Beau Geste (1926/Paramount/Aircraft Blu-ray)/CODA 4K (2020/Apple 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Eddington (2025/A24 Blu-ray)/One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest 4K (1975/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)

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

Now for some prestige films and award-winners...

Herbert Brenon's Beau Geste (1926) is the first of many film adaptions of the P.C. Wren novel about men joining up to be in the French Legion, the title character (Ronald Colman) has left England after a personal disaster. Ready to fight an Arab opponent, it turns out the men running the organization might just be worse!

Now running over two hours, the film leaves no stone unturned in telling and showing the story, which goes from epic moments to very effective acting ones with a supporting cast that includes Neil Hamilton, Noah Berry, William Powell, Ralph Forbes, Alice Joyce, Mary Brian, Norman Trevor, George Regas, Bernard Siegel, Donald Stewart and Victor McLaglen.

I was never a giant fan of any version of the book, but am always impressed how many good moments each version has had and it also reminds us how bold and risk-taking Paramount Pictures was in its early years. No wonder it was #2 only to MGM. Now you can see why!

Extras include a nice slipcase packaging and nicely illustrated booklet on the film including informative text and another excellent, while the disc adds a Feature Length Audio Commentary by Historian Frank Thompson.

Beau Geste Radio Play by Orson Welles.

New score compiled by Rodney Sauer and performed by the Mont Alto Orchestra.

Music For Beau Geste.

Gallery of behind-the-scenes and publicity stills.

Collectible booklet featuring liner notes by Frank Thompson.

Gallery of the original program from the premiere of Beau Geste and a Restoration Demonstration.

Sian Heder's CODA 4K (2020) was the Best picture Academy Award winner, a remake of the 2014 French film The Belier Family, where the title stands for Children Of Deaf Adults, the tale is a an almost all-deaf family, save their daughter Ruby (Emilia Jones) who wants to pursue the arts and singing, but is needed to help the family's new fishing business. Complication ensue, but sadly and eventually, so do a few cliches.

Still, this is very well made and I can see what the fuss was all about. Marlee Matlin is her mother, Troy Kotsur won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as her father, Daniel Durant is her brother, Eugenio Derbez as her teacher and the rest of the supporting players so well picked that it adds to the natural flow of the film. There is chemistry between the actors and no wonder so many people bought this.

No, its not a perfect film and maybe not a classic, but CODA is very consistent for what it is and what it does, something we used to see in feature films all the time and rarely do now. No wonder people are still talking about it.

There are no extras.

Ari Aster's Eddington (2025) is a movie that tries many things and does most of them well. There is recent history, some politics, human nature in the face of the recent pandemic and life in the small town of the title, but it is especially effective as the mystery film it is and that is in layers.

Joaquin Phoenix is the town Sheriff and Pedro Pascal its Mayor and the two do not exactly get along, plus an election is on the way, plus a corporation wants to built some kind of super-facility there to save money and makes the usual promises to the desperate town how it will benefit them. The conflict between them ironically has had to make the corporation work harder on their hard sell, but events start to turn and the twists and turns kick in quickly.

There is some comedy here, but it is passive and incidental, with very little satire, so it operates like most Kubrick films in that if you are laughing or laughing too much, your missing vital points and intent. That is not easy to do, but Aster (usually known for his Horror Genre work) has worked his way into something more multi-layered and multiple character studies on the way. As complex as any film this year, I noticed a majority of the critics just failing to understand it basically, the whole film going over their heads. Some of the more cinematically literate ones have fared better. Now you can see for yourself, but some of you might have to rewatch some for all of it to really get it all. I was very surprised, pleased and impressed and that rarely happens with new films I see anymore.

Of course, I see more than most.

Also putting the film over is its great supporting cast including Luke Grimes, Clifton Collins Jr., Deirore O'Connell, Michael Ward, Amelie Hoeferle, William Belleau, Austin Butler (in one of his best turns yet) and Emma Stone.

Extras include Six Collectible Souvenir Postcards, while the disc adds a Making Of featurette: Made In Eddington.

Last but not least, Milos Forman's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest 4K (1975) is a welcome upgrade to the classic we have covered on Blu-ray twice, as these links will attest to:

DigiPak Version

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7319/One+Flew+Over+The+Cuckoo%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E

Gift Box

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10367/One+Flew+Over+The+Cuckoo's+Nest+(1975/Warner

So to say the film is as relevant and valuable as ever is an understatement and though it has been referenced, spoofed, knocked-off, mocked, celebrated and so much more, its power remains undiminished and the amazing acting, writing, directing and story of the journey of McMurphy stuck in a mental institute he may not belong in simply because he does not conform remains striking, thorough and a solid classic. Having it now on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from Warner Bros. is a real pleasure, now back to its full glory.

Extras include Digital Movie Code, while the disc adds Deleted Scenes and two Making Of featurettes: Conversations On Cuckoo and Completely Cuckoo.

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 Coda 4K is a really impressive digital shoot with detail, depth and palpability I still do not see in most non-film shoots, with good color and compositions. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is also well recorded, mixed, remastered and presented with a fine soundfield throughout, even with its silences and dialogue-heavy moments. A pleasant surprise overall that makes it all more watchable.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Nest is from a new photochemical 2025 restoration that is rich on grain and subtle darkness, but authentic all the way and much better than all previous releases on home video, including those two Blu-ray releases we covered. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and lesser 2.0 Mono lossless mixes that is here for authenticity, but the older theatrical monophonic sound plays better in the 5.1 mix that brings out the most in the original soundtrack. The combination delivers the best impact next to a mint-condition 35mm print.

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image transfer on Beau Geste can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film since it restores the entire frame and some serious work had to be done here to make this look as impressive as it is. Taking more than two prints to save it, one print was missing a sliver of information on the left-hand side of the frame because silent films were often reissued with new soundtracks and with no room on the prints for that soundtrack, the permanent loss resulted.

The second copy was an all-silent print, meaning the full frame was available. Shot at a faster 20 frames-per-second (versus 16 or so for the usual silent films) made it more vivid and effective in its time visually. By combining all that and then some, the film has been saved, but you can learn far more about it in more detail from supplements on the disc.

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is for the new music score that is not bad, but whether you like the score or not will be a matter of taste. It sounds good here, though.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Eddington can be soft, but still looks good, yet it has also been issued on 4K, which we hope to catch up with soon. Compositions are incredible among other things, as handled by Director of Photography Darias Khondji, A.F.C., A.S.C., known for Se7en and Alien Resurrection among other films. One of the visually best-shot films of the year, it just adds to the intensity of the narrative. The lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) is on the quiet, dialogue-based side, but sounds good if not explosive all the time.

- Nicholas Sheffo