The Alto Knights [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Barry Levinson

Cast: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Kathrine Narducci

Release Date: July 15, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

The Alto Knights stars Academy Award winner Robert De Niro in a dual role, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Levinson. The film follows two of New York’s most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello (De Niro) and Vito Genovese (De Niro), as they vie for control of the city’s streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever.

‘The Alto Knights’ explores the history and clash of two iconic crime bosses and lifelong friends Frank Costello and Vito Genovese as their worlds are both upended after a botched assassination attempt changes everything. As one tries to settle into a life of normalcy and begins to distance himself from the criminal enterprises, the other makes moves to expand his reach and scope in that department. As jealousy, uncertainty and violence permeate the lives of both men, it sends them on a collision course that will change the world forever.

Directed by notable filmmaker Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Rock the Kasbah) from a screenplay written by Nicholas Pileggi, Levinson does a fully capable job at the helm of ‘The Alto Knights’ guiding along the true story with style, yet is still unable to excel beyond its overall averageness. The film’s cast includes Robert De Niro in a dual role portraying both leads, and co-starring Debra Messing, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Michael Adler and more, with the majority offering generally decent and capable performances in each of their respective roles.

‘The Alto Knights’ is a decent, entertaining but frequently lacking gangster film that sees talented actor Robert De Niro tackle dual roles, portraying the two key characters within. The film does have its moments and glimpses of promise along the way, yet it’s too often bogged down by tacky, illogical dialogue, a jumbled story progression and an absence of anything noteworthy or new that we haven’t seen countless times previously in some form or another. It does have style and it’s compently crafted and acted, yet it’s not ever completely able to get away from its own silly and repetitive nature, with the dual roles by De Niro somewhat surprisingly harming the tale and distracting from the bigger picture more often than not.

For a more detailed review of the film itself, please see my Blu-ray release of ‘The Alto Knights’ from earlier this year Right Here!

‘The Alto Knights’ arrives home on 4K Ultra HD courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, making its UHD debut less than two months after the Blu-ray release. The UHD release features the film itself with a gorgeous, full Ultra High Definition video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10 which offers a quite splendid upgrade to the already incredibly solid Blu-ray release which should thrill fans, especially those that didn’t already pick up the Blu-ray edition.

The great new video presentation is further complemented by a rewarding Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that combined have it looking and sounding marvelous. No bonus content is included so the upgraded video is the key star of this new release and for any fans of the film that didn’t already grab the Blu-ray and would like to own it in 4K this one shouldn’t disappoint and is recommended. If you did already purchase the Blu-ray, then it will be up to each individual whether the double dip is justified for the video upgrade alone.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Alto Knights’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic as a whole and delivers a sharp, clean and gorgeously detailed presentation from start to finish that’s absent of any noticeable issues to be located throughout. Detail looks terrific on character faces and clothing, interior and outdoor settings, as well as vehicles and plenty more. The Dolby Vision HDR offers richer, more lifelike colors noticeable on various items and pieces and clothing, blood and other tidbits along the way, while black levels and shadowing are deep, clean and problem free. Overall, this is a wonderful Ultra High Definition presentation that offers some notable improvements over the recently released and already solid Blu-ray that should excite fans.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack appears to be identical to that which was included on the film’s earlier Blu-ray release. You can read more on the audio presentation in my Blu-ray review HERE!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

As was the case with the previous Blu-ray edition, the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Alto Knights’ does not include any bonus content.

*Please note that the above images are taken from a previously released Blu-Ray disc and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘The Alto Knights’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘The Alto Knights’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

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