Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Contemporary

This boxed set collects five films previously released on Blu-ray: three by Martin Scorsese and one each from Brian De Palma and Michael Mann. Mean Streets (1973), Scorsese's first great film, is perhaps the most personal gangster movie ever made, starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro as Charlie and Johnny Boy, friends whose fates seem inextricably linked. Seventeen years later, Scorsese delivered the violent, dynamic, and exhilarating Goodfellas (1990), a stylistic tour-de-force that has lost none of its visceral charge as it tells the epic tale of the life of mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who—along with partners Jimmy (De Niro) and Tommy (Joe Pesci)—rises through the rarified ranks of organized crime before his inevitable downfall. The Departed (2006), which earned Scorsese his first Academy Award for Best Director, stars Jack Nicholson as Irish crime boss Frank Costello—a character loosely based on fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger—in a complicated story that also stars Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Wahlberg. Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) is a Paramount production based on the autobiography of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), who is pitted against legendary Chicago mobster Al Capone (De Niro). In Heat (1995), filmmaker Michael Mann serves up a thoroughly modern thriller about master criminal Neil McCauley (De Niro) and obsessed cop Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), the latter determined to track the former down. This set includes the supplements from previous Blu-ray releases: audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and more, plus a 32-page booklet. A fine collection featuring some landmark movies at a value price (for those who haven't already purchased these titles on Blu-ray), this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)