Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 23, 2019

Stanley Donen's "Arabesque" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. There are no bonus features on this release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Rub my back

If you don’t like utterly unbelievable international intrigues, ridiculous old-fashioned action, and goofy lines, Stanley Donen’s Arabesque isn’t for you. If you are stubborn and try to give it a chance, you will be left with a massive headache that won’t go away for days. You have been warned.

The prime minister of an unnamed Middle Eastern country hires Professor David Pollock (Gregory Peck), an expert in ancient Arabic hieroglyphics at Oxford University, to decode a secret message. Shortly after, Pollock is picked up by some shady characters working for the very wealthy oil tycoon Beshraavi (Alan Badel), who also wants the message decoded as quickly as possible. Pollock is then transported to a lavish villa owned by the mysterious beauty Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), who is supposed to be Beshraavi’s mistress but seems willing to help the professor escape his host. When the right opportunity comes along, Pollock and Yasmin run away and instantly become targets for Beshraavi’s goons. While trying to stay ahead of the people that are tracking them down the fugitives begin to fall in love, but remain suspicious of each other.

Arabesque is a bit like a giant salad prepared by a cook who did not mind experimenting with all kinds of different dressing sauces because he knew that he was good enough to present it in a way that would make it impossible to reject. This is what Arabesque is -- a mish-mash of ideas and genre clichés, only some of which come together rather nicely.

The concept behind the film is rather awkward -- or at least it looks so all these years later -- but this does not mean that the end product is not entertaining. Indeed, because of the great chemistry between Peck and Loren a lot of the ridiculous material actually begins to look attractive, and with Donen behind the camera frequently very stylish. This is actually precisely how a lot the classic James Bond films impressed, as well as the many copycats that they inspired over the years. (See Agent 8 3/4 and Deadlier Than the Male).

The balance between the action and the comedy remains a bit tricky, and if compared to what Donen’s Charade offers it is actually easy to tell that more work was needed to have everything click as it should. Part of the problem seems to be that the story pulls in a lot of different directions and there are just not enough opportunities for the secondary characters to establish themselves. Assassins, psychos, and doubles pop up out of nowhere, do their parts, and then the film quickly moves to the next phase of the fugitives’ adventure. It just feels like there is too much happening despite the fact that the film is nearly two hours long.

The entire film was shot on location in the United Kingdom and it feels like with the presence of so many exotic characters a lot more could have been done to make it more exciting. For example, some flashbacks could have revealed more about Beshraavi, or somehow a portion of the chase could have been relocated to a distant location where there would be plenty more of the wild action that is seen during the finale.

A solid soundtrack from Henri Mancini does a lot to enhance the drama and suspense, and actually adds a lot of class to the film as well.

Loren’s very stylish outfits were specially created by the legendary French fashion designer Christian Dior. In one of the film’s most memorable sequences the Italian star goes through a pile of boxes with obviously very expensive and very chic shoes, and then puts on a pair of outrageously sexy boots.

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Stanley Donen's Arabesque arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

I have the original DVD release that Universal produced for the U.S. market and I think the Blu-ray release repersents a pretty solid upgrade. The master that was used to source isn't new, but density levels are so much better than a lot of the darker visuals that break down on the DVD release here reveal plenty of new details. Now, just to be perfectly clear, there is still plenty of room for improvement, and especially in the darker areas depth and nuances can be improved. However, close-ups and and wider shots have a completely different look now, and the larger your screen is, the easier it will be to appreciate the difference. There is something else that I would like to underscore. The master was likely struck from a second generation source, which is the reason why some well-lit footage may look like it is sharpened with powerful digital tools (see screencaptures #9 and 10). This isn't the case. The halo-like effects are inherited, and precisely the reason why they are not consistent. The color grading is very nice, but there are nuances that can be rebalanced and expanded. Image stability is excellent. There are no large distracting cuts, debris, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track offers a huge improvement in quality. Henry Mancini's score has an essential role and the better clarity, depth, and dynamic nuances make quite a difference. On my DVD release the dynamic intensity is noticeably weaker. The dialog is stable, clean, and very easy to follow.

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

Arabesque Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arabesque is a ridiculous but still quite entertaining old-fashioned spy film that fits somewhere between the outrageous Ken Clark thrillers and some of the less successful James Bond films. I tend to enjoy it, but primarily because I like the chemistry between its two stars, Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck. While not perfect, the Blu-ray release represents a good upgrade in quality over the old North American DVD release that Universal Pictures produced years ago. RECOMMENDED.