Aloha
Bobby & Rose
(1975/Icarus/Scorpion Blu-ray)/Jungle
(2017/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/The
Man From Down Under
(1943/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)/Rod
Taylor: Pulling No Punches
(2016)/Sunday Too Far Away
(1976/both Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVDs)
Picture:
B/B-/C/C/C+ Sound: B/B-/C/C+/C+ Extras: C/C/C-/C+/C+ Main
Programs: C+/C+/C+/B-/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Rod
Taylor
and Sunday
Import DVDs, plus Jungle
Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, the DVDs can only play on DVD, Blu-ray
and 4K Blu-ray players that can handle the PAL DVD, while The
Man From Down Under
DVD is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series. All can be ordered from the links below.
The
following releases deal with drama from worlds so close, yet so far,
most of which happen to have an Australian connection...
Paul
Le Mat stars in Aloha Bobby and Rose (1975) which lands on
disc remastered from Scorpion Releasing. A romantic time capsule
piece that's a Bonny and Clyde film of sorts, Aloha
puts you in the drivers seat of a '68 Camaro alongside a driver named
Bobby (Le Mat) that likes to have fun any way he can.
It's
not long until Bobby meets Rose (Diannue Hull) and the two fall in
love in 1970s LA. Both of them have dreams of living the city behind
and moving to Hawaii to start over fresh. When a prank goes wrong,
they soon have to skip town anyway in order to escape the feds that
are hot on their trail... but what is Rose going to do about her five
year old kid?
While
it doesn't mention here whether its a 2K or 4K scan (I'm guessing
2K), the film looks pretty nice and translates well to Blu-ray with
few noticeable imperfections. The main selling point of the film is
its impressive soundtrack with a collection of several hits from
Elton John, Bob Dylan, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Junior Walker &
The All-Stars and The Temptations.
Special
Features...
Brand
New On Camera Interviews with stars Paul LeMat, Robert Carradine, and
Director Floyd Mutrux
Trailer
Greg
McLean's Jungle
(2017) offers Daniel Radcliffe as Yossi Ghinsberg, an Israeli who
decides to go to the deepest reaches of the Amazon and find out what
is there and maybe to see things no other man has seen before. Based
on real events, this film was often believable and plausible, though
some digital effects and humor take away from some of the credibility
of the proceedings, but all are trying to make this work.
However,
it did not stay with me, compares not so well to the likes of The
Revenant for outdoor takes of harrowing survival and the results are
mixed. Only recommended for the very curious and interested.
Cast/Crew
Interviews, two Making Of featurettes and an Original theatrical
Trailer are the extras.
Robert
Z. Leonard's The Man From
Down Under (1943) has
Charles Laughton as Jocko Wilson, a man in unusual situations between
the two World Wars that can be humorous, but from helping orphans
escape and taking care of them, to getting involved in boxing!
Needless
to say Laughton is convincing as the title character and carries a
film that includes Binnie Barnes, Donna Reed, Richard Carlson and a
gritty cast that has its moments. It is not the most well-cohered
film or script, yet I cannot honestly say it is a separate series of
vignettes that seem too loose and unattached and episodic. MGM
apparently thought Laughton's star power could cover up the gaps, but
that's just not enough. Now you can see for yourself as Warner
Archive has now issued this quasi-curiosity on DVD.
An
Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra.
Robert
De Young's Rod Taylor:
Pulling No Punches (2016)
is a recent documentary about how the Australian actor became a big
Hollywood star in the post-WWII years with hits like The
Time Machine, Young
Cassidy, Hotel,
The Train Robbers,
Sunday In New York,
Hitchcock's The Birds
and (though it is hardly given any time here) Antonioni's
controversial Zabriskie
Point. This also
extended to cartoon voices (101
Dalmatians) and more
feature film and TV work. It is an amazing career, longer and more
successful than many remember.
His
co-stars, Aussies who were there and newer stars like Chris
Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe are the interviewees
rightly talking about his talent, charisma and groundbreaking work.
This is a long-overdue retrospective (completed before his
unfortunate passing) and is a solid 100 minutes very much worth your
time.
Extras
include a new Taylor/Tippi Hendren interview and Burbank
International Film Festival Q&A from 9/10/2017.
Ken
Hannam's Sunday Too Far
Away (1976) is a serious,
gritty film that helped launch the career of a fellow Australian
actor as important as Taylor, but one who never crossed over to
Hollywood: Jack Thompson. Here, he is part of a group of sheep
shearers trying to make a living circa 1956 fighting to keep his job
and get as much money as he can just to survive. The film has no
problem showing blood, violence and the filth you'd expect from a
realistic film as this honest one is.
Some
films can wallow in such affairs, but this one quits at 86 minutes
while it is ahead and you can see why it helped make Thompson a star
and add to his credibility as one of the Australian cinemas most
important stars and actors. Cheers to the rest of the cast and the
makers who recreate the period very convincingly.
Extras
include an archival 1975 Making Of film, Original World Premiere
Programme from 1975 and Photo Gallery with rare images.
Aloha
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with a 1.78:1
widescreen aspect ratio and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono
lossless track, this new version of the film is newly color corrected
and features a brand new HD scan.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the HD-shot
Jungle has obvious CGI digital effects and a little more
motion blur than a modern production ought to have, so expect that
issue as you watch. It plays fine otherwise. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless sound mix does not have the
most consistent soundfield, but is good otherwise.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Taylor
documentary mixes its new HD-shot footage well with archival footage,
movie clips and trailers, resulting in a very watchable combination
and a consistent, lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track (though old
clips are usually mono), while the anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1
image on Sunday is from a 35mm restoration of the film that
has paid off with fine color, detail and depth making one want to see
a Blu-ray or 35mm print. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also as
cleaned up and restored as possible and that work plays off.
Finally,
the 1.33 X 1 black & white image transfer on Man can show
the age of the materials used, looking rough at times and could look
better, but it has some good spots. It also offers
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono that is down a few generations, so be
careful of high volume playback and volume switching.
To
order either of the
Umbrella import Blu-ray or DVDs, go to this link for them or other
hard to find titles at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
...and
to order The
Man From Down Under
Warner Archive DVD, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.wbshop.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo & James
Lockhart (Aloha)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
