Captain
From Castille
(1947/Fox/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Edward
II (1991/Film Movement
Blu-ray)/Furious
(2017/Well Go Blu-ray w/DVD)/Game
Of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K
(2011/HBO 4K Blu-ray Set)/The
Prime Minister
(1941/Warner Archive DVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B/A- & B/X/C Sound:
C+/B/B+ & B-/B+/C Extras: B/C+/D/B/C- Main Programs:
C+/B/A-/B/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Captain
From Castille
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is
limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last,
while The
Prime Minister
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 war and power in the past, sometimes
with government, other times with royalty or both...
We
start with Henry King's Captain
From Castille
(1947), the hit that proved Tyrone Power would continue to be a box
office star long after WWII in this epic with the title character
surviving the Spanish Inquisition to fight for justice along with
those trying to make their way to greatness and just through life.
Yes, it is obviously a stretch to accept Power as Spanish, especially
when Cesar Romero is his co-star playing no less than Hernan Cortez
(or tougher to see Tonto himself, Jay Silverheels, as an Aztec slave
anting freedom!), but that was sadly the time when you could not cast
actors who were the same ethnicity of the character or real life
person.
Sometimes,
we're still having that issue 70 years later...
Aside
from that, the film is ambitious, Fox put the money into it and
Alfred newman's music score saves it from being more dated. Also
helping is the decent supporting cast including Jean peters, Lee J.
Cobb, John Sutton, Antonio Moreno, Thomas Gomez, Alan Mowbray,
Barbara Lawrence, George Zucco, Roy Roberts and longtime character
actor Marc Lawrence.
If
you can get past the datedness and problematic casting, you'll likely
enjoy this one, but it I a long 141 minutes-long. For those reasons,
one can see why Fox decided its Blu-ray release ought to be in the
form of a Twilight Time Limited Edition. Fans should be very
pleased.
Extras
include another nicely illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text and yet another excellent, underrated essay by the
great film scholar Julie Kirgo, while the Blu-ray adds a feature
length audio commentary track by film scholars Rudy Behlmer, Jon
Burlingame & Nick Redman, Behind The Scenes profiles Tyrone
Power: The Last Idol,
Tyrone
Power & His Ladies,
an Isolated Music Score of a favorite by Alfred Newman and an
Original Theatrical Trailer.
When
Mel Gibson made Braveheart,
it was a big hit critically and commercially, but it is a film with
all kinds of problems and issues people ignored at the time, but not
as much now that his problematic political leanings surfaced as a set
of ugly scandals. Among other issues in the film is how it
trivializes, stereotypes and treats Edward the Second and his lover,
something you'd hear many more complaints about were the film to
arrive today. It is also one of many bits of revisionist history the
film is plagued with.
As
that film arrives in a 4K Ultra HD edition, it is great to see Derek
Jarman's Edward
II
(1991) arriving for the first time on Blu-ray, telling the true story
of the man, his lover, his jilted female wife (played by actress on
the rise Tilda Swinton in a stunning performance here that will shock
you, even if you've seen her recent popular work) and how homophobic
forces and other powerful people do what they can to get rid of the
homosexual ruler. Based on the Christopher Marlowe play, it can be
very violent, but it is very honest and though done in a post-modern
style (you see items here you would not see at the time the events
took place), Jarman inevitably draws parallels with the film's events
with homophobia now, down to the AIDS crisis and retro-homophobia
that was not being opposed when the film opened then, but is now.
Swinton
plays her character not as a spoiler or shallow boo hiss cartoon, but
of a woman honestly hurt and upset in a complex manner and she
explores all the levels of her situation before her revenge on
Edward. The result of showing all as human people makes it more
realistic, but those who ultimate allow for the murders that happen
in the end are sick individuals, and that's Jarman's point. They
think death and murder is fine if it is someone they do not like for
the most prejudice and casually hateful of reasons and that AIDS is
just the latest manifestation thereof. As AIDS has not been cured
since it arrived or in the over quarter century since the film was
released speaks volumes of how correct he was.
Performances
are solid all around, editing fine, sets (often minimalist)
effective) and it is something to celebrate that Film Movement has
issued such a fine Blu-ray edition of the film, one that fans will
agree is long overdue. Hope the rest of Jarman's films get as good
an HD and ultimately 4K treatment.
Extras
include an illustrated booklet on the film including informative text
including an Epilogue by Tilda Swinton and Bruce LaBruce essay on the
film and its director, while the Blu-ray adds Derek's
Edward
documentary.
For more on this work, see our coverage of this earlier British TV
version from 1969 at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8570/Edward+II+(1969/BBC+DVD)
During
the mid 13th century, Mongol hordes invaded Russia destroying one
city after another. Only one man was willing to stand and fight
while the Lords and Princes of Russia run away, Evoaty Kolovrat (Ilya
Malakov). With only two dozen brave men, they fight against an army
of 10,000 and buy time to warn the other cities and help the children
escape in Dzhanik Fayziev and Ivan Shurkhovetskiy's
Furious
(2017).
Kolovrat
(this film's alternate title) is the captain of the city guard, but
after the Mongols burnt his city to the ground he and a handful of
survivors continue fight where they are hopelessly outnumbered and
only certain death awaits them. Using guerrilla tactics and the
unforgiving land itself, they will show that Russian warriors are not
to be ignored, but feared. Kolovrat, because of an old war wound, he
wakes up everyday forgetting previous day and must be reminded
of the past. He tirelessly continues to fight and protect Russia and
his people. Because of his courage he became a legend ...and legends
never die.
This
movie was like a Russian version of 300,
a group of brave warriors in a epic last stand with heroic deaths and
sacrifices, but more realistic, historical and with better directing.
