Thief (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
Review Date: Sep 03, 2025
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

Michael Mann

Release Date(s)

1981 (August 25, 2025)

Studio(s)

United Artists (Arrow Video)

Film/Program Grade: A+
Video Grade: A
Audio Grade: A-
Extras Grade: B

arrowfilms.com

Review

[Editor's Note: This is a Region-Free 4K Ultra HD British import.]

Thief (aka Violent Streets) was Michael Mann’s auspicious feature film debut in 1981, even though it wasn’t really his first film. Yet it still set the template that he’s followed throughout the rest of his career, establishing the primary thematic concerns that he’s returned to time and time again. While there a few different aspects to this, the single common thread that ties his entire filmography together (The Keep perhaps excepted) is a simple one: professionalism, in the purest Hawksian sense of the term. Regardless of the different stories, settings, and even time periods that Mann has explored, his films always revolve around individuals who are experts at whatever they do, and they take their respective jobs seriously.

As a result, while any given Michael Mann film can be enjoyed in isolation, they all work better together as a unit, with each new film being enriched by familiarity with the ones that came before it. Even a problematic effort like Blackhat is much richer when considered in context with Mann’s other films, not necessarily qualitatively, but rather thematically. In a few cases, that context is even narrower. Heat may have the broadest popular appeal of any Mann film outside of The Last of the Mohicans, but it’s still best appreciated with a clear understanding of how Thief laid the foundation for it. Yet even Thief had a foundation of its own, one that was just as important as any of the other sources that Mann used for it: his 1979 telefilm The Jericho Mile.

Mann had met former convict turned author Eddie Bunker while working on the script for Straight Time, and the two of them discovered that they were kindred spirits. After learning about Bunker’s life inside, Mann made the crucial decision to shoot The Jericho Mile on location at Folsom Prison, using real convicts not just as extras but in major speaking roles. Bunker proved helpful in securing their cooperation, and Mann ended up absorbing everything that he could about the mentality that it takes to do hard time. That formed the basis for the character of Frank in Thief, and it had downstream effects that led to later films like L.A. Takedown and Heat. It also gave Mann some significant street cred, which he used while researching the rest of Thief.

The opening credits for Thief describe it as being based on The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar by Frank Hohimer, which is ironic considering that the Frank in Thief makes it perfectly clear that he doesn’t do home invasions. The reality is that The Home Invaders was just one source among many that Mann had considered while researching Thief, and after acquiring the rights to the book, he was forced to cover himself legally by giving Hohimer credit even though the film isn’t actually based on his work. Mann’s real sources were high-line thieves John Santucci and W.R. Bill Brown, who didn’t just provide Mann with material for his script, but also provided the actual tools that Frank and his crew use, as well as the training on how to use them. (Needless to say, Santucci and Brown didn’t mess with home invasions, either.)

Thief opens with a vivid demonstration of that kind of expertise, with Frank (James Caan) and his crew breaking into a safe in order to steal some uncut diamonds. Mann made sure that Caan knew how to handle the tools of the trade, and in addition to live ammo weapon training, Caan spent time with Santucci and Brown learning how to crack safes. As a result, everything became second nature to him, and that helps to establish the fact that Frank is a professional’s professional (even the corrupt cops who constantly hound him recognize his professionalism). Caan didn’t just play Frank; he became Frank.

In that respect, the professionalism that Mann displays in Thief and elsewhere isn’t so much Hawksian as it is inspired by John Frankenheimer’s version of professionalism in films like The Train, Grand Prix, and Ronin. Frankenheimer deliberately took the time to show his actors using the tools of their respective trades in great detail, which helps establish not just their characters, but the worlds that they inhabit. That’s a lesson that Mann took to heart, and it’s been a consistent quality throughout his entire career, from James Caan to Daniel Day-Lewis and Tom Cruise, and all points in between.

Significantly, Frank tosses anything and everything that he finds inside the safe except for the uncut diamonds that he was after. He’s been successful because he always focuses on the job at hand and avoids any distractions or temptations. That’s an important lesson that he learned while he was in prison: don’t care about anything. Yet even while he was doing time, he yearned for something different, building up a literal picture of the life that he wanted to create for himself once he got out. To that end, he pursues a relationship with Jessie (Tuesday Weld), and that leads to Frank making the fateful decision to get in bed with Chicago mob boss Leo (Robert Prosky) in order to be able to put the pieces of that life together. Frank just wants to take down a handful of major scores, but Leo has something else in mind for him, and that leads to Frank’s downfall. He’s been building his dream, but it resulted in being tied down by distractions and losing his cherished independence. After succumbing to the temptations that Leo offered, he started to care again, and lost focus on the job at hand. The only solution is to strip himself of everything and return to the nihilistic mental state that had kept him alive while he was in prison—which is exactly what Frank does, in decisive fashion.

