OUTLAND

Written and Directed by Peter Hyams.
Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, James Sikking, Frances Sternhagen
1981, 112 minutes, Color, Rated R

A marginal film can be made more enjoyable with a great presentation, and OUTLAND--a marginal film in that it has good performances but is essentially nothing new story-wise--benefits enormously from a great presentation.  Sean Connery plays a Federal Marshall assigned to a remote mining outpost on the IO, the third moon of Jupiter.  There, he finds that the number of people that have gone crazy for no apparent reason is rising.  Could there be nefarious goings-on going on?

I haven't owned OUTLAND since the laserdisc I bought in the early 90's.  I probably still have it somewhere, but I haven't had a working laserdisc player for a couple of years now so I have to go by memory on what it looked like.  I remember it looking "okay".  It was more notable for being released in widescreen which at the time was still a novelty.  I never got it on DVD due to reading reviews that claimed it looked horrible.  The DVD may have used the existing laserdisc master, and  generally speaking laserdisc masters did not port well to DVD.  DVD had an extra 100 or so lines of resolution and was much better at handling colors and so exposed the weaknesses in the older, brighter masters used for laserdisc. An analogous situation would be how some HD masters done just a few years ago don't always work well for Blu-Ray.  The technology changes so quickly it's no wonder things get transferred over and over again.*    I never saw the DVD, and I always assumed that it would eventually be remastered and re-released.  It took a little longer than I expected.

The image looks likes film and is DARK, which is as it should be.  Peter Hyams acted as his own cinematographer for many of his films, and right or wrong, he liked to shoot things in a way that almost looks like only practical lighting was used. This is not the same as actually using practical lighting; his films are stylized and it either works for you or it doesn't.  On paper, he wasn't the DP for OUTLAND but for all intents and purposes he controlled the filming of it**.  This results in atmospheric shots that sometimes border on being murky.  I like his style but can understand why one might not especially when the lighting doesn't necessarily match the subject matter, like in RUNNING SCARED, for instance.  His style works perfectly for OUTLAND, however.

The "Hyams" darkness is probably why past video versions have looked so crappy, but Blu-ray has enough resolution to make it work.  The effects look better, and the naturalistic lighting doesn't seem as "arty".   This new Blu-ray is clearly a newer and better transfer than what has been shown on the HD channels in the past and looks very nice.  The improved resolution allows one to take in and admire the sets, and the sound is a tremendous improvement over what has been available for this film in the past.  What's interesting is that Warner's opted for a single layer BD, so it's not like we're talking huge bit rates or anything.  Clearly, someone took time with the transfer.

Perhaps I wouldn't be as impressed with it if it wasn't a film from my childhood.  The plot is relatively simplistic, with no character development to speak of.  I think it tries too much to look and feel like ALIEN and employs questionable scientific accuracy--people wouldn't necessarily explode when exposed to zero gravity in reality, for instance--but dramatically the conceit works fine enough. Peter Boyle is okay in a very poorly written role.  His villain is a gross caricature of a real movie villain, with zero motivation beyond wanting to make money and I find it hard to take.  A more fully realized character for the villain would have served the film well.

All this said I think the good far outweighs the bad.  Sean Connery was still in his prime and gives a thoughtful, physical performance.  The sets are expansive (and expensive) and go a long way towards giving the film an interesting reality.  The design of the visual effects shots are creative and use the Introvision process to good effect. The Blu-Ray features a great 5.1 lossless track that contributes much to the overall fun factor, mostly with greatly improved bass response.  James Sikking and Frances Sternhagen give great performances in supporting roles.

Really...what's not to like?  Great entertainment, at least in my opinion.  HIGH NOON in space?  Yeah, that's about right. I'm still very pleased with this one.

* Warner Brothers Home Video released Blu-Ray editions of CASABLANCA, THE WIZARD OF OZ and GONE WITH THE WIND all around the same time. CASABLANCA has been re-released with a new transfer, and both OZ and WIND have been announced for re-release using new transfers.

** Stephen Goldblatt, the Director of Photographer listed in the credits, largely sat by while Hyams did the real work.  It was his second job as DP and his first Hollywood film.  He hated the experience. See this link on cinematography.com's forum for more.

