7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Michael "Beau" Geste leaves England in disgrace and joins the infamous French Foreign Legion. He is reunited with his two brothers in North Africa, where they face greater danger from their own sadistic commander than from the rebellious Arabs.
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward, Brian DonlevyWar | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
William A. Wellman's "Beau Geste" (1939) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer for the film as well as exclusive new audio commentary by William Wellman Jr. and film historian Frank Thompson. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The Blue Water
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Beau Geste arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from a new 4K master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Now, while the master has strong organic qualities, the film has not been fully restored. What does this mean exactly? It means that the studio appears to have scanned the best element(s) that it has in its vaults and then prepared the current master. However, there are areas of the film that could have used high-quality restoration work to repair damage and improve or remove other age-related anomalies. (You can see what type of damage is retained on the master in screencapture #13). There are also a few segments that could have benefited from small stability optimizations. The good news is that all of the retained damage and anomalies still amount to 'cosmetic' imperfections, so the film actually looks very pleasing in high-definition. For example, delineation typically ranges from very good to excellent. Clarity is also good during daylight and darker footage. The grading could have been managed a bit better to preserve some nuances in darker areas, but my feeling is that the current elements actually would not have allowed for a substantial difference in the areas where it appears that the blacks are a tad too prominent. Fluidity is quite good as well. All in all, even though there is room for some cosmetic improvements, this release offers a convincing organic presentation of the film, which could very well remain its definitive presentation on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
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.
The audio is clear and stable. However, there are select parts of the film where extremely light unevenness can be noticed. But this is the type of inherited limitation that is quite common on older films. The important point that needs to be made here is that the audio files are healthy, which makes it easy to have a proper viewing experience with the film. There are no audio dropouts, distortions, or other transfer-specific anomalies to report in our review.
In the late 1930s, Beau Geste must have delivered the type of exotic cinematic thrills that many decades later the Indiana Jones films produced. There are some social themes in it that are unique for its era, but it is so easy to tell that it was conceived to be that kind of a huge crowd pleaser. Hollywood always had the right talent for these genre films, but for different reasons it no longer makes them -- or at least not as they should be made. I had a great time revisiting Beau Geste on Blu-ray, and I am sure you will as well. (Now that more of these classic exotic adventure films are arriving on Blu-ray, let's hope that Warner Archive will soon surprise us with an upgrade of Gunga Din). Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a good 4K master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. It also features a very nice exclusive new audio commentary by William Wellman Jr. and film historian Frank Thompson. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1958
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2019
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1958
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1957
New 2K Restoration
1980
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1960
North West Frontier
1959
Special Edition
1976
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1957
Fragile Fox
1956
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