Extras include trailers.
Game
Of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K
(2011) now arrives in a third Ultra High definition set, thus the 4K
part. We previously covered the debut season of the huge HBO hit at
this link when it first arrived on Blu-ray...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11482/Game+of+Thrones:+The+Complete+First+Season
This
HBO 4K Blu-ray set does NOT include regular Blu-rays (two separate
sets should be enough) and looking back, one can see why the show cut
through other series and feature films in the genre and is somewhat
remarkable it developed into the at least genre classic it is today.
More on the technical playback below in this upgraded edition, but
first...
Extras,
all in HD (as noted from the press release), include
Animated
Histories:
Learn about the mythology of Westeros as told from the varying
perspectives of the characters themselves, Anatomy
of an Episode
- an in-episode experience that explores the creative minds and
colossal efforts behind episode six, "A
Golden Crown",
Cast Auditions: Watch rarely-seen footage of the cast auditioning for
Game of Thrones, Making
Game of Thrones
- an exclusive 30-minute feature including never-before-seen footage
from the set and interviews from the cast and crew, Character
Profiles - profiles of 15 major characters as described by the actors
portraying them, Creating
the Show Open
- an inside look at the creation of the Emmy-winning opening title
sequence for Game of Thrones, From
the Book to the Screen
- executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss along with author
George R.R. Martin talk about the challenges of bringing Martin's
epic fantasy novel to life on HBO, The
Night's Watch
- an in-depth look at the unique order of men who patrol and protect
the Wall, a 700-foot ice structure that separates the Seven Kingdoms
from the darkness beyond, Creating
the Dothraki Language
- an insightful glance into the comprehensive language created for
the Dothraki people in Game of Thrones, Audio Commentaries - Seven
audio commentaries with cast and crew including David Benioff, D.B.
Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit
Harington, Lena Headey, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie
Williams, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Bryan Cogman, Harry
Lloyd, Daniel Minahan and Alan Taylor and A Digital Download code for
the ten-episode season in HD!
Finally,
we have Thorald Dickinson's The
Prime Minister
(1941) has Sir John Gielgud as Benjamin Disraeli, a man who saved
England from outside forces trying to destroy it, but like Winston
Churchill (you can see why Warner Archive would issue this DVD as The
Darkest Hour was
just such a critical and commercial success) as well as apathy and
worse from inside his own country, government and possibly by other
forces who are far from loyal to The Crown.
It
is a biopic, but is so busy with Disraeli's private life, the
politics and situation surrounding him and juggling the large cast,
it avoids some of the pitfalls of most such films. However, Gielgud
was always one of the greatest actors of his generation, but he is
usually best known for his work in a much later Warner hit, the
original version of the comedy Arthur four decades later. In real
life, he could go at it with any actor in the world and more than
hold his own and he is actually so good here, he not only carries the
film, he steals scenes and also seems less dated that many of his
fellow actors in approach. The energy is impressive and ahead of
most dramas of the time, which alone backs my points on his talent.
That alone is why this film needs rediscovered.
Yes,
it was meant to be anti-Axis WWII propaganda, but this British
production exceeds any such pretension and you should definitely give
it a look. Diana Wynyard also stars.
An
Original Theatrical Trailer is sadly the only extra.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1 HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition image on the Thrones
episodes are upscaled from their older Sony HDCAM standard HD video
masters and the result is odd. Detail is lost in the opening
credits, anywhere else digital CGI animation is used and in some
overall shots, but I was surprised that the one thing that did
improve was the look of the actors, what they wore and parts of the
set, so it is a trade off. We also get the new Dolby Atmos 11.1
lossless sound upgrade introduced on the Steelbook with medallion
reissue on regular Blu-ray. Thus, you can stick with the older 5.1
mix and 1080p of the first Blu-ray set, keep the older picture
quality with Atmos, or go the total upgrade route with this new set.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 color digital High Definition image transfer on
Castille
can show the age of the materials used in spots, but this is far
superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and shows
how good often the 35mm dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor prints of the film looked at their best. You
can see the money on the screen that multiple Directors of
Photography delivered.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Edward
II
looked good on the old 12-inch analog Criterion LaserDisc decades ago
and this new HD scan not only tops that, but is incredibly clean,
clear, colorful and handles the film's darkness very well in a way
only those who have seen the film on 35mm film would know was there.
Jarman, who started shooting many of his films on Super 8mm film,
shows a remarkable command of celluloid throughout his career and
this is as visually challenging as any of them. You will be
impressed.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on
Furious
is the single HD shoot here and it looks really good for the format
with fine color, detail and depth. Well Go keeps delivering on
Blu-ray and we wonder when they'll start delving into the 4K format.
We also get a passable, anamorphically enhanced DVD that is no match
for the Blu-ray.
The
1.33 X 1 black & white image on Prime
Minister
of a film that was definitely well shot for its time, but this
transfer is on the soft side and the print has issues, so it needs
upgraded down the line and considering its lead alone, should get it.
As
for sound on the rest of the films, Castille
has dated-but-acceptable DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono sound,
Edward
II
has very well recorded and mixed PCM 2.0 Stereo from its original
Dolby SR (Spectral Recording) theatrical soundmaster that delivers
solid sound, Furious has a decent, strong DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix in its Blu-ray that is fine
(though it makes one wonder why no 11.1 mix) and lossy Dolby Digital
5.1 mix on the DVD that is weak and Prime
Minister
has a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono mix from its original theatrical
mono that is a generation down or so like its picture and also needs
and deserves an upgrade.
To
order The
Captain From Castille
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusives while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
...and
to order The
Prime Minister
Warner Archive DVD, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.wbshop.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo and Ricky Chiang (Furious)