Mann is a native Chicagoan, so he shot all of Thief in the familiar environs of his home town, and he loaded the film with familiar Chicago actors like Jim Belushi, Mike Genovese, Nathan Davis, and William Peterson, plus other strong character actors like Prosky, Tom Signorelli, and Willie Nelson. Mann also gave roles to real-life Chicago police officers Dennis Farina and Chuck Adamson, as well as real-life thieves Brown and Santucci (in a role reversal, Farina plays one of Leo’s thugs while Santucci plays the cop). Mann even flirted with using Chicago blues in the score for Thief, and while he did include a single blues performance in the film (and also threw in a cameo appearance by Willie Dixon, at least in his so-called director’s cut), he ended up making the fateful decision to approach Tangerine Dream instead.

While Mann has expressed doubts about whether or not he made the right choice, Tangerine Dream’s driving electronic score is such an integral part of Thief that it’s impossible to imagine it working as well any other way. It provides just as much texture as do any of the locations, actors, or even the tools of the trade. In fact, it actually enhances those textures during both the opening heist and the later vault break-in (a sequence that rivals Jules Dassin’s Rififi as the one of the greatest heists ever put on film). The music, the tools, and the visuals fuse into a whole that’s far greater than the sum of its parts—although it’s worth pointing out that Craig Safan ended up composing the music that plays over Frank’s final confrontation with Leo, but the reasons why are a story for another day.

All of that contributed to Michael Mann’s reputation as a high-tech filmmaker, and to be fair, he is as much of an expert with the tools of the filmmaking trade as any of his characters are with their own tools. Yet that reputation overlooks the fact that for Mann, technology has always been a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Technology in Mann’s films serves the characters, but the characters don’t serve the technology. And that’s what brings everything full circle. It’s still true that to fully appreciate Heat, you need to understand Thief, and to fully appreciate Thief, you need understand The Jericho Mile. Yet to fully appreciate Mann, you need to understand Frank. Thief laid the groundwork for Mann’s entire career, not because of the genre elements or any stylistic flourishes, but rather because Frank defined the kind of dedicated professionalism that would become Mann’s obsession. Everything else has flowed out of that, and understanding that fact is the key to appreciating any Michael Mann film all the way from The Jericho Mile to Ferrari (and beyond, we fervently hope).

Cinematographer Donald E. Thorin shot Thief on 35mm film using Panavision Panaflex Gold cameras with spherical Panavision Super Speed lenses, framed at 1.85:1 for its theatrical release. This version uses Criterion’s 4K master, which is based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, cleaned up and graded for High Dynamic Range in both Dolby Vision and HDR10. (The Willie Dixon scene that was added to the director’s cut was scanned from an internegative instead.) The whole process was approved by Michael Mann. It appears to be the exact same 4K scan that Criterion did for their 2014 Blu-ray, but there may have been some extra cleanup work done to it, and it’s definitely not the same grade as the one on that disc.

Thief has always been a little challenging to assess in terms of grading, which isn’t helped by the fact that previous home video versions have been wildly inconsistent. Steely blues and greens dominate the production design and cinematography, and yet most of the original MGM home video releases had their typically brightened, high-contrast look, with a magenta push that resulted in pinkish/red flesh tones. Criterion’s original 2014 grade (which was supposedly guided by the look of Mann’s 35mm answer print) corrected for that, but it arguably over-corrected. It was much, much darker—a little too dark—and everything was covered in a blanket teal wash, flesh tones included. It was better, but problematic in its own way.

Yet in Criterion’s newer grade, all past sins have been forgiven. The brightness levels are much more appropriate on a scene-by-scene basis, dark when they should be but never too dark when they shouldn’t. The overall contrast range has been improved, but it hasn’t been exaggerated; the use of HDR is quite restrained. The nighttime city scenes with their wetted-down streets really pop, especially in the scenes at Frank’s car lot, and the burn bar really burns, but the rest of the film displays the kind of contrast levels that are appropriate for a 35mm film. While the blues, greens, and even the teals that are inherent to the original design of Thief are still present, they haven’t bled into the flesh tones, all of which look natural—when they do tilt into teal/green, it’s because of the lighting that Thorin used in the scene, like when Leo is towering over Frank and threatening Jessie later in the film (an effect that was eliminated in the old MGM master).

