Michael Mann’s life as a filmmaker started on TV in the 1970s. At the age of 28, he created his first feature release via 1981’s Thief, a well-received thriller that established Mann’s cinematic style.

Due to his “career” as an elite safecracker, Frank (James Caan) spends years in prison. When he gets out, he intends to go straight and live a more conventional life.

However, Frank needs financial stability to do so, and this means he relies on his old profession to amass the funds to allow himself to retire. Inevitably, these choices lead to potentially dire consequences.

Some filmmakers establish their cinematic tendencies right off the bat, and that holds true for Mann – well, at least in terms of his feature career. I can’t judge his prior TV work.

In the case of Thief, though, we clearly see Mann’s career MO set out plainly. While he produced films under variety of genres, this kind of crime-related tale acted as his bread and butter.

As a “mission statement” from the vantage point of 42 years post-release, Thief seems interesting. As a film in its own right, the product feels spottier.

Not that I view Thief as a bad movie. It provides a perfectly competent crime tale.

I just don’t see it as more than that, though perhaps the prevalence of similar – and superior – films over the last four decades diminishes its impact. Thief feels like a sketch of a genre movie that just doesn’t quite flesh out as well as it could.

Some of this comes from the clichés on display. Tales of criminals who try to get straight but struggle to do so go back decades, and I can’t say Thief manages to find anything new to say in that domain.

Of course, Mann’s then-burgeoning style acted as a fresh component in 1981. We’d see his particular look/feel reach the masses a few years later with TV’s Miami Vice, and these choices became staples of the genre over the ensuring decades.

So Thief gets credit for these then-new filmmaking decisions. However, that doesn’t mean the movie feels especially involving in and of itself.

Much of the problem comes from the fact that Frank’s journey never becomes especially compelling. He remains a fairly dull character whose path fails to find much to make him interesting.

Like I said, I think Thief offers a moderately entertaining thriller, and Caan offers a pretty solid lead performance even with the clichés involved. Nonetheless, the end product leaves me a bit cold, as I don’t find a lot about the film to stand out as memorable.

Thief appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. While the film objectively looked good, whether or not it reproduced the film as originally intended became a different matter.

In particular, the movie came with what appeared to be an altered palette. The Blu-ray opted for tones that leaned heavily toward teal, blue and green.

Given that the filmmaker supervised the presentation, Michael Mann clearly approved of – and probably decided on – these changes. Nonetheless, the prevalence of a more modern palette for a 42-year-old film felt problematic to me.

Well, at least the Blu-ray depicted the hues well. As inappropriate as the colors might seem for a movie from 1981, they looked well-rendered within stylistic decisions.

Sharpness worked fine. Some softness impacted wider shots, but the movie usually felt accurate and well-defined.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed appropriate, and no print flaws marred the image.

Blacks felt deep and full, while shadows appeared smooth and clear. I liked a lot about the presentation but would endorse it more strongly with colors that more accurately represented the 1981 source.

Another “update” came with the Blu-ray’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, as it remixed the film’s original stereo audio. However, this felt like a less 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 nice impression of place and movement.

Surrounds added decent information as well. While they didn’t become strongly involved in the proceedings, they added useful information at times, mainly via weather or street scenes.

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 worked fine given its age.

A few extras fill out the disc, and we open with an audio commentary from writer/director Michael Mann and actor James Caan. Recorded in 1995, both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, research, training and realism, sets and locations, and related topics.

On paper, a joint Mann/Caan commentary sounds great. In reality… not so much.

Not that we learn nothing from the track, as Mann and Caan occasionally deliver useful nuggets. However, we find an awful lot of dead air, and even when the men speak, they don’t reveal worthwhile info on a consistent basis. All that makes this discussion a big disappointment.

Next comes a circa 2013 Interview with Michael Mann. Conducted by film critic Scott Foundas, it runs 24 minutes, 18 seconds.

Mann discusses his interest in the crime genre and the development of his career as well as elements of Thief. Inevitably, some of this repeats from the commentary, but Mann still offers a good summary of the topics.

Also from 2013, an Interview with James Caan spans 10 minutes, 39 seconds. He discusses aspects of his work on the film in this short but engaging piece.

By the way, in both the commentary and this chat, Caan claims his character never uses contractions. He’s wrong both times, for while Frank speaks in formal tones much of the time, he does use more than a few contractions.

In addition to the film’s trailer, the disc concludes with a 2013 Interview with Composer Johannes Schmoelling, formerly of the band Tangerine Dream.

During this 15-minute, 40-second conversation, Schmoelling covers his work with Dream and the creation of the movie’s score. We get good notes about these domains.

Finally, a booklet delivers credits, art and an essay from critic Nick James. It finishes the package on a positive note.

From 1981, Thief offered our first look at Michael Mann as a feature film director. While the movie works reasonably well, it feels more like a glimpse of talent later to develop than a particularly strong product in its own right. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio – despite a “modernized” color palette – and a mix of bonus materials. Thief becomes a decent thriller but not one that really excels.