Badge 373 (BLU-RAY)

Following the death of his partner, brash NYPD cop Eddie Ryan (Robert Duvall, The Godfather) swears vengeance, going on a violent quest through the streets of 1970s New York City to find his assailants. His methods prove so hostile, and racist, that he is forced to resign from the police, rendering him a vigilante hellbent on justice. Ryan’s pursuit of take-no-prisoners fury puts him in the crosshairs of drug kingpins and revolutionaries, not to mention the very department that he was once a part of. Inspired by real life NYPD detective Eddie Egan, who was also the inspiration for William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971) and its non-fiction source, Badge 373 is a much more raw portrayal of inner city violence and New York at a point of transition going into the mid-1970s. Long living in the shadow of Friedkin’s film, as well as other more popular New York City set cop films of the era (including the same year’s Serpico, by Sidney Lumet), Badge 373 is a vital time capsule of old New York, anchored by a fiery performance from Robert Duvall and energetic direction from noted New Hollywood producer Howard W. Koch (A New Leaf). Cinématographe is proud to present this long underseen entry in 70s crime cinema in a brand new 4K restoration from its original camera negative.