The new Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip 4K release from Sony gives fans a chance to see one of the comedian’s best comedy sets in pristine quality. Originally released in 1982, it was a huge hit that wound up being the highest-grossing concert movie of all time until Eddie Murphy Raw six years later. Its legendary status has only grown since then, as it was a VHS and DVD favorite for comedy fans.
“Richard Pryor’s first concert film shot live on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Pryor speaks about Africa, sex, lawyers, his wife, Italian mobsters, and, inevitably drugs, leaving the audience enthralled in laughter,” says the official description.
First off, Sony’s Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip 4K release is wonderfully done and gorgeous to look at. With cinematography by Haskell Wexler and directed by Joe Layton, it’s wonderfully shot, and seeing it in 4K allows you to really get an extra kick out of Pryor’s facial expressions and gestures. While a comedy show isn’t the first thing you dream of seeing in 4K, it really does the performance justice and the upgrade really is great to see.
As for the set itself, Pryor riffs for 80 minutes. Pryor is hilarious the entire time, covering topics from visiting Africa and racism to filming parts of Stir Crazy in the Arizona State Penitentiary. The latter has the hilarious joke, “It’s like 80 percent Black people, and what’s strange about that is that there are no Black people in Arizona.” Nothing is off limits, as Pryor even goes into how he caught on fire while freebasing cocaine two years prior. It’s a great, legendary set you can watch many times and still find funny.
As far as bonus content goes, the 4K release comes with a digital copy. This is nice as it’s a very streamable comedy movie and is nice to put on in the background for repeat viewings. Other than that, it only features a short trailer for the film, which is humorous and nice to have, but it is pretty bare-bones. Thankfully, the actual film is stellar, so the sparse bonus content isn’t much of a worry.
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip 4K Review: Final Verdict
There’s something special about seeing a master at work, and that’s what really makes the Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip 4K release a must-purchase for comedy fans. Not only is it gorgeous in its composition and looks great, but it also features one of the best comedians to ever do it performing some of his finest work. You can’t go wrong here.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received product from the distributor for our Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip 4K review.