Ransom Baby (1973/Mya/E1 DVD)/The Town:
Ultimate Collector’s Edition (2010/Warner Blu-ray Set w/DVD &
Ultraviolet Copy)
Picture:
C-/B & C+ Sound: C/B &
B- Extras: C-/C+ Films: C/C+
The heist
film peaked in the 1970s and by then, it also became the heist/revenge
film. Occasionally, people trey to do it
again, but it is a cycle you can only do so often, as these films with 37 years
apart in their first theatrical release one that is hard to pull off.
Paul
Filippou’s Ransom Baby (1973) is a Greek
heist picture that has some amusing moments due to its dated technology trying
to look hip, chic and so 1970s, plus it has its share of nudity, but this tale
of an police inspector’s baby kidnapped as part of a plot involving robbing a
bank of a small fortune is just too much like other such films and TV shows
with the same plot for that matter. The
actors are less familiar and locations not bad, but it just does not have
anything much to recommend about it and its conclusion is only so good. Still, it is a genre curio and at least some
DVD version is now available. The only
extra is a very brief set of posters and ads for the film.
The 1.33
X 1 image is rough and miscredited on the package as anamorphically enhanced
1.78 X 1. It comes from an older tape
source with audio and video dropouts that make it seem like old reel-to-reel
tape which has awful color and is very flat throughout. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also down
a few generations. The only extra is a
very brief set of posters and ads for the film.
Warner
has decided to issue a new, expanded version of Ben Affleck’s recent action
film success with The Town: Ultimate
Collector’s Edition from 2010. We
previously covered the initial Blu-ray release of the film at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10664/The+Town+(2010/Warner+Blu-ray)
This new
set of two Blu-rays and one DVD includes more scenes, slightly different
editing and an alternate ending.
However, more is not necessarily better and the other ending is no
better. What this does show us is how
much Affleck was struggling to make this film work, but never found how to
totally pull it off. Ripping off
Kubrick’s The Killing (see the
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) is a big problem he never overcomes, then he
hopes his actors and (wisely) making Boston
a character here will offset his problems, but that does not work. Of course, it is sad to see Pete
Postlewaite’s final performance and Jeremy Renner (now heading for more
commercial projects including the hit fourth Mission: Impossible film since this came out)
makers this film a curio and Warner intends to capitalize on that.
Unfortunately,
this set does not improve the film any more that when Warner let Oliver Stone
do the same with his even more problematic Alexander
(also reviewed on this site) but its is a good thing to issue any film in
expanded form so we can see what went wrong or if it could have been better.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix are the same as the previous Blu-ray, though I was not as
impressed with the sound as my fellow writer, but playback is about on par with
what I saw in its 35mm theatrical presentation and the new footage looks just
fine. An anamorphically enhanced DVD
version included has a much weaker, softer image, but the lossy Dolby Digital
5.1 included has some of the soundfield of the Blu-ray, yet is no match for the
richness of the DTS-MA there.
Extras in
this great slipcase packaging include a DigiPak with all three discs, a nicely
illustrated hardcover 48-page mini-booklet on the film including informative
text and a faux miniature nilla envelope with a message from Affleck about this
expanded release, mock police files and large poster showing details about the
robbery, while the Blu-ray adds a new documentary on the film called The Town: A Director’s Journey, Ben’s Boston from the previous set has
Affleck talking viewers through the process of making the film and audio
commentaries by Affleck now on all versions of the film. Finally, we also have Ultraviolet Digital
Copy to see the film on PCs, et al.
- Nicholas Sheffo
