All The President's Men 4K (1976/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Blue Moon (2025/Sony Blu-ray)/The Chase (1966/Sony*)/Confessions Of A Police Captain (1971/Radiance Blu-ray**)/Divine Sarah Bernhardt (2024/Icarus DVD)/Good Shepherd (2006/Universal/*both Alliance Blu-ray)/Not Without Hope (2025/Inaugural DVD)/Out Of Season (1975/VCI Blu-ray/**both MVD)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: X/B-/B/B/C+/B/C/C+ Sound: C+/B/C+/C+/C+/B-/C+/C+ Extras: C+/C-/D/C+/C-/C/C-/C+ Films: B/C+/B+/B-/B-/B+/C+/C+

Now for a group of dramas, some of which are key works for you to see or see again...

Alan J. Pakula's All The President's Men 4K (1976) upgrades the classic about the Watergate scandal, more relevant than ever before, that we previously covered on Blu-ray a good while ago here...

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12465/Alamo+Bay+(1985/TriStar/Sony/Twilight+Time+Limited

Though co-star Robert Redford felt the film may have glamorized journalism in a way he did not intend, he and Dustin Hoffman are still remarkable together as the team that did something some very corrupt and powerful people now as this posts are afraid will be repeated. Sadly, many of those same people started the 1980s by doing everything to make this moment irrelevant and as people started to actually vote in that unwise, immoral direction, here we are. Thus, the film is a landmark and special work about the huge triumph in democracy, freedom of the press and how a great power is supposed to function.

That could even be glamorous to some, but better glamorous and free than otherwise.

Extras actually cut any Original Theatrical Trailers and Sydney Pollack's feature length audio commentary tracks for some odd reason, plus one of the older featurettes is dropped. However, we do get Vintage Interview with Jason Robards on the Dinah Shore talk show Dinah! and four other featurettes:

All the President's Men: The Film and Its Influence

Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire

Telling the Truth About Lies

and Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat.

Richard Linklater's Blue Moon (2025) is a mostly confined to a single room biopic of the last days of Lorenz Hart, the former music partner of Richard Rogers, who wrote many classic musicals and songs, like the one this film is named after. Ethan Hawke is impressive as Hart, allowing Hart's crassness, drinking and other issues to hang out and slowly show us why the partnership broke up and led Rogers to an even more successful partnership.

Hart lives to see Oklahoma! become a debuting success (later, it and many other Rogers and Hammerstein works would become hit stage musicals and hit feature films) and groundbreaking at that. Hawke was rightly nominated for Best Actor Oscar, but the film can still be limited and constricted, including at times it did not have to be. It looks period authentic, the cast is fine, costumes nice and has some good moments, but it cloud have been better than spent its time a little more efficiently. It is still worth a look.

An Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra.

Arthur Penn's The Chase (1966) is back in print, the film that turned out to launch the Hollywood New Wave in its early stages. The thriller with Robert Redford in the South accused of a murder he did not commit is pretty good and underrated, Marlon Brando as the Sheriff and an amazing cast. You can read all about it in our coverage of an out of print special edition Blu-ray we reviewed here:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15112/The+Best+Of+Cinerama+(1962)+++Cinerama's+Russi

Amusingly since we got this disc, this film came up over the recent oscars as co-star Jane Fonda started joking about Barbra Streisand doing the tribute to Redford during the In Memoriam segment, pointing out Streisand only made one film with him when she did four. They include Barefoot In The Park, The Electric Horseman, Our Souls At Night and the first one they ever made together, The Chase. Nice to have it back in print.

There are sadly no extras.

Damiano Damiani's Confessions Of A Police Captain (1971) helped launch the memorable cycle of violent crime films in Italy with hardcore violence and graphicness that could compete with any cinema in the genre, with Martin Balsam playing essentially the title role, a veteran Italian cop who lets a hardened criminal out unexpectedly. When that man tries to kill someone, he gets investigated by a district attorney (Franco Nero) and that leads to all kinds of revelations and investigations.

Add the organized crime factor and other corruption still in Sicily (reshaped by the post-WWII period) and you get a scathing action film and at least a minor classic of the genre if not more. Gutsy, dirty and brutal at times, it helped set the tone for some pure cinema that was reflected in other countries like the U.K. (hardcore crime films like the original Get Carter and TV shows like The Sweeney) for instance, the 1970s had arrived, with disillusionment after 1960s optimism and unfinished business. This film helped reestablish Balsam and furthered Nero as one of the biggest stars and actors in Italian Cinema history. This one is a must-see for all serious film fans.

Extras include an interview with actor Franco Nero (2026)

• Interview with actor Michele Gammino (2026)

• Interview with editor Antonio Siciliano (2026)

• Trailer

• Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters

• Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing by film scholar Mark Shiel and an archival interview with Damiano Damiani

• and Limited Edition of 3,000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

Guillaume Nicloux's Divine Sarah Bernhardt (2024) is a surprisingly good, graphic, yet lush biopic of the legendary stage performer, but like Blue Moon, tells an art legends story as they get sick and are near death, but this has actual flashbacks to better days than just talking about them. Sandrine Kiberlain is very thorough and convincing as the legendary performer in good and bad health, the supporting actors are solid, costumes and set design very nice and period convincing.

