Carlito's Way: Crime Saga Collection (1993)

Synopsis: This double feature pairs the all-time classic CARLITO'S WAY with its more recent prequel. CARLITO'S WAY: RISE TO POWER: An all-star cast is featured in this prequel to CARLITO'S WAY,... This double feature pairs the all-time classic CARLITO'S WAY with its more recent prequel. CARLITO'S WAY: RISE TO POWER: An all-star cast is featured in this prequel to CARLITO'S WAY, originally a Brian de Palma film starring Sean Penn and Al Pacino. Set in Spanish Harlem, this version stars Jay Hernandez in a star-making performance as Carlito, who is on a comet-like ascent to the top of a successful crime ring. But being a kingpin takes a lot of support and the loyalty of a posse of complicated and violent friends, played by seasoned actors Mario Van Peebles, Luis Guzmán, and the multi-talented P.Diddy, who proved his fine acting chops in the Broadway play A RAISIN IN THE SUN. CARLITO'S WAY: Notorious Puerto Rican heroin dealer Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is released from jail on a technicality, thanks to the manipulations of his sleazy lawyer buddy (Sean Penn). All he wants is to keep his nose clean and earn enough money to start a business in the Bahamas--and maybe rekindle romance with his old flame, played by Penelope Ann Miller. Instead he finds himself back in trouble as a result of old-world codes of honor and misguided loyalties. It all takes place in 1975 Manhattan, in and around a nightclub Carlito manages, so there's plenty of classic disco music pulsing on the soundtrack. John Leguizamo plays one of the younger generation of hoodlums out to prove something. Viggo Mortensen and Luis Guzmán star as a couple of Carlito's buddies from the old days. Brian De Palma, who directed Pacino a decade earlier in SCARFACE, makes this seem almost like that film's sequel. As expected, there are plenty of elaborate tracking shots and suspenseful set pieces, most memorably a pulse-pounding chase through Grand Central Station. The story is adapted from two novels by New York Supreme Court Judge Edwin Torres based on his childhood in East Harlem. [More]

Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo

Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Ingrid Rogers, Raquel Alessi, Jewlisa Bermuda, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Tony Cucci, Onika Day, Jay Hernandez

Director: Brian De Palma, Michael Scott Bregman

Director: Brian De Palma, Michael Scott Bregman

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