The
Fugitive 4K
(1993/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Le
Combat Dans L'ile
(1962/aka Fire
And Ice/MVD/Radiance
Blu-ray)/Mercy
Road
(2022/Well Go Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: X/B/B Sound: B/B-/B Extras:
B/B-/C- Films: B/B-/C
Now
for the latest action thriller releases, including two notable
upgrades...
Andrew
Davis' The
Fugitive 4K
(1993) is back in a new edition that finally gives the film a new
upgrade for the Ultra High Definition era. Up until this point, a
decent HD transfer has been out there in Blu-ray (and now-defunct
HD-DVD form) for a good while. You can read about the film in my
coverage of that older releases at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3795/The+Fugitive+(1993/HD-DVD
So,
how does the film hold up? Surprisingly well, os much so that I
wonder if Hollywood can even produce a film this competent today. It
is rarer and rarer in this era of hyper-digital garbage and
infantilized screenplays (witness the collapse of the superhero
genre) and to also get the talent together like they do here and know
what to do with it. Everyone involved is at the top of their game,
Ford is as good as he ever was and yes, Tommy Lee Jones more than
deserved his Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, capturing one of
the greatest actors of his generation in full artistic and commercial
power all at once. All of them knew what they were up against, the
reputation of one of the most phenomenally successful TV shows ever
made with one of the most successful conclusions STILL in all of TV
history to date. They did it and WOW does it hold up!
The
pre-digital visual effects also hold up extraordinarily well and the
editing, directing, pacing and timing are as solid and strong as
ever. If you have not revisited the film lately now is the time and
this is the best way to do it. The image and sound have both been
upgraded and you can read more about that below.
Extras
add nothing new and repeat the already decent extras from older
releases, as listed in the older review link above.
Alain
Calvier's Le
Combat Dans L'ile
(1962, aka
Fire
And Ice)
is another smart, underseen, mature, adult thriller from the director
of Fill
'Er Up With Super
(also released on Blu-ray recently by radiance, reviewed elsewhere on
this site) about a somewhat dysfunctional couple (a stunning Romy
Schneider in great form and an on-the-money Jean-Louis Trintignant)
who simply seem to be such a young couple, but one day, her helper
discovers something hidden in their closet... a bazooka!
Though
he lies about what it is at first, he turns out to be an assassin for
an underground right-wing political organization targeting certain
politicians and other figures, but he is soon betrayed during one of
the assassination runs and things get complicated with his wife in
tow and the fact that he comes from money makes it all the crazier.
This
is all well handled, convincingly built up, well acted and very
consistently put together. A thriller very much for smart, mature
adults like they rarely make anymore, it asks some important
questions as relevant as ever and the world they live in is quite
palpable. There is also an interesting chemistry between the leads
in a way I did not expect, though I figured there would be something
between the two leads at the time. A fine film that somehow got lost
int eh shuffle of so many, I am thriller Radiance has brought back
yet another Cavalier film and if you are interested, I strongly
recommend it.
Extras
include a Interview with Alain Cavalier from French television show
Cinema page (1962, 5 mins)
Faire
la mort: A commentary featurette by Cavalier on photos from the
Cinematheque francaise (2011, 5 mins)
Interview
with star Jean-Louis Trintignant from the Belgian television show
Cinescope
(1983, 7 mins)
The
Succulence of Fruit:
An interview with French critic Philippe Roger who provides an
analysis of the film and Cavalier's work (2020, 37 mins)
Un
americain:
Cavalier's first short film about a sculptor who comes to Paris
(1958, 17 mins)
France
1961:
a short film made by Cavalier on the occasion of Zeitgeist's DVD
release of the film (2010, 13 mins)
Behind-the-scenes
photos including images from the archive of Louis Malle
an
Original Theatrical Trailer
and
a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned
artwork.
John
Curran's
Mercy
Road
(2022) is the latest 'stuck-in-a' movie, this time, taking place for
the vast majority of the film inside a car with the driver (Luke
Bracey) tormented by a mysterious figure on his cellphone as he
searches for his missing daughter and also has to deal with the
mother. Had this been made a decade or so ago, this might have been
called 'Phone
Booth
on wheels'
after the late-great Joel Schumacher's thriller, but such thrillers
are nothing new, usually cheap to make and most are as predictable as
they are forgettable.
The
one bonus they have here is the villain is voiced (and he does show
up) by the underrated Toby Jones, who you might remember as the tech
assistant to the evil Red Skull in the recent Captain
America
films, though his work (including a great turn as Truman Capote in a
recent lesser-seen film as good as the Oscar-winning one) and he
knows exactly how to handle his role. It saves this from being a
total dud and unfortunately, increases the missed opportunities.
However, it is worth a look for the very curious and could have been
much worse. At least they were trying, though the child-in-jeopardy
aspect bothered me a bit.
A
Trailer for this film and a few other Well Go releases are the only
extras.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, HDR (10;
Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Fugitive
4K
looks good and has some fine color, detail, depth and a solid look,
but it has some limits that come from it not being a brand-new 4K
scan. With Dolby Vision 12-bit color, this would have been even more
jaw-dropping, but it is still the best I have seen it since I saw it
in an exceptional 35mm film print that was one of the best 35mm
prints I ever screened. The sound is now here in both an upgraded,
lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems) and an
also-strong DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that are the best mixes the film
has ever had from the dialogue to the great music score to the great
sound mixing, sound editing and sound effects. Location audio holds
up and the Atmos mix opens up the sound, but the DTS mix is a little
warmer, richer, thicker and stronger. That gives you two great
soundtracks with which to watch the film with and you will land up
watching it several times with this gem and that;s not bad for such
an early digital theatrical sound film release.
The
1080p 1.66 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Combat
can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a
transfer to all previous releases of the film with beautiful detail,
depth and grey scale. Like
Fill
'Er Up With Super,
Cavalier knew what to do with monochrome and how to shoot it. The
original monophonic soundtrack has been remastered here for PCM 2.0
Mono sound and is impressive for its age, so this is pretty much as
good as this film will ever sound.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Mercy
Road
is an HD shoot that is consistent, but is also consistent with some
slight blurring, slight detail issues here and there and color that
is a little on the dark side and a little off, partly on purpose.
However, it is too distracting for such a film in practically one
shot and hold sit back for watchability. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix fares better with a solid
recording and consistent soundfield, so the combination is good, if
not great or very memorable, despite opportunities to do so.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
