6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A group of adventurers refloat a WWII German submarine and prepare to use it to pull a very large heist; The Queen Mary which they plan to rob on the high seas.
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Virna Lisi, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Conte, Alf KjellinCrime | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Very few writers for film or television have managed to become household names, but Rod Serling is one of the very few whose name is almost universally recognized, and more often than not remembered in largely laudatory terms. Serling will forever be linked to his iconic creation The Twilight Zone, still one of the most unique and consistently satisfying anthology series ever to grace the small screen. And while a number of Serling’s teleplays are still very highly regarded (Patterns, Requiem for a Heavyweight), his big screen contributions are a considerably more mixed bag. While Seven Days in May and especially Planet of the Apes are both classics in their respective genres, probably no one would ever hold up 1966’s Assault on a Queen as a stellar example of all that Serling was capable of. This meandering caper thriller is lethargic and often nonsensical, though it occasionally has flashes of the Serling quicksilver genius, especially with regard to tossed off bons mots delivered by some suitably cynical characters. What makes this all the more surprising is that Serling was actually adapting a 1959 novel by Jack Finney, himself an iconic writer whose legendary works include the source material that later became Invasion of the Body Snatchers, as well as the near perfect time traveling novel Time and Again which clearly had a major influence on such films as Somewhere in Time. What would seem to have been a perfect marriage on paper somehow didn’t quite connect, and Assault on a Queen is frequently too incredible for its own good, a tendency further exacerbated by a sort of mid-sixties phoning it in performance from star Frank Sinatra, whose production company was also one of the film’s producers.
Assault on a Queen is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is easily one of the sharpest looking Paramount catalog releases Olive has licensed in their recent glut of releases, perhaps due to the film's Panavision origins. Colors are nicely saturated and often quite bold, and the film's overall clarity and fine detail are often excellent, even exceptional at times. The elements still show occasional slight damage, including a few specks, flecks and other distractions that enter the frame. Some of the process photography literally shows its seams, with softness creeping into several optical shots, as might be expected. But overall this is a nicely crisp looking presentation that should certainly satisfy the film's fans.
Assault on a Queen lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono audio suffices surprisingly well for the bulk of the film, especially with regard to Duke Ellington's nicely swinging jazz score, one which eschews outright melodic sweep for chromatic changes that allow soloists to take flight. The bulk of the dialogue sounds crisp and clear, though there are obvious ambience changes when we go from location unit shots to studio bound footage, sometimes rather distressingly so, as in some obvious studio bound moments that are meant to be taking place outside in a boat or on a dock where the sound in noticeably more boxy and closed in. Fidelity is generally excellent and there is no damage to report on this track.
As is usual with these Olive Films releases of Paramount catalog titles, there are no supplements of any kind included on the disc.
Assault on a Queen would seem on its face to have a lot going for it, with a charismatic international cast and one of the most iconic writers of his generation providing the screenplay. But something went seriously awry with this project somewhere along the way. Sinatra frankly just seems to be coasting here, killing time until something better comes along, and the supporting cast, while nominally better, just doesn't have that much to work with in any case. For a caper film, Assault on a Queen is curiously caper-free, spending way too much time on a prelude that literally goes nowhere, and then not providing much excitement once the big heist actually lurches into view. The film evidently has a number of fans, and those people will no doubt be quite pleased with this Blu-ray's image quality and its decent sounding lossless audio. But for anyone expecting classic Rod Serling, they may decide, if they choose to watch this film, that they've entered a twilight zone of mediocrity.
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