
Echoes
Of War (2015/Arc
DVD)/Last Knights
(2014/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Signpost
To Murder
(1964/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)
Picture:
C/B-/C+ Sound: C/B/C+ Extras: C-/C+/C- Films: C/C+/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Singpost
To Murder
DVD is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
a selection of dramatic thriller releases in different genres...
Kane
Senes' Echoes
Of War
(2015) is a post-Civil War drama set in Texas have two families with
losses when one is stealing form the other, leading to a predictable
conflict. There is a little character development, but this seems
too contemporary in the acting and how it is blocked, so I was
disappointed and it gave us nothing new. James Badge Dale, Ethan
Embry and William Forsythe make for good leads, but the script gives
them little to really do.
Kaz
I. Kiriya's Last
Knights
(2014) has Clive Owen as a fighter, swordsman and fallen warrior (no
one talks ronin much, oddly), in this battle epic film (set centuries
ago) that takes a few cues from the played out & over-imitated
300,
but has some interesting moments when it tries to be its own film.
The ruler in power actually had something to do with the fall of
Owen's boss, so he goes for revenge, but it will not be that simple.
Morgan Freeman heads the rest of an international cast that makes
this worth seeing for fans of the genre along with some acting and
battle moments that work. Too bad it did not have more.
George
Englund's Signpost
To Murder
(1964) is a thriller trying to be another Psycho
or Diabolique
with its twists and turns as a criminal (Stuart Whitman) outwits his
therapist (Edward Mulhare) and escapes prison, finding a lone married
woman (a really good Joanne Woodward) waiting at home in her big
house for her husband, who is away. Then he turns up dead and the
escapee is suspect #1, but something else is going on here.
From
there we get some mystery and suspense, but the script puts the film
in a corner where it becomes too predictable, but the actors turn in
top rate work and also include a pre-Batman
Alan Napier, Murray Matheson and an uncredited James Doohan (just
before Star
Trek).
Though it ultimately falls short, see it for the acting.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Echoes
is a stylized digital shoot that is just too soft and sepia-toned
throughout, though some shots with candles are not bad, it just does
not look that good.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Knights
is not a
bad use of scope, but some shots are poor and a little degraded,
often on purpose. When the makers skip that nonsense, you get some
great shots, but they are interrupted too often by the lesser
moments, hurting the film overall.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 black & white image on Signpost
might have some softness, but is a solid shoot with some memorable
shots and some that have much better detail than others.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Knights
is well mixed and presented, easily the best sonic presentation here
and is very well recorded, mixed and presented. The lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on Echoes
has some surround information, but is on the lite side, but the lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Signpost
is a little weaker than expected and could use an upgraded
remastering.
Extras
on all three releases include Original Theatrical Trailers, while
Knights
adds Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices, Cast/Crew Interviews, plus Visual Effects and Making
Of featurettes.
To
order the Signpost
To Murder
Warner Archive DVD, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
https://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo