Born in East L.A.: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

Movie
According to the interviews the song “Born in East L.A.” was a hastily thrown together project to act as filler for a Cheech and Chong album without the help of Tommy Chong. Supposedly the song was a hit and Cheech Marin got the brilliant idea to make a movie out of the idea. 2 years later, and with pretty much a 100% solo effort from the comedian (he writes/directs/stars in the film) we have the 1987 comedic classic with the same name. This one of those those passion projects for Marin, and acts as the only feature film that he ever directed (he did direct a semi documentary, but this was his only feature film for the big screens). It’s a bit more laid back than his normal “Mexicana” persona that he takes on his Cheech and Chong acts, but it’s a genuinely fun bit of comedy based upon the idea of a legal citizen getting accidentally deported and having to fight their way back into America.

Rudy (Cheech Marin) is a 2nd generation Mexican immigrant living out his life as a car mechanic in east Los Angeles. Left alone for the weekend by his extended family, he ends up getting a bit more than he bargained for. With his cousin Javier (Paul Rodriguez) coming in for the weekend fresh off the proverbial boat he has to pick him up from a local meeting sport, only to find out that the meeting spot is the target on an immigration raid, and since he accidentally left his wallet at home, Rudy is swept up with the rest of the illegal immigrants and released back over the border in Tijuana. Realizing he’s up a creek without a paddle and NO ONE will listen to him, Rudy has to figure out a way to make some money and get back home before his relatives get back.

Born in East L.A. takes a bit to get into the full spirit of the film, with the first half being more of Cheech Marin’s crazy antics and constantly hitting on people like he normally does. It kind of acts as backstory to Rudy, making him this likable and goofy hero that you sympathize with when he gets kicked across the border. The film really doesn’t hit home with the seriousness of the situation until the second act when Rudy is forced into working for pennies on the dollar in order to pay a coyote to get him back across the border. The film runs a thin line between light hearted comedy and a serious drama in regards to illegal immigration ,and while it doesn’t always hit home with some of the joke, it always leaves a smile on your face (whether that be form comedy or the drama).

Cheech Marin is probably the most laid back I’ve seen him in his comedic roles, and plays Rudy with a sense of genuine heart most of the time. You can tell Marin definitely has a bent towards sympathizing with people who want to come over the border, but he does so in a fun and easy going manner instead of getting all preachy. The cast itself is a blast to watch, with Marin taking front and center, but us also getting Daniel Stern as the opportunistisc gringo, as well as Paul Rodriguez and even the late Michael-Jan Vincent (who sadly passed away this last month) in a bit role. There’s even a bit role for Jason Scott Lee in one of his very first film appearances. They say it takes a village, and Born in East L.A. certainly ascribes to that mentality with the all star 80s cast.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




Video:

Shout Factory hasn’t given us any indication of a new remaster for Born In East L.A., and going by the image I’m betting that this is an older master that Universal has had sitting around in the vaults for quite some time. Shout Factory has tried to spruce it up a bit, but this hearkens back to the days when Universal Studios was putting out heavily filtered transfers for their catalog titles. It’s not nearly as egregious as the Uni release of The Jerk or anything, but it’s still a very heavily filtered and smoothed out image that doesn’t really allow a lot of details to be pulled from the imagery. Colors are warm and a bit orangey, with an emphasis on earth tones and burnished reds. Facial details are ok, but once again, they’re a bit filtered and smooth. The same can be said for the backdrops. Grain seems to be almost nonexistent due to the filtering, and while everything is more than acceptable, the old transfer really could use another master as this suffers from 2008-2014 “Universalitis” in regards to being overly processed.








Audio:

The DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track, on the other hand, does a good bit better than the video score. The 2.0 track is very simple and not wildly active, but it does everything quite easily and without distortion or artifacts. The voices are simple and precise, and the minimalistic score adds some punch later on in the film (especially when Rudy is doing Mariachi music to make some cash on the side of the road). There’s no LFE to speak of and naturally no surrounds, but the simple audio mix is clean and clear, with no abnormalities to show its age outside of only having 2 channels.





Extras:

• NEW Audio Commentary By Director/Writer/Star Cheech Marin
• NEW Interview With Cheech Marin
• NEW Interview With Actress Kamala Lopez
• NEW Interview With Actor Paul Rodriguez
• Extended Television Cut Of Born In East L.A. (Standard Definition)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes







Born in East L.A. the one and only truly solo project of the famous Cheech and Chong duo (given that wrote, directed and starred in the film) and it is a fun little side project for the comedian. He’s a bit more reserved here, and the film suffers from a bit of a drag in the center half, but it’s a hilariously fun movie that gets better with age and nostalgia (sooooooooo many references to things I grew up with back in the day). Shout Factory’s new collector’s edition is solid, with a good audio set, a TON of new extras, but sadly saddled with an older transfer from Universal. All in all it’s a great watch as the DVD is long gone and this new release is just chock full of goodies (including the extended TV cut in SD, which I haven’t seen since the early 90s). Definitely worth it as a fun watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Cheech Marin, Daniel Stern, Paul Rodriguez, Kamala Lopes, Jan-Michael Vincent, Tony Plana, Eddie Barth
Directed by: Cheech Marin
Written by: Cheech Marin
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 84 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 19th, 2019

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017