Tag Archives: Blu-ray/DVD reissues

Blu-ray reissue: The Reckless Moment (***1/2)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 21, 2019)

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The Reckless Moment – Indicator

Max Ophul’s 1949 film noir stars Joan Bennett as an overly-protective mother who gets sucked into a maelstrom of blackmail and deceit as she tries to cover up her teenage daughter’s accidental killing of her shady middle-aged lover. Adding to Joan’s headache is the appearance of a mysterious stranger (James Mason) who threatens to spill the beans on her daughter’s affair with the recently deceased gentleman (who Mason confirms did have criminal ties). Can Joan tidy this mess before her husband returns from his overseas business trip?

Despite standard noir trappings, the story sustains an interesting moral ambiguity, with subtle shifts in character motivations (your assessment of who the “villain” is may vacillate throughout the piece).

Indicator is a UK-based outfit that puts out mostly Region “B” locked discs, but I’ve noticed on occasion they put out titles that are all-region-luckily, this is the case with The Reckless Moment (i.e., it is compatible with North American Blu-ray players). Extras include a 44-minute featurette on Max Ophul’s career by artist and author Lutz Bacher.

Blu-ray reissue: Millennium Actress (***1/2)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 21, 2019)

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Millennium Actress – Shout! Factory

I think some of the best sci-fi films of the past several decades have originated not from Hollywood, but rather from the masters of Japanese anime. Films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell displayed a quality of writing and visual imagination that few live action productions match (well, post-Blade Runner).

One of the most unique masters of the form was Satoshi Kon (sadly, he died of cancer in 2010 at 46). His films mix complex characterizations with a photo-realistic visual style; making me forget that I’m watching animation. Kon drew on genres not typically associated with anime, like adult drama (Tokyo Godfathers), film noir (Perfect Blue), psychological thriller (the limited series Paranoia Agent) and this 2001 character study.

A documentary filmmaker and his cameraman interview a long-reclusive actress. As she reminisces on key events of her life and career, the director and the cameraman are pulled right into the events themselves. The narrative becomes more surreal as the line blurs between the actresses’ life and the lives of her film characters. Mind-blowing and thought-provoking, it is ultimately a touching love letter to 20th Century Japanese cinema.

The restored print on Shout! Factory’s Blu-ray edition is a thing of beauty. Extras are scarce (brief interviews with 4 of the voice actors) but it’s great to have this gem in HD!

Blu-ray reissue: Klute (***1/2)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 21, 2019)

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Klute  – The Criterion Collection

In the fullness of time (good god, I’m old) it’s easy to forget that respected Hollywood icon Jane Fonda toiled away in films for nearly a decade before she began to be taken seriously as an actor (her starring role in then-husband Roger Vadim’s 1968 sexploitation sci-fi trash classic Barbarella certainly didn’t help), There were two pivotal star vehicles that signaled that transition for Fonda as a creative artist – They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) and this lauded 1971 Alan J. Pakula film.

Fonda is “Bree”, a New York City call girl trying to transition out of the game. She becomes reluctantly embroiled in an investigation being conducted by an amateurish private detective named Klute (Donald Sutherland). Klute has been hired by a Pennsylvania-based CEO (Charles Cioffi) who wants him to track down an employee (and friend of Klute’s) who never returned from a business trip. The only clues Klute has is a stack of intimate letters written to Bree by the missing man.

While there is a definite mystery-thriller element to the story, the film is ultimately a two-character study of Bree and Klute as they develop a tenuous romantic relationship. Fonda and Sutherland are both excellent; Fonda picked up a Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar that year for her work.

The 4K transfer (from the original 35mm camera negative) is outstanding. Extras include a new interview with Fonda (conducted by Illeana Douglas), several archival interviews with Pakula, and a 26-page illustrated booklet with an essay by film critic Mark Harris

Blu-ray reissue: Apocalypse Now Final Cut (****)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 21, 2019)

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Apocalypse Now Final CutLionsgate

“Are you an assassin, Willard?” This nightmarish walking tour through the darkest labyrinths of the human soul (disguised as a Vietnam War film) remains Francis Ford Coppola’s most polarizing work-a masterpiece to some; pretentious hokum to others. Me? I love it. Remember…never get outta the boat.

I know what you’re thinking (aside from “Saigon…shit…I was still in Saigon”). Do you really need to double, triple, quadruple-dip and buy another “upgraded” home video edition of this film? Well, the “final cut” label assures a certain…finality. It’s not a marketing gimmick; Coppola really has assembled a new (and final?) edit for this edition.

