6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In this satirical comedy-thriller at the height of the 007 popularity and set amidst the world of international espionage, unemployed Nicolas Whistler accepts a job and a tidy salary with what he believes to be a glass manufacturing company in London. He soon discovers that his business behind the Iron Curtain is in fact illegal. Everyone apparently believes him to be a spy but it takes much time and adventure for him to realize it. The realization numbs him with horror, and with his contacts gone, he is on his own. He must escape arrest and flee to England but the secret police are close behind him!
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley, Leo McKern, Roger DelgadoThriller | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital Mono
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
1964 was the year of one of the biggest landslide elections in Presidential history (Johnson v. Goldwater), the opening of the well remembered New York City World’s Fair which posited a brighter, more wonderful “tomorrow” for the 21st century, and the year that the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion of American Top 40 pop music. But it was another British Invasion of sorts in 1964 which was equally popular and in a way may have been more prolific than even the Beatles, at least for that year in particular: namely James Bond, Agent 007, that particular year in the blockbuster hit Goldfinger. Now of course Bond had debuted on the big screen two years previously with Dr. No, and while both Dr. No and its sequel From Russia With Love had proven to be immensely popular, they somehow didn’t quite capture the cultural zeitgeist in the way that Goldfinger did, and 1964 might rightly be seen as the absolute apex of the Connery Bond years. By the fall of 1964 U.S. television had sat up and taken notice, and a number of shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. took to the airwaves, while a number of other shows like Burke’s Law soon saw their formats slightly revamped into offerings like Amos Burke, Secret Agent as the Bond craze continued to sweep not just the United States, but the world as a whole. Though it actually beat Goldfinger to the big screen by a few months (at least in its UK version), Hot Enough for June (later slightly edited and released stateside as Agent 8 ¾, an obvious attempt to cash in on the Bond craze) can’t be divorced from the Bond phenomenon, but it also just as easily can’t escape being compared, not very favorably, to the Bond enterprises. Hot Enough for June kind of wants to be a satire, but it’s neither funny nor clever enough to really warrant that appellation, and it likewise wants to be a spy thriller, with equally tepid results. The problem is that the Connery Bond films always were more than slightly irreverent, usually with somewhat cheeky senses of humor themselves, and so any film trying to mine that same territory has an awfully high bar already set which it must surpass. Hot Enough for June manages to be suitably romantic, and it’s certainly scenic, but anyone hoping for anything even approaching Bond levels of humor and intrigue is going to be woefully disappointed.
Hot Enough for June arrives on Blu-ray with a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. (It should be noted that this is the second VC-1 encode I've encountered just today, so rumors of this codec's demise are, to paraphrase Mark Twain, greatly exaggerated). VCI is a small independent label which is just starting to get its feet wet in the Blu-ray marketplace. Their releases thus far have had some authoring and DNR issues, and I'm happy to report that Hot Enough for June is easily their sharpest looking Blu-ray release so far, and it exhibits no authoring issues, at least when played on both my PS3 and LG standalone player. It does appear there has been some minor DNR applied here, but it is in no way as vigorous as on Romeo and Juliet, VCI's last release, and overall this 1964 film looks amazingly sharp and crisp, with nicely robust colors and decent if not overwhelming fine detail. The increased resolution of the Blu-ray makes some of the matte paintings more noticeable, and there are some source element issues on what I would assume was the second reel, when suddenly sharpness and color are substantially diminished for a few minutes (that same anomaly crops up very briefly much later in the film). There are also one or two warping issues, but otherwise this is a blemish free presentation and one which should delight any fans of this film. (It should be noted that this is released under a new "Rank Collection" rubric from VCI, and this is perhaps merely a licensed Blu-ray which was produced and authored by the remnants of Rank).
Unfortunately there are no lossless audio offerings on this Blu-ray. Instead we're given the original mono track delivered in a Dolby Digital mix as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 repurposing. The good news is the 5.1 repurposing isn't so egregious as to grate, though that of course means there's not much surround action, especially with regard to the rear channels. The mono track does surprisingly well for this film, as the bulk of Hot Enough for June is small dialogue scenes, more often than not with only two people. Fidelity is fine, if not mind blowing, and the film really doesn't afford any opportunity for boisterous LFE, so the lack of a low end isn't really as bothersome as it might otherwise be. Dialogue is crisp and easy to hear, and the balance between it, effects and score is just fine.
It's hard to come down too drastically on Hot Enough for June, because the film isn't exactly bad, it's just kind of—blah. It's gorgeously scenic, it has a wonderful performance from the underrated Koscina, as well as some fun supporting turns by Morley and McKern, but it's not funny enough and it wastes any thriller elements it might have quite easily exploited. The film has a certain cachet with some fans, and for those I heartily recommend this Blu-ray, which looks surprisingly spry and sounds at least acceptable. For others, you might want to rent it first to see if it's something that suits your fancy.
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