Light At The Edge of the World

Directed by Kevin Billington. Written by Tom Rowe and Rachel Billington. (Based on the novel by Jules Verne.
Starring Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar.
1971, 120 minutes, Color, Originally rated GP.

Douglas is a Lighthouse attendant on a remote island, and Brynner is the very cultured leader of a ruthless pack of pirates who take over the island. The pirates have seized the island so that they can redirect passing ships onto the rocks. They then kill all the survivors and take their belongings, you see. Eggar is a damsel that Douglas has to rescue at some point. There is a battle of wits, and ultimately of brawn.

This was surprisingly interesting. While there are some problems--poorly done day for night photography, poor model work and poor dummy-falling-off-a-cliff--it is nevertheless quite engaging in a somewhat goofy way.  The movie kind of works because Douglas and Brynner were still young enough to pull this sort of thing off. It was filmed almost entirely on an actual island and there are many scenes of Douglas doing apparently dangerous things.

The DVD used a foreign release print and contains additional scenes of violence that were not part of the original US release.   It's fair to say that these scenes were cut to avoid an 'R' rating.

Douglas appears to be really hanging off the side of a cliff here.

Demon Seed

Directed by Donald Cammell.  Written by Robert Jaffe and Roger O. Hirson.  Stars Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver.
1977, 94 minutes, Color, Rated R.

DEMON SEED is an odd mixture of science fiction art film and exploitation film.  It was directed by the co-director of PERFORMANCE and while dated by the technology shown on screen, the concept of artificial intelligence in day to day life is solid and still resonates.  The story concerns a computer system that achieves sentience and desires to become truly alive. It decides to do this by impregnating Julie Christie, whom it has imprisoned in her automated house.  The film is intelligent and well acted, but ultimately is a little disappointing. 

The film is a definite improvement over the source novel, which was downright smutty.  I'm talking about the original novel, not the much tamer rewrite Koontz did years later.  The original book is a torid little thing, the movie is decidedly more tasteful but also somewhat less harrowing.  The very, very early computer graphics are interesting, though overused in a 2001 kind of way at the end.  

I had tried to watch this many moons ago on VHS, but gave up because the panning and scanning was too distracting.  The film was photographed in Panavision and uses the wide frame effectively enough that things are much too cramped when presented full-frame.*The DVD features a very good transfer and mono sound.  Warner Archive eventually issued a great Blu-Ray edition.

* "Full frame" doesn't mean what it used to, of course.  The film's aspect ratio is 2.35:1, or the areas between the black bars in the screen captures above.  When I say full frame, I mean in this case 1.33:1 which was the aspect ratio of non-high definition TV's.  Nowadays, "full frame" could just as accurately mean 1.78:1, which is the aspect ratio of HDTV.

Premonition (2004)

Directed by Norio Tsurunta.  Written by Norio Tsurunta and Noboru Takagi.  Stars Hiroshi Mikami, Noriko Sakai.  2004, 95 mins, Rated R. Color. 1.85:1

PREMONITION is a decent Japanese horror film with some creepiness and at least one really good jump, but the acting by the lead male actor was WAY over the top, even for this genre.  It was quite distracting.  Kind of obvious in the final twist department, too.  Overall, it was simply too reminiscent of other, better Japanese horror films.  The DVD looks and sounds good, however, and there's a feature on the movie's special effects that truly surprised me:  there were effects that I had no idea were special effects. Rated R presumably for a few moments of graphic gore.

The Stand

THE STAND
Directed by Mick Garris. Written by Stephen King. Stars Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Ruby Dee, Miguel Ferrer, Matt Frewer, Ray Walston, Rob Lowe.
1994, 366 minutes, Color, not rated.

This is an old disk and really doesn't look all that good.  This was filmed in 16mm, I think, and is a far cry from the digital splendor of today's mini series. Not that 16mm can't look good--look at THE WALKING DEAD for an example of a 16mm production that looks good, although to be fair in that case the filmmakers were going for a certain look.  I'm pretty sure THE STAND was filmed in 16mm because it was cheaper than filming in 35mm. 