First, I will say this new ‘final cut” neither detracts from, nor necessarily adds anything of a particularly revelatory nature to, the famously scattershot narrative of the piece as we know and love it. That said, it’s worth noting that this is the first time the film has been scanned from the original negative and gone through a meticulous frame-by-frame restoration, and it shows. It’s a truly stunning transfer, with newly remixed audio to boot.

Extras are plentiful; including co-directors Eleanor Coppola, Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper’s excellent (theatrically released) 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, which recounts the harrowing, trouble-plagued production of the film, which almost killed star Marin Sheen (he suffered a heart attack and had to be flown to the U.S. mid-shooting) and drove Coppola to the edge of a nervous breakdown. Also included are the Apocalypse Redux Extended Cut and the original theatrical version.

Blu-ray reissue: Alphaville (***)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 21, 2019)

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Alphaville – Kino-Lorber

The first time I saw this 1965 Jean-Luc Godard film I said to myself “WTF did I just watch?” I shrugged it off and forgot about it for about a decade. Then, a couple weeks ago I picked up a copy of this newly restored 4K Blu-ray and watched it a second time. This time, I said to myself, “Oh. I think I got it.” Then, after pausing a beat “No. I don’t got it.” Now bound and determined, I watched it AGAIN several days later.

This time, by George…I think I got it: Godard’s film, with its mashup of science fiction, film noir, dystopian nightmare and existential despair is a pre-cursor to Blade Runner, Dark City and Death and the Compass. The film stars American actor Eddie Constantine and Godard’s muse Anna Karina (Karina passed away just last week).

The image quality is superb, showcasing Nouvelle Vague veteran Raoul Coutard’s beautiful B &W photography. Extras include an audio commentary track by film historian Tim Lucas, and a recently taped 5 minute interview with the late Anna Karina.

Blu-ray reissue: That’ll Be the Day (***1/2)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 14, 2019)

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That’ll Be the Day – Studio Canal (Region “B” Blu-ray)

Set in late 50s England, Claude Whatham’s 1973 film (written by Ray Connolly) is a character study in the tradition of the “kitchen sink” dramas that flourished in 60s UK cinema.

David Essex (best-known for his music career, and hit, “Rock On”) plays Jim MacLaine, an intelligent, angst-ridden young man who drops out of school to go the Kerouac route (to Mum’s chagrin). While he’s figuring out what to do with his life, Jim supports himself working at a “funfair” at the Isle of Wight, where he gets a crash course in how to fleece customers and “pull birds” from a seasoned carny (Ringo Starr) who befriends him.

Early 60s English rocker Billy Fury performs some songs as “Stormy Tempest” (likely a reference to Rory Storm, who Ringo was drumming for when the Beatles enlisted him in 1962) Also look for Keith Moon (who gets a bit more screen time in the 1974 sequel, Stardust).

While the film doesn’t look to be restored, it is still a very clean and sharp transfer, and a vast improvement over previous PAL DVD editions I’ve owned in the past. Extras include engaging interviews with producer David Puttnam and screenwriter Ray Connolly, and an insightful 10-minute video essay about the film by critic Bob Stanley.

Blu-ray reissue: Stardust (****)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 14, 2019)

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Stardust – Studio Canal (Region “B” Blu-ray)

Michael Apted directed this 1974 sequel to Claude Whatham’s 1973 film That’ll Be the Day. David Essex reprises his role as restless seeker Jim MacLaine, who has finally found his true passion: music.

The first third traces MacLaine’s  Beatle-like rise to fame with his beat combo “The Stray Cats” (it’s a safe bet Brian Setzer and band mates saw this film back in the day and “re-appropriated” the name).

With massive success comes the inevitable backstage squabbles and jealousies; eventually MacLaine is surrounded by music company weasels and yes-men whispering in his ear to dump his “backup” band and pursue a solo career as a rock god (who can say “no” to that?). Then comes the inevitable decline: too much drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll excess.

One of the best (and most realistic) films ever made about the music business. Clever casting of a number of veteran UK rockers like Adam Faith, Dave Edmunds, Keith Moon, Marty Wylde and Paul Nicholas adds greatly to the authenticity.

