One Of The Missing (VCI)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: B- Film: B-
It has been a very long time since I have seen J. D.
Feigelson’s One Of The Missing (1979), but the film about a sniper who
is trapped and starts having flashbacks about his life as if it were time
travel is not bad and worth a look. As
the images go by, we are invited to judge this man. Based on a work by writer Ambrose Pierce, this is a challenging
adaptation that repels stupidity, the hipness of The Civil War and knows how effective
silence is. This new version is not
only restored, but missing minutes have been found and reinserted. It now runs 54 minutes.
The 1.33 X 1 image was restored by Lowry Digital, who has
been in the tech news recently from restoring all the James Bond films, which
are soon to follow on DVD. The image
still has detail limits and the work was not done from the best condition
elements, but it is good enough here to enjoy.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also limited, though there is not too much
dialogue. Some of that dialogue is
politically incorrect, but dead honest about how people interacted then and
now. Extras include an original Charles
Durning introduction, the original trailer, restoration featurette with some
details, director’s audio commentary and a segment from TV with no less than
Ray Bradbury interviewing the director.
- Nicholas Sheffo