While Arrow hasn’t done any additional work to Criterion’s basic 4K master, their version has been encoded to disc by David Mackenzie at Fidelity in Motion, and while the differences are subtle, they’re still clear if you look for them. Criterion’s encoding looks slightly filtered in comparison, with the grain being subtly softened. It’s sharper and more refined in this version, which has the effect of making the whole image look slightly sharper. A good example would be when Sergeant Urizzi (Santucci) leans over Frank’s car when he introduces himself for the first time. The weave of his overcoat looks more distinct in Arrow’s version, while it’s just a touch smeary in Criterion’s. Is it a dramatic improvement? Absolutely not, and on many displays at normal viewing distances, the differences won’t even be noticeable. Yet they’re still present, making Arrow’s 4K presentation of Thief the definite winner between the two.

Audio is offered in English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English SDH subtitles. Thief was originally released in Dolby Stereo, so it was a four-channel mix matrixed into two. This 5.1 mix was derived from the original four-track magnetic stems, which means that it’s really just 4.0 in a 5.1 container. Criterion labeled it as being 5.0, which was more accurate since there’s no LFE but still a little misleading since the mono surround channel has just been split into two, making it really 4.0 in a 5.1 container. (As an aside, it would be nice if studios and boutique labels were more accurate in the way that they describe their soundtracks, since many older films with 5.1 mixes are just discrete 4.0.)

In any event, it’s a pretty typical Dolby Stereo mix from that era, so the surround usage is limited, although there’s some much more noticeable directionality across the front soundstage. The dialogue and effects are all well-balanced, but unsurprisingly, the bulk of the sonic energy in the film is driven by Tangerine Dream’s unforgettable score (as well as by Craig Safan’s contribution to the finale). That bled over into rest of the sound design, since Mann had various effects pitched up or down in order to match the key of the music—the sounds of traffic in the city and the crashing waves during the beach scene have been altered that way. Thief may not have the kind of aggressive 5.1 or Atmos mixes that we’re used to hearing today, but it’s no less creative in its own way.

Arrow’s Limited Edition Region-Free 4K Ultra HD release of Thief is a two-disc set that includes a UHD with the director’s cut and a Region B Blu-ray with the original theatrical cut. The insert is reversible, with new artwork by maarko phntm on one side and the iconic theatrical poster art on the other, and there’s a slipcover featuring the new artwork. There’s also a 40-page booklet with essays by Brad Stevens, Barry Forshaw, and Gillian Kelly, as well as a comparison of the different cuts of the film by Stevens. The following extras are included:

DISC ONE: DIRECTOR’S CUT (UHD)

Audio Commentary by Michael Mann and James Caan
The Directors: Michael Mann (Upscaled SD – 59:30)
Stolen Dreams (HD – 14:32)
Hollywood USA: James Caan (Upscaled SD – 24:40)
The Art of the Heist (HD – 56:29)
Thieves (HD – 6:59)
Violent Streets Titles (Upscaled SD – 5:05)
Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 1:53)

The commentary with Mann and Caan was originally recorded for the 1995 Special Director’s Edition LaserDisc release of Thief, and it’s always been a personal favorite of mine, right up there with the LaserDisc commentaries for The Howling and Escape from New York. Like both of those, it works as well as it does because it features a director and an actor who were perfectly in sync with each other, and it’s filled with genuine insights into the making of Thief, the themes that it presents, and the nature of Frank’s character. While it was hard work for Caan, he appreciated the fact that he was the best prepared that he had ever been for any film in his career—and he was also the most proud of his performance in the diner scene with Tuesday Weld.

Unfortunately, while there have always been occasional gaps in this commentary track, those gaps are now much longer than they were before. There are some significant passages that are missing, including stories about John Santucci and W.R. Bill Brown. Don’t blame Arrow, because that’s probably the fault of the notoriously skittish MGM legal department. They’ve applied their censorious scissors to other older commentaries like the one from the aforementioned Howling LaserDisc, but they’ve also trimmed more recent commentaries like the one that The Hysteria Continues! did for Vinegar Syndrome’s Creature Blu-ray. Sadly, there’s nothing to be done about that, but at least there’s still plenty of good information left over in this one (unlike The Howling, where I’ll argue that MGM completely gutted it).

