Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

1969 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 19, 2015

They say that if you remember the sixties, you weren’t really there, but credit writer-director Ernest Thompson with at least attempting to craft a heartfelt examination of how the Vietnam conflict spills into the lives (and deaths) of several teenagers. Thompson made his name with On Golden Pond, and he brings the same homiletic quality to this tale, not to mention at least some of the same glinting light on water visual style that director Mark Rydell brought to the film version of On Golden Pond.

1969 focuses on two lifelong friends who are now college aged, the relatively straight laced Scott (Kiefer Sutherland) and the slacker- esque Ralph (Robert Downey, Jr.). Scott’s family is dealing with the reality of Vietnam first hand as the film opens, with Scott’s older brother Alden about to leave home and see action. Scott is resolutely anti-war, something that he communicates freely and which seems to resonate with Ralph’s sister Beth (Winona Ryder). Various dramas and, ultimately, tragedy visit both of these boys and their families (stalwarts Bruce Dern and Mariette Hartley are on hand as various parental units). The film has good intentions and a noble spirit, but it’s resolutely obvious and tends toward speechifyin’, with characters just sitting around delivering endless monologues about the vagaries of fate, life and death and, of course, war.

1969 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

1969 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The opening credits sequence is intentionally distressed, perhaps having been shot on 16mm to mimic home movies of the day, and there are some issues with splotchy yellow grain for the opening few minutes, but after that, things improve markedly. Despite the somewhat dour countenance of the film, the palette is quite lively, with a lot of bright primaries and psychedelic patterns of the day, all of which pop surprisingly well. Grain remains quite thick throughout the presentation, but resolves naturally after the opening credits sequence. Clarity is very good to excellent and there are no issues with image instability.

1969 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

1969 is stuffed to the gills with source cues and the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track really springs to life most forcefully when the underscore is thumping along. Otherwise, dialogue is very cleanly presented with no issues whatsoever.

1969 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 2:20)

1969 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps appropriately, 1969 turns into something of an over talky quagmire after a while. There's a lot to admire here if not ultimately to be moved by, though interestingly some of the parental reactions are at least as compelling as those of the focal trio of youngsters. Fans of the film should be generally well pleased with its presentation on this new Blu-ray.