Dead Man’s Wire (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Gus Van SantRelease Date(s)
2025 (July 7, 2026)Studio(s)
Elevated Films/Pressman Film/District 9 Productions/Sobini Films/RNA Pictures/Pinstripes (Row K Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: B
- Audio Grade: B-
- Extras Grade: F
Review
It’s a cold Tuesday, February 8, 1977, in Indianapolis and Tony Kiritsis is on a mission. Arriving at the offices of a mortgage company, he expects to meet his broker M.L. Hall to discuss issues involving a land development deal he feels he was cheated out of. Instead of M.L., Tony is met by M.L.’s son Richard. Disappointing, but a mission is a mission. So instead of following through on his initial plan to kidnap M.L. and force him to admit M.L. bamboozled him, he’ll take Richard hostage and make M.L. admit from afar. Strapping a shotgun to the back of Richard’s neck, tied to a dead man’s wire and a switch on Tony to prevent sniper fire, Tony starts his new plan in motion and of course things don’t exactly go as planned. Featuring a golden cast, Bill Skarsgård as Tony, Dacre Montgomery as Richard, Cary Elwes as a cop friend of Tony’s, Colman Domingo as DJ Fred Temple who Tony involves because he trusts his voice and Al Pacino as M.L. in case you had a thought in the back of your mind about 70s hostage films, specifically Dog Day Afternoon.
Dead Man’s Wire is based on a true story, which was better represented in the 2018 documentary Dead Man’s Line. It’s not a bad movie by any stretch, but there’s so much going on and so many side stories that this just worked better as a documentary. It really should have been a bit more focused and that would have tightened up some of the tension. As it sits, it’s just a really good spotlight on some very talented actors doing really good work telling a story that ends up falling flat.
Video for Dead Man’s Wire is pleasing but goes out of its way to get a 70s look. Image quality is sharp but saturated with some artificial grain. Presented in 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encode at 1.85:1. Sound is in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English with optional English subs) and it also has retro feel with a front heavy sound field with some play in the surrounds and clear dialogue. No extras are included.
Dead Man’s Wire is an okay film, but an okay film from Gus Van Sant is still better than most. If you’re curious about this story and you’re a fan of true crime docs, track down the original version of this, it’s a good watch.
- Todd Doogan