Taking place at the turn of the last switch of centuries (19th to 20th,) the film can be rich and lush, but stark when it needs to be and I was very surprised this was as effective as it was, not portraying Bernhardt as angelic like too many biopics (aseptically music ones of late) do, but with a full, honest range that is very convincing and is one of the most underrated performances of the last few years. Save a few so-so moments, it is a really good film, one of the best from France I have also seen in a while and one you should catch if you are interested. It really deserves a larger audience.

Trailers for three other Icarus releases are the only extra.

Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd (2006) is the legendary actors second directorial effort, following A Bronx Tale, somehow managing to be a bit better than that as we discussed when reviewing the film in the obsolete HD-DVD/DVD Combo format here:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5258/The+Good+Shepherd+(HD-DVD/DVD+Combo+Disc

This reissue uses the same solid video master, though the sound is a little less dynamic, but it is one of the most underrated works of all involved, as Matt Damon plays the man who founded the CIA (out of the end of the OSS) and is as effective and smart as ever. You can read more about the story and great cast here, but I was re-reminded of how great Angelina Jolie is and

Extras repeat the extra scenes amounting to 16 minutes from the older releases, all of which are interesting.

Joe Carnahan is a director with some talent, but over the years, no matter the project, he has not managed to meld his abilities into a film that hits a home run. However, Not Without Hope (2025) is one of the better close calls as four friends go out on a boat, only to land up in the dangerous waters and we wonder if any of them can survive.

Based on a true story, this is one of the rare times any film lately has lived up to that claim, at least at times, former Shazam! actor Zachary Levi (proving he can actually act again when he gets a good role) and John Duhamel are the most recognizable names, but the rest of the cast of unknowns are actually just fine here. I am surprised with all the garbage we have seen in the past year or so that this did not find an audience, but despite its flaws and limits, has enough I could see more people enjoying this one.

Had Carnahan really pulled the off, it could have been a surprise hit and Levi has complained he is being somewhat blacklisted for his politics and is not able to find work. That might have some validity, but the fact that the second Shazam! film and the hideous Black Adam bombed and just about killed DC Comics, has something to do with that more than his politics. Additionally, he is good here, so it is not about a lack of talent. Those interested should check this one out.

Extras include an Original Theatrical Trailer, but that's it.

Alan Bridges' Out Of Season (1975) is a sometimes controversial drama with three controversial actors. Vanessa Redgrave with her abrasive politics, Susan George with her controversial film roles and Cliff Robertson, soon to be blackballed from the industry for exposing someone who dared to use his name in a big money scheme. He was just protecting himself, but still got thrown under the bus, though AT&T gave him a comeback as the face of honesty in a later, long-running TV commercial campaign.

Redgrave and George are a somewhat dysfunctional mother and daughter running an old Inn when the former's old lover (Robertson) shows up. It is a mixed reunion that she was not expecting, one that might work out, until he starts to become interested in her daughter. From there it gets more toxic and dysfunction as the film becomes a character study that works more often than not.

The results range from mixed to wild and bizarre, though it has an issue or two I cannot get into without spoilers. Still, it is worth a look for all serious mature, adult film fans and is recommended. Glad its back in print.

Extras include a feature length audio commentary track by Rob Kelly and three brief featurettes on Redgrave, Robertson and George.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on All The President's Men 4K is a nice improvement over the older Blu-ray edition, though you still get some grain and age in the film, that is also the sometimes dark style Pakula has in all of his thrillers and the annoying softness from the old Blu-ray edition is gone. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is a little lacking, repeating the sound from the Blu-ray edition. Maybe the sound could be better (what happened to the original soundmaster and stems?) but it is passable, but be careful of high volume playback and volume switching just in case.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Blue Moon has good color, but a little more softness and even slight blur than I would have liked, issues I bet a 4K edition would not have, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is good for a dialogue-based film and not just because of the music. The combination is fine for the format.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless soundmix transfer on The Chase repeats the solid HD master used for the old Twilight Time edition and plays just fine, though I bet this will be great in 4K.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Confessions Of A Police Captain was shot in Techniscope and can show that format's limits, but definition and color are good, while the PCM 1.0 Italian Mono shows it age much more, but is passable, Wish it were some kind of 2.0 Mono instead.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on The Good Shepherd also uses the older HD master used for its old Blu-ray and HD-DVD versions, but still looks good for its age, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix has some sonic limits and could sound a little better. I still enjoyed seeing it again.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Out Of Season can show the age of the materials used, a print that was scanned at 4K in absence of the original camera negative, but the color is not faded even when there is a slight lack of detail and definition. The good news is that the print looks like a dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor version of the film printed overseas (Technicolor stopped making such prints in the U.S. in 1974) and it makes it still more watchable than you would think. The sound is here in PCM 2.0 Mono, shows the film's age and even if the original sound materials were found, improvements would only be so much better, so cheers to the VCI restoration for making this as watchable as it is.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Divine Sarah Bernhardt has some nice color and it is shot well, but the transfer and old format give more softness than it ought to have. The lossy French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sounds good for the format, but I know this cloud sound better to.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Not Without Hope is also on the soft side, digital effects notwithstanding, but has some good shots, while the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 is more active than most films as it is a Carnahan film, so that helps, but we know it would sound better in a lossless format too.

- Nicholas Sheffo