It feels like a squandered opportunity that Studio Canal didn’t just go ahead and package the film with That’ll Be the Day as a “two-fer”, but that’s a personal quibble. I’ll get over it. I’m just happy to finally have copies of both films with high-quality image and audio.

Blu-ray reissue: 1984 (***1/2)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 14, 2019)

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1984 – The Criterion Collection

Nobody said a good film couldn’t be a total downer. Case in point: Michael Radford’s distressingly convincing vision of a bleak dystopia. Released (appropriately enough) in 1984, the film is a faithful adaptation of George Orwell’s cautionary 1948 novel.

John Hurt is excellent as downtrodden Everyman Winston Smith, who risks what little he’s got to be happy about by seeking a little happiness with his defiantly anti-authoritarian lover, Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). In a totalitarian society where any form of passion outside blind devotion to the state is considered an unpardonable crime against conformity, it’s only a matter of time before Big Brother summons them to answer for their sins. The film also stars an oddly inert Richard Burton.

Criterion’s new 4K restoration showcases DP Roger Deakins’ purposely de-saturated cinematography, which (quite literally) helps sets the bleak tone of the film (Deakins supervised the transfer). You have a choice of two music scores-one by The Eurythmics and the other by composer Dominic Muldowney. Extras include new interviews with director Radford, DP Deakins, and David Ryan (the author of George Orwell on Screen).

Blu-ray reissue: Local Hero ****

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 14, 2019)

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Local Hero – Spirit Entertainment (Region “B” Blu-ray)

This magical, wonderfully droll and observant 1983 social satire from Scottish writer-director Bill Forsyth has been on my Blu-ray wish list for many years. I was beginning to despair that I was waiting in vain for “someone” to do a restoration/HD upgrade…and bam! Two studios simultaneously release 2K digital restorations on Blu-ray in 2019 (more on my dilemma in a moment).

Peter Reigert is perfectly cast as Macintyre, a Texas-based executive who is assigned by the head of “Knox Oil & Gas” (Burt Lancaster) to scope out a sleepy Scottish hamlet that sits on the edge of an oil-rich bay. He is to negotiate with all the local property owners and essentially buy out the entire town so that the company can build a huge refinery.

While he considers himself “more of a Telex man”, who would prefer to knock out such an assignment “in an afternoon”, Mac sees the overseas trip as a possible fast track for a promotion within the corporation. As this quintessential 80s Yuppie works to ingratiate himself with the unhurried locals (quite impatiently at first), a classic “fish out of water” transformation ensues. It’s the kindest and gentlest Ugly American tale you’ve ever seen.

Full disclosure: I can only base my assessment of image quality on the disc that I own, which is from the UK outfit Spirit Entertainment (please note it is Region “B” locked). As mentioned earlier, this is a new 2K restoration, and it’s breathtaking (it’s a beautiful looking film to begin with).

Now, the “other” studio who has put out an edition of the film is The Criterion Collection. I have not viewed their edition, but based on their product description, I can safely assume that their 2K transfer is from the same recently struck restoration. Both editions have good extra features (several of them duplicate), but what swayed me to the Spirit Entertainment version was a new 2019 interview with Mark Knopfler (which the Criterion edition does not contain) discussing his classic soundtrack.

Blu-ray reissue: The Harder They Come (****)

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on December 14, 2019)

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The Harder They Come – Shout! Factory

While the Jamaican film industry didn’t experience an identifiable “new wave” until the early 80s, Perry Henzel’s 1973 rebel cinema classic laid the foundation for the likes of films like Dickie Jobson’s Countryman and Theodoros Bafaloukos’ Rockers. From its opening scene, when wide-eyed country boy Ivan (reggae’s original superstar, Jimmy Cliff) hops off a Jolly Bus in the heart of Kingston to the strains of Cliff’s “You Can Get It If You Really Want”, to a blaze of glory finale, it maintains an ever-forward momentum, pulsating all the while to the heartbeat riddim of an iconic soundtrack.

Shout Factory’s 4K scan is taken from the original 16mm negative; although it should be pointed out that this is not a “restoration”, per se (i.e., I noticed occasional scratches and debris in the image). Image quality on previous transfers has been consistently problematic.

That said, this is the third (or maybe fourth?) home video version that I have owned over the years, so I can attest that Shout Factory’s 2019 Blu-ray can boast the best image and sound quality yet. I haven’t plowed through all the extras yet, but the 52-minute feature “A Hard Road to Travel” is an enlightening look at the production history.