Blue Sky Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Blue Sky Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 23, 2015

Even Jessica Lange seemed slightly stunned when her name was called as the trophy recipient for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Blue Sky. The normally preternaturally poised actress appeared to be at a loss for words as she accepted the award, perhaps one sign of what an unusual arc this particular film took to not just its (rather drastically delayed) release but to its ultimately slight but decisive acclaim. The last film of director Tony Richardson (Tom Jones, another classic sadly missing on domestic Blu-ray), Blue Sky was swept up in the morass of the collapse of Orion Pictures, sent for a three year “time out” on the studio vault shelves after its completion, finally gaining a theatrical exhibition in late 1994. By that time, Richardson had actually been dead for close to three years himself, and Lange had moved on to at least a couple of other films, though this was admittedly not the most active era of her career. Those aspects may have played into Lange’s evident surprise at her unexpected Oscar win, but Blue Sky provided the actress with pretty much exactly the sort of role that garners critical praise and, frankly, awards—a showy, theatrical character who is at least flirting with mental illness and whose eccentricities provide much of the impetus for the plot. Blue Sky is a rather interesting film most of the time, even if it’s not wholly successful, and seen now from the vantage point of a couple of decades, it has some odd intersections with more contemporary fare like Manhattan: Season One with regard to one of its subplots, the political and scientific finaglings of those involved in nuclear testing. That aspect, while an important part of Blue Sky’s overall plot path, still is regularly upstaged by Lange’s portrayal of Army wife Carly Marshall, a probably disturbed “free spirit” (as they used to call such people) whose penchant for outsized emotions and whose lack of impulse control leads to a number of conflicts with her adoring but straight arrow husband Hank (Tommy Lee Jones).

An under credits montage sequence alerts the viewers to both the timeframe—the early sixties—as well as one of Carly’s obsessions, namely media coverage of that era’s big Hollywood stars, iconic figures like Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner and (of course) Marilyn Monroe. It is obvious that Carly is not just a stargazer but in fact considers herself an “undiscovered” celebrity of sorts. Her topless romp on a beach and in the ocean in the film’s first actual scene clearly marks her as a woman unconstrained by societal strictures. Hank, who’s part of a helicopter brigade flying above the winsome woman, isn’t especially shocked by Carly’s display, and actually seems to enjoy her more libertine proclivities, even if some of his fellow soldiers seem at least a little shocked by it all.

Having grown up in a military family where I was surrounded by a lot of so-called “Army wives,” Blue Sky’s portrayal of a spouse feeling constrained by the strictures of the military wasn’t especially revelatory, but what gives this film some of its emotional heft is watching Lange go from “zero to sixty” (so to speak) at the veritable drop of a (designer) hat. Carly had dreams—at least once, that is—and the character’s realization that at some level life may have passed her by provides the gritty, unvarnished turmoil at the heart of what is in essence a fairly trite and even tawdry story.

That tawdriness has its main element unfolding after Hank and Carly and their two daughters Alex (Amy Locane) and Becky (Anna Klemp) are transferred from the paradise of Hawaii to the veritable hell (or at least purgatory) of Alabama. It’s already been evident that Carly is dancing on the edge of mental imbalance, tending toward displays of florid, outsized behaviors that have brought her to the unapproving notice of Hank’s superiors. Carly almost immediately lashes out in a more overtly violent way when she sees the family’s new and rather drab and dilapidated barracks in their new locale, and in one of the film’s more viscerally affecting moments, we see the effects of Carly’s emotional outbursts on the two girls.

Soon enough, though, there are distractions at play, as Hank’s new base commander Vince Johnson (Powers Boothe), his wife Vera (Carrie Snodgress) and their son Glenn (Chris O’Donnell) show interest in various members of the Marshall family. Vince in fact has his eyes squarely on Carly herself, and Carly is not exactly opposed to his advances, something that leads to a, yes, tawdry denouement after Glenn, who has his eyes on Alex, inadvertently leads the girl to a location where Vince and Carly are “involved.” A silly subplot involving old ordnance also provides a moment of frankly needless drama.

Blue Sky ultimately kind of goes a kind of Erin Brockovich route (as odd as it may sound) after Hank’s duties as a nuclear test supervisor go slightly awry, leading Carly to become something of a crusader. It’s here that the film tends to take a too long detour (actually literally, as Carly and girls take off on a road trip), something that undercuts what had been up to that point a generally incisive examination of a military marriage under duress. Lange's performance is florid and at times verging on camp, but it's also surprisingly heartfelt and nuanced. Blue Sky may opt for something approaching a happy ending, but the interstitial storms, many of which spring from Lange's roiling portrayal of Carly, are what give this film its most lasting impact.

Blue Sky Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blue Sky is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.83:1. This is a generally solid if unspectacular looking transfer, one that shows very slight fade while still retaining a relatively healthy, nicely saturated, palette. Elements have typical age related wear and tear, including minor scratches, flecks and speckling. In brightly lit outdoor scenes detail is quite commendable, though quite a bit of the film looks soft (even aside from a lot of soft focus shots of Lange). Close-ups can often reveal excellent levels of fine detail (see screenshot 5). As is Olive's stock in trade, there have been no restorative efforts made, but also no intrusive digital tweaking of the image.

Blue Sky Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blue Sky's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track capably supports what is in essence a dialogue driven film. Jack Nitzsche's score, which is augmented by some era specific source cues, sounds fine and full bodied. A couple of literally explosive moments provide some added "oomph" to the overall sonic presentation. Prioritization is handled well, and there are no issues of any kind to address in this review.

Blue Sky Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements on this Blu-ray disc.

Blue Sky Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jessica Lange's magnetic presence lifts Blue Sky above some of its tawdrier aspects, and her excellence is matched by Tommy Lee Jones in a more tamped down, less theatrical, portrayal. The film is quite compelling until the nuclear testing angle tends to send it down a rabbit hole from which it never fully recovers. Still, for Lange's performance alone, Blue Sky comes Recommended.