Betrayed Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Betrayed Blu-ray Movie Review

Mid west.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 4, 2024

MGM recently reissued a few Blu-ray catalog titles formerly exclusive to the now-defunct boutique label Olive Films (Class, The Boost, and Betrayed, with presumably more on the way), offering a straight port of their existing 1080p transfers and lossless audio with a few minor tweaks, including the long-overdue addition of English subtitles if none were included the first time around. So while there's not much to see here, these quiet reissues at least give fans a chance to pick up largely identical Blu-ray copies much easier and without paying out-of-print prices.

For a synopsis and critique of Betrayed, please see Svet Atanasov's review of Olive's 2016 Blu-ray. I'm totally in agreement with his assessment of the film in that it rapidly loses sight of its goal and, despite a few bright spots, feels like a missed opportunity when compared to director Costa-Gavras' European films which include taut political thrillers like Z and Missing. In short, Betrayed is a film whose main characters outshine their situation due to performances and chemistry... but without a solid foundation, the end result ultimately misses its mark by a notable margin.

Betrayed Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Without question, this 1080p transfer of Betrayed appears 100% identical to the one MGM supplied for Olive's 2016 Blu-ray, which is a disappointment for sure. Of the three catalog titles recently reissued by MGM (see the other two above), Betrayed is ranked dead-last with a noticeably dated master that resembles video rather than film, even if by and large it's a clean and stable presentation. Lightly blown-out whites and other contrast-related speed bumps don't help matters any, nor do the patchy clumps of noise, limited fine detail, and almost total lack of tangible textures on clothing and other elements. I mean, I've certainly seen worse and at least no ugly post-processing has been applied here (edge enhancement, etc.), but there's clearly room for improvement even if this isn't a total loss.

Betrayed Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, MGM's DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix sounds identical to the one featured on Olive's 2016 Blu-ray, so again please reference Svet's review for more details. Betrayed was one of the rare Olive Blu-rays that actually featured optional English subtitles (maybe enough people complained?), so of course they're also on board here.

Betrayed Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with front artwork that almost goes out of its way to be uglier than Olive's already-bad 2016 Blu-ray cover; the split image of Debra Winger and Tom Berenger's characters set against a burning cross is so dark that it's hardly even readable. Sadly, even the minimal extras from that older Blu-ray -- in this case, the film's theatrical trailer -- have again not been carried over here, which is another strike against it.

Betrayed Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Costa-Gavras' Betrayed is an emotionally-charged thriller with room in its narrative for white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, which sadly means that it's still somewhat relevant... but in any decade, it's not a great film due to the uneven nature of its plot and story. Decent performances by Debra Winger, Tom Berenger, and John Heard add a bit of luster to the proceedings, but ultimately it's not enough and makes Betrayed more of a one-time curiosity at the most. Sadly, much like MGM's other recent reissues of OOP Olive Films Blu-rays, this retains an older transfer and omits that earlier disc's only extra. It's still easier to get than Olive's Blu-ray, but neither are worth their current price tag.