The rest of Arrow’s extras kick off with two vintage archival programs from different sources. The Directors: Michael Mann is a 2001 episode of the Encore cable series, featuring interviews with Mann, Jim Belushi, Dennis Farina, William Peterson, John Voight, Tom Sizemore, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Madelaine Stowe, and Wes Studi. It covers all of Mann’s films from The Jericho Mile to Ali, with all of the participants noting his exacting attention to detail and his drive to get what he wants (Belushi tells a hilarious story about what Mann did in order to get the shot that he wanted despite the fact that the actor was supposed to get married that day). There are plenty of insightful comments by Mann and his collaborators, as well as a few less than insightful ones from the narrator—at one point, he refers to Frank as being “a tough, wisecracking thief” (I guess two out of three ain’t bad). It’s still a nice portrait of the director. Hollywood, USA is a 1981 episode of the French television series Ciné regards devoted to Caan. The interviewer and the camera crew follow Caan around while he’s on vacation, filming what he does and asking questions about his life and work. Given that it’s a French program, the conversation inevitably turns to Howard Hawks and El Dorado, but there’s some discussion about Thief as well.

There are also two different featurettes that Arrow produced for their 2015 Blu-ray. Stolen Dreams is an interview with Caan that covers his process of preparing for the role, from the gun training to working with Brown and Santucci. It all helped to define the nature of Frank and help him get into the character. The Art of the Heist is a visual essay by author and critic F.X. Feeney, author of Taschen’s 2006 volume Michael Mann. Like the book, it’s essentially a visual monograph devoted to Mann and his work on Thief. It’s divided into seven different chapters with titles like The Dawn of Mann and Michael’s Method, with much of the information derived from Feeney’s research for the Taschen book.

Thieves is a new comparison of all three cuts of Thief (excluding the censored television version). It’s mostly a breakdown of the differences between the theatrical cut and the LaserDisc director’s special edition, since that’s the one where Mann went the most medieval on the film. He made numerous small edits that don’t make much of a difference to the film as a whole, but also added back the scene with Willie Dixon that he cut from the theatrical version. When he revisited Thief for the Criterion director’s cut Blu-ray, he retained the Willie Dixon scene but changed everything else back. Considering that none of those small changes were improvements, that’s a good thing.

Finally, the Violent Streets Opening and Closing Titles were sourced from VHS since the film no longer goes by that title in the U.K. It’s still nice to have them preserved here.

DISC TWO: THEATRICAL CUT (BD)

Isolated Music & Effects

While the Isolated Music & Effects track is the only real extra on disc two, it’s fair to think of the theatrical cut itself as being an extra. That’s because it represents the old MGM-era grading of Thief, with everything having been brightened significantly and all the colors demonstrating a magenta push that skews the flesh tones pinkish-red. It’s the classic MGM home video look, one that some viewers may even prefer to the newer Criterion grade. (This viewer doesn’t.) It’s important to remember that just because that’s how Thief used to look on video, that doesn’t necessarily make it any more accurate to how theatrical prints were timed. Mann’s new preferred look may or may not be revisionary (I don’t have reference materials of my own to judge), but the old look was revisionary in its own way. Yet it’s still nice to have it included with or without the Willie Dixon scene. It’s presented in English 2.0 LPCM only, with optional English SDH subtitles.

That’s all of Arrow’s previous extras, although aside from the commentary track, none of Criterion’s extras have been included here. They offer a different interview with Caan, plus one with Michael Mann and another with Johannes Schmoelling of Tangerine Dream. (The Region B Blu-ray from OFDb Filmworks in Germany also had German-language commentary by Prof. Dr. Marcus Stiglegger.) Yet taken as a whole, Arrow has a more extensive set of extras even without considering the fact that they include a Blu-ray with the theatrical cut, and they also managed to wring improvements out of Criterion’s 4K master thanks to a superior encode by Fidelity in Motion. That makes Arrow’s Limited Edition 4K release of Thief the one to own. Whether or not it’s worth the upgrade from the already fine Criterion version is a matter of choice, but it’s definitely the best place to start if you don’t already have that disc. And if you’re not already a Michael Mann fan, then remember that the journey to becoming one needs to start with Frank and Thief.

-Stephen Bjork

(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).