minor information as well. This mainly meant music, but a little ambience came from the back channels too.
Audio worked fine for its age. Speech seemed fairly natural, with only a little edginess at times.
Effects also felt a bit dated, but they demonstrated adequate clarity and accuracy. Music fared best, as the score and songs appeared pretty full and rich. The track seemed more than adequate for something released in 1980.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the simultaneously-released Blu-ray version? Both came with identical audio.
As for the Dolby Vision image, it offered the expected improvements in terms of sharpness, colors and blacks. The 4K became a moderately superior reproduction of the film.
As we shift to extras, we find an audio commentary from film critic Adrian Martin. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, influences and genre domains, cast and performances, interpretation and analysis, and the work of writer/director Paul Schrader.
One shouldn’t expect much information about the Gigolo shoot, as Martin only sporadically digs into the production history. Nonetheless, he gets into the movie well from other perspectives and makes this a pretty engaging chat.
Seven segments show up under “Interviews”, and Below the Surface runs 19 minutes, 37 seconds and features writer/director Paul Schrader.
The filmmaker discusses the project’s origins and elements of its creation, story, characters and themes, influences, stylistic choices, casting, music, locations, the movie’s sex/rating and related areas. Schrader delivers a solid overview of the various subjects.
Six Ways to Sunday goes for 10 minutes, 46 seconds. We hear from actor Héctor Elizondo.
He chats about what led him to acting as well as aspects of his Gigolo experiences. While not a fascinating reel, Elizondo brings enough useful notes to make the featurette worth a look.
Next comes The Business of Pleasure. It lasts 15 minutes, 26 seconds and involves actor Bill Duke.
Here we learn about his career and his work on Gigolo. He offers an enjoyable chat, especially when he looks at how his race impacted his career.
Montages and Monologues fills seven minutes, 15 seconds. This show gives us notes from editor Richard Halsey.
We find info about the movie’s editing. Halsey provides a short but succinct discussion.
After this we move to The Non-Conformist. A 25-minute, five-second piece, it features camera operator King Baggot.
He also tells us about how he got into movies as well his work on Gigolo. With 25 minutes at his disposal, Baggot delivers some solid info.
Man Machine lasts 15 minutes, three seconds. It brings info from music supervisor/DJ Dan Wilcox.
The program mainly looks at Gigolo composer Giorgio Moroder and the film’s score/songs. Expect another useful reel, even if it leans a little too heavily toward praise than I’d prefer.
Finally, American Icon spans 18 minutes, 54 seconds. In this reel, we hear from Professor of Communication and Media Studies Jennifer Clark.
She looks at how the film connected to fashion in its era and subsequent years. Clark offers a reasonable view of these topics.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we finish with three Image Galleries. These cover “Stills” (26 shots), “Posters and Press” (8) and “Lobby Cards” (8). Some of the ads are interesting but that’s about it.
Oddly dull and monotonous, American Gigolo fails to go much of anywhere. Neither a compelling character piece nor a winning thriller, the movie plods slowly on its road to nowhere. The 4K UHD offers positive picture and audio along with a solid roster of bonus materials. Gigolo just fizzles.
To rate this film, visit the Blu-ray review of AMERICAN GIGOLO
