Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 17, 2018

John Frankenheimer's "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original theatrical trailer for the film; new video program with critic Sheldon Hall; and archival documentary featuring camera operator Richard H. Kline. The release also arrives with a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Travis Crawford, as well as a selection of archival imagery from the film's production. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The Birdman

When in 1962 John Frankenheimer’s film was released in theaters across the United States, Robert Stroud, the real Birdman of Alcatraz, had already spent more than fifty years behind bars. He had never been on an airplane or seen a working TV set. He knew that they existed, but they belonged to a distant world. He was denied access to it for a good reason -- he was a killer who had killed twice, once in a bar in Alaska in 1909, and then again in 1916, while he was already serving a sentence in a federal penitentiary in the state of Washington.

The film is based on the popular novel by Thomas Gaddis, but while its reconstruction of the big events that are described in it is mostly accurate, the positive image of Stroud that it promotes is seriously misleading. The real Stroud was a vicious abuser who caused a lot of trouble while being incarcerated at Leavenworth and his reportedly never-ending antics very quickly created a large group of sworn enemies amongst the guards and the rest of the prisoners. He really was a genuinely dangerous guy to have around and this is the very reason why he was eventually placed in a segregation unit. In the film Burt Lancaster quickly transforms Stroud into a rational loner who comes to terms with his fate but also vows to expose the hypocrisy of the people that are responsible for it. So by the time the final credits roll Shroud actually emerges as something of an oppressed hero who has had the courage to take on a supposedly strikingly inhumane justice system.

The embellishments and Lancaster’s ability to brilliantly sell his character certainly make the film entertaining, but anyone who has taken the time to read Gaddis’ novel, which by the way is also full of fabrications and fancies, and then actually study Stroud’s history should quickly realize that the charismatic man with the birds in the film is a fictional character. Of course this helps tremendously the film’s political message, which is that the only fair justice system is a lenient justice system, but because so much of Stroud’s history was made public it is very difficult not to notice that the many contrasts that are used to deliver it are indeed either seriously exaggerated or completely fabricated.

The crucial transformation occurs in the second act where Stroud discovers an injured bird while having his routine ‘free time’ in the backyard of the penitentiary and then takes it back to his cell. Soon after, he is allowed to have more birds and while looking after them his anger gradually disappears. His new passion causes a string of conflicts with the wardens that come and go while he serves his sentence, but he never gives it up and even does some important medical discoveries while trying to cure a deadly bird disease. Years later, after he is relocated to Alcatraz, he is also the voice of reason during a bloody riot.

Having succeeded in creating insensitive monsters from the wardens and the rest of the state officials that had rejected Stroud's numerous parole requests over the years, the film ends with a classic carefully scripted Hollywood encouragement to think about the big picture and the many other prisoners like Stroud that might have suffered a lot more than they deserved. It is a bit much, really, but hardly surprising.

Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Frankenheimer's Birdman of Alcatraz arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release is sourced from the same MGM master that Olive Films used when they prepared the U.S. release of the film earlier this year. Also, the technical presentation is practically identical, and if you reside in a Region-B territory this is important bit to keep in mind because for whatever reason the German release that we reviewed looks weaker.

So rather predictably, the same inconsistencies and limitations are retained. I actually looked at specific areas where previously I had seen unnatural flatness and the exact same fluctuations are present again. Just to be perfectly clear, these are not distracting anomalies, but trained eyes will very quickly see that the current master simply has its fair share of limitations. Also, the larger your screen is, the more pronounced they will become. The good news is that there are no traces of digital corrections, so even though there are fluctuations overall the film has a pretty decent organic appearance. Image stability is very good. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There are no serious issues to report. The audio is nicely rounded and dynamic range is proper. As I mentioned in our review of the Olive Films release, if you turn up the volume a lot you, are likely going to notice that in the high-frequencies there is some extremely minor instability -- which is probably where a future remix could introduce some cosmetic improvements -- but the overall quality of the lossless track is indeed very good.

Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Birdman of Alcatraz. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Interview with Sheldon Hall - in this new video program, critic Sheldon Hall discusses the real Birdman of Alcatraz and his unusual life story, the genesis of John Frankenheimer's film, the evolution of Burt Lancaster's career and his involvement with the film, the first rough cut of the film (which according to its director was approximately 4 1/2 hours long) and some of the important changes that were made later on, the quality of Lancaster's performance, the editing of the final version of the film as well as its visual styles, etc. The program was produced exclusively for Eureka Entertainment in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (36 min).

• Illusion of Freedom: Richard H.Kline on John Frankenheimer's 'Birdman of Alcatraz' - in this documentary, camera operator Richard H. Kline recalls his work with cinematographer Burnett Guffey and John Frankenheimer during the shooting of Birdman of Alcatraz and discusses Burt Lancaster's character transformation as well as its significance for the film's intended style and atmosphere. The program was produced and directed by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory in 2015. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).

• Booklet - a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Travis Crawford, as well as a selection of archival imagery from the film's production.

Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Birdman of Alcatraz is a very odd film. It features a powerful performance by Burt Lancaster, but it is one of those carefully crafted and manipulative Hollywood projects that is absolutely impossible to take seriously. Some years ago, I actually spent quite a bit of time researching Robert Stroud's story, and the more I did, the clearer it became to me that the man that Lancaster plays in John Frankenheimer's film was a fictional character. The real Birdman of Alcatraz was an arrogant, incredibly viscous and vindictive killer who killed twice and was rightfully kept behind bars until he died in 1963. To be honest, however, Thomas Gaddis's popular novel, which inspired Frankenheimer and Lancaster to make the film, is just as flawed and full of bizarre fabrications.

Eureka Entertainment's upcoming release of Birdman of Alcatraz is sourced from the same MGM master that previously the folks at Olive Films used to produce their release of the film in the United States. It is a decent master, but if properly restored the film will look quite a bit better in high-definition. On the other hand, if you reside in a Region-B territory and already have the German release of the film, you might want to consider picking up Eureka Entertainment's release because the presentation is better. The difference is especially obvious if your view films on a larger screen or project.