Still, what a great cast.  Gary Sinise and Ed Harris are truly great in this. It is much better than I recall, having a couple of truly great jumps and a fair amount of creepy stuff.  I like the early episodes more than the later ones as I find the end of the world depiction more compelling than the ultimate good versus evil plot that develops.  This makes sense since I feel the same way about the book.

They Came Back

Directed by Robin Campillo.  Written by Robin Campillo and Brigitte Tijou.  Stars Géraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccaï and Frédéric Pierrot.
2004, 102 minutes, Color, not rated.

Upon reading the back of the DVD  one might get the impression that this is a zombie movie, but it isn't.  It is actually a film about mourning that uses the dead coming back to life as a metaphor.  (The dead come back, but they are not the same.  Slowly, this makes the dead's relatives come fully to grips--some for the first time--that their loved ones really are never coming back.)  Well made and acted, and I liked it.  Lots of people on IMDB did not, however, due to its not having a clearly explained resolution. As I see it, the plot point of having the dead come back to life isn't important aspect of the story, however, so it didn't bother me.   The important aspect of the story is in how the relatives respond and react to the dead coming back to life. 

Missouri Breaks

Directed by Arthur Penn.   Written by Thomas McGuane (and an uncredited Robert Towne according to IMDB.)  Stars Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Lloyd, Fredric Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton.
1976, 126 minutes, Color, Rated R.

I guess this is really when Brando's reported boredom with acting came to a head.  As written his character was threatening and downright evil and if Brando had gone down that road it probably would have ranked as one of the all time great movie villains.  But that would have been too easy I suppose, for Brando goes off on an idiosyncratic tangent that transforms the character into something altogether different.  I've read that if you just accept that Brando's character is insane the movie is a lot easier to take, but I don't think that's entirely correct.  Granted, his character is somewhat deranged, but insane?  I don't think so.  Damaged is more accurate.

Nicholson is outstanding in this movie, and I personally dug Brando.  Kathleen Lloyd is also in it, and I liked her as well.  The setting is the 1880's and the film depicts this with aplomb.  Arthur Penn directed it and I'd be interested in reading what his experience making this movie was like. 

Ninth Configuration

Written and Directed by William Peter Blatty.  Stars Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller.
1980, 118 minutes, Color, Rated R.
Also exists in 99 minute, 112 minute and 140 minute variants.

This is a worthwhile film, but pretty idiosyncratic--almost fatally so.  It takes a LONG time to make clear what is actually going on, but it's pretty effective if you stick with it.  Lots of ideas on the nature of good and evil, and in many ways it's a more effective expression of the same core ideas found in THE EXORCIST.   Interesting cast.

This was apparently released in a couple of versions.  The DVD I initially saw was Blatty's preferred cut, though it was in non-anamorphic widescreen. The quality was pretty rough overall.

Fear and Trembling

Written and Directed by Alain Corneau. Stars Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Taro Suwa.
2003, 107 minutes, Color, not rated.

This is about a Belgian woman who dreams of working in Tokyo, only to find the reality somewhat different that what she expected.  Extremely well acted, rich in detail (the Japanese culture is interesting by itself, Japanese culture shock even more so), and emotionally satisfying--I liked it a lot.  I may come back and write more about this one.

Crimson Rivers Duology

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Written by Jean-Christophe Grange and Mathieu Kassovitz.  Stars Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel and Nadia Farès

A French movie done in the style of a "big American action film", so we have a glossy look, continuous graphic violence and limited character depth. It is very watchable, has many great set pieces, and Jean Reno always helps a movie, but it was a tad more preposterous than it needed to be.  It's a serial killer type of thing (sort of).  Anyway, I liked it.

CRIMSON RIVERS 2: ANGELS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Directed by Olivier Dahan.  Written by Luc Besson.  Stars Jean Reno, Benoît Magimel and Christopher Lee.
2004, 97 minutes, Color, Rated R.

This is quite a bit dumber than the original and plays up the US Action film style even more, but it's not boring.  It must be said, however, that the film's climax is extremely unsatisfying.