Pretty
Maids All In A Row
(1971/MGM/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Protector
(2026/Magenta Light Blu-ray)/Soylent
Green 4K
(1973/MGM/Warner/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B+/B Sound: C+/B+/C+
Extras: C-/D/B Films: B-/B/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Pretty
Maids All In A Row
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for a set of thrillers that might interest you...
Roger
Vadim's Pretty
Maids All In A Row
(1971) finally gets a much-deserved Blu-ray upgrade, the Gene
Roddenberry-penned thriller that more people should see ASAP. We
covered the older DVD release at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10484/Pretty+Maids+All+In+A+Row+(1971/Warner+Archive
Very
pretty students at
a high school start turning up murdered and anyone could be a
suspect. We start by meeting a new student (John David Carson) as
normal school happenings move along, then a dead body turns up. Rock
Hudson, Roddy McDowall, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas, Keenan Wynn,
James Doohan, William Campbell, JoAnna Cameron, Joy Bang, Brenda
Sykes, Barbara Leigh and Philip Brown help make a very strong cast,
which makes one wonder why this film is not more well known.
That
Hudson, Dickinson and Savalas were about to have huge hit TV shows is
ironic (all playing Police detectives) and though the film is a time
capsule, it tends to be more, shows Roddenberry was capable of more
than Star Trek and is so overdue for rediscovery it is not
even a joke. Definitely catch it!
An
Original Theatrical
Trailer is sadly the only extra, though you would think at least a
featurette of some kind would be a plus. That is still one more than
the old DVD.
Milla
Jovovich stars in Protector, which is essentially a
gender-swapped version of Liam Neeson's Taken franchise films
on the surface. When her innocent 16-year-old daughter is drugged
and kidnapped, she has 72 hours to find her before she is lost
forever. Using her unique ability to dispatch people in a variety of
creative ways, this unstoppable killing machine cuts through as many
bad guys as necessary to rescue her daughter, and several other
innocent girls, before it's too late. The film also has a cool twist
ending that I didn't see coming, which helps distinguish it somewhat
from the Taken formula.
Jovovich
really goes all out with the stunt work. In some scenes, you can
actually see her face turning purple and blue from hanging upside
down or being choked. She handles the action sequences with
conviction, and her character always seems to be one step ahead of
whoever is pursuing her. I've always thought it was a missed
opportunity not to cast her in The Matrix franchise, though I
suppose her character in the Resident Evil films is similar
enough. If you're a fan of Jovovich, then this is definitely her
John Wick-style comeback.
The
film also stars D.B. Sweeney
(Strange Luck,) Matthew Modine, Don Harvey, and Michael
Stahl-David.
Protector
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray with an MPEG-4 AVC
encode, a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and a lossless, English
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 soundtrack (48kHz, 24-bit). The
transfer on disc is pretty solid with nothing intrusive in the way of
presentation. However, you can tell when various camera formats are
used, the drone shots I noticed had some uneven color matching.
Otherwise, it looks fine.
No
Special Features.
I'm
honestly surprised that Protector didn't generate more buzz,
as it's a pretty solid action film, and Milla Jovovich really steals
the show with a strong performance, even if the story is similar to
other films of its kind.
Richard
Fleischer's Soylent
Green 4K
(1973) is the underrated Charlton Heston sci-fi thriller that has
only gained popularity over the years, a moderate hit at best during
its original release, that just gains traction and plays better and
better as the years roll on. We first covered it on DVD, then on
Blu-ray at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10862/Dr.+Black,+Mr.+Hyde:+35th+Anniversary+Edition+(19
Looking
even better than that Blu-ray edition, the story of
an ever-hot future where food is in short supply and something more
sinister is going on and then some, Heston is a police detective who
does what he can to get by, living with scholar Sol Roth (Edward G.
Robinson) investigating the seemingly random murder of a major
corporate figure (Joseph Cotton) in what might be a routine case.
However, it does not and he has to figure out what is next.
Brock
Peters, Chuck Connors, Leigh Taylor-Young, Paula Kelly, Stephen
Young, Mike Henry, Lincoln Kirkpatrick, Leonard Stone, Whit Bissell,
Tim Herbert, Belle Mitchell, John Barclay, Morgan Farley, Cyril
Delevanti and Dick Van Patten make up a seriously exceptional
supporting cast that keeps this film richer than it might have been,
though the script is solid and Heston meant to make a statement with
this film.
Even
if you know some things about the film, there is plenty to see and
catch here, Fred (Phantasm) Myrow's music continues to
impress, the density of the look of the film is as effective as ever
and it is at least a minor classic of the genre if not more. It is
also one of Heston's best films and that can be said for all the
others involved.
Extras
are expanded from all previous editions and include an archival audio
commentary with director Richard Fleischer and star Leigh
Taylor-Young
Brand
new audio commentary with film historian Michael Brooke and author
Johnny Mains
Charlton
Heston at the BFI, an archive on-stage interview with the star of
Soylent Green
Richard
Fleisher at the BFI, an archive onstage interview with the director
of Soylent Green
A
Look at the World of Soylent Green, a vintage featurette
MGM's
Tribute to Edward G. Robinson's 101st Film, a vintage featurette
Theatrical
trailer
Image
galleries
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by
Nathanael Marsh
and
a collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Frank Collins and
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.
I
just wish the isolated music score from the old 12-inch analog
LaserDisc was included. You can read more about the music score in
our coverage of the limited edition CD release at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/198/Soylent+Green/Demon+Seed+(Limited
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1,
Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High
Definition image on Soylent
Green 4K
looks great, though keep in mind the future is dirty and efforts were
made to make things look that way, including putting hosiery over the
lens to make the air look dirty. The MetroColor is solid, consistent
and even better than the also-decent
(and sold separately) 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image
transfer on the regular Blu-ray. The older Blu-ray does look good,
but the 4K here is even more impressive, has a few shots above my
rating and after so many faded prints over the years as well, the 4K
really delivers.
The
PCM 1.0 Mono is fine here for what it is, but it is a little
underwhelming on both versions of the film versus the 2.0 DTS Mono on
the older Blu-ray. However, considering the film has a great
separate music score and an isolated music score exists, I was hoping
for a 5.1 or DTS: X/Dolby Atmos upgrade, even simple stereo. Too bad
they missed that one, but the sound is fine for what it is.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Pretty
Maids All In A Row is a
welcome improvement over the then-decent DVD with great color
(MetroColor again) and some shots looking great, but some others are
a little grainier than expected. It is just warmer, richer and more
realistic than the previous DVD. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0
Mono lossless mix is also a welcome improvement over the lossy, weak
DVD sound, but there is plenty of post-production audio here and that
hurts the presentation. Still this is the best the film will ever
likely sound, though the music score might have been recorded in
stereo and we suspect The Osmonds single was too.
Protector
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray with an MPEG-4 AVC
encode, a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and a lossless, English
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 soundtrack (48kHz, 24-bit). The
transfer on disc is pretty solid with nothing intrusive in the way of
presentation. However, you can tell when various camera formats are
used, the drone shots I noticed had some uneven color matching.
Otherwise, it looks fine.
To
order the
Pretty
Maids All In A Row
Warner Archive Blu-ray,
go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Protector)
https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/
