6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
A suspended New York City cop goes after the men responsible for killing his partner.
Starring: Robert Duvall, Verna Bloom, Henry Darrow, Eddie Egan, Luis AvalosDrama | 100% |
Crime | 27% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Howard Koch's "Badge 373" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film; new video interview with actor Randy Jurgensen; and new program with critic and film historian Glenn Kenny. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Michael Pattison, an archival on-set report, an overview of critical responses, and film credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
"Hey, Billdock, you do have a mother's instinct. You keep this stuff warm long enough, it hatches into a 237-pound monkey."
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Badge 373 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.
I have the first release of the film in my library which Olive Films produced in 2012 and as far as I can tell this release is sourced from the same remaster that emerged from Paramount's vaults. I like it a lot. I don't know if any additional tweaks were done for this release, but its basic characteristics look pretty much identical to me. (The framing discrepancy is meaningless). So, there are a few darker areas where depth could be slightly better, plus ideally some finer nuances should be better defined, but as far as I am concerned these would be cosmetic improvements that will not alter significantly the look of the film. Why? Because density levels are already very good, and because virtually all of the noticeable fluctuations that emerge throughout the film are part of the original cinematography. It is very easy to tell that it is so because there is plenty of on-location shooting that allows light and shadow(s) to freely enter the film, which is why it has that very familiar '70s edgy, borderline documentary appearance. Also, while a tad dated the color grading job is actually very convincing and supportive of these organic cinematographic qualities, and there really are only a couple of places where some highlights can be rebalanced. The rest looks very, very nice, and as implied above there are no traces of problematic digital corrections. (This is also the case with the Olive Films release). Image stability is very good. A few tiny specks pop up here and there, but there are no large distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The film's soundtrack welcomes a variety of organic sounds and noises -- street noise, club chatter, car noise, etc. -- so it is not at all surprising that occasionally some unevenness is noticeable. Dynamic intensity, however, is quite good, and during the action footage there are enough spikes and drops that make things interesting. Basically, the lossless track replicates the native period qualities of the original soundtrack.
Badge 373 is a very close relative of The French Connection, Death Wish, and Dirty Harry. In other words, it is an edgy thriller from the '70s about a vigilante cop that understands and delivers justice in a very particular, painful way. I think that it is a very solid genre film and when Olive Films released it on Blu-ray in 2012 I immediately picked up a copy for my library. This upcoming release from Indicator/Powerhouse Films appears to have been sourced from the same remaster that Paramount supplied for the North American release, but it has a couple of interesting new bonus features. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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