6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
M. Harry Smilac is a down-on-his-luck music manager who is having a hard time attracting talent and booking gigs for his band, Kick. When making arrangements for a campaign fundraiser, he mistakes Rick Roberts, a professional wrestler, for a musician and hires him. At that moment he becomes a wrestling manager and starts to book matches for him and his teammate Tonga Tom. The team is a success, and Harry decides to take his wrestlers and his band on a "Rock n' Wrestling" tour. The tour is a success, and Harry feels what it is like to be a winner again.
Starring: Dirk Benedict, Tanya Roberts, Roddy Piper, Lou Albano, Barry GordonSport | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Music | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.0
English: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Hal Needham's "Body Slam" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new video interview with actor Barry Gordon and vintage trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
How does the floor taste, bud?
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Body Slam arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from a very beautiful new 2K master, which makes the entire film look practically brand new. There are only two areas where I think very minor and largely insignificant improvements can be made. First, occasionally some of the blacks become a tad too strong and cause minor crushing. Second, ideally density levels should be slightly better. But the rest really does look great. Delineation and clarity, for instance, range from very good excellent, while depth is often outstanding. The entire master is very nicely graded as well. Some of the outdoor footage, for instance, boasts such lush primaries that it is simply a pleasure to spend time looking at it (see screencapture #3). The overall balance is also very good. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks very healthy as well. My score if 4.75/5.00. (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 are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English Dolby TrueHD 5.0 and Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
I viewed the entire film with the Dolby TrueHD 2.0 track. I thought that clarity, sharpness, and depth were excellent. I did not encounter any balance issues to report in our review either. As far the dynamic intensity is concerned, all I can say is that the lossless track produces pretty good range of nuances, with the best one appearing during the mass fights and whenever Kick is heard performing. There are no audio dropouts, hiss, pops, or other similar age-related imperfections to report in our review.
If Paul Bartel had made a film about wresting in America, it probably would have looked a lot like Hal Needham's Body Slam. This film overflows with the same type of high-quality satire that you would encounter in the likes of Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills and Eating Raoul, though instead of provoking with unbridled but hilarious cynicism, it produces a prophetic summation of wrestling's inevitable transformation into a highly profitable theater. I liked it a lot. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a very beautiful new 2K master. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
2020
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Slipcover in Original Pressing
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