Cold Sweat Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Cold Sweat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 2, 2019

Terence Young's "Cold Sweat" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers; new audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; and vintage promo piece. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Now we do as I say

Cold Sweat emerged as part of a strategy whose ultimate goal was to transform Charles Bronson into a much more sophisticated international star that would appeal to diverse audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with equal success. It seems a bit unclear if Bronson was fully on board with it, but he did not oppose it either, and it is why in the late 1960s and early 1970s he appeared in a number of international projects that paired him with the likes of Alain Delon and Toshiro Mifune (Red Sun), Lino Ventura (The Valachi Papers), and Marlene Jobert (Rider on the Rain) -- these were all films that were made to legitimize the actor’s ‘new’ image. However, while a few turned out of the be quite entertaining, and strictly because they were either too colorful or unusually exotic, the rest were mediocre at best. Today they are worth seeing simply because they managed to group big stars that are remembered for their contributions to various classic films.

Terrence Young directs Bronson as a man with a murky past who has started a family with a very naïve French girl (Liv Ullmann) in the beautiful city of Nice. When Young’s camera first sees them together, they both seem happy with their relationship and fully committed to raising their young daughter as best as they could. But when a stranger (Michel Constantin) breaks into their cozy home, pulls a gun and declares that Joe is an old ‘friend’ and they have a score to settle, Fabienne suddenly realizes that she has been living with a stranger. Joe is then forced to explain his past with the stranger and the group that he represents. Fast-forward. After Joe’s wife and daughter are taken hostage by his former ‘friends’ -- Captain Ross (James Mason), Katanga (Jean Topard), and Fausto (Luigi Pistilli) -- he heads to the local airport and picks up Moira (Jill Ireland), who assumes that he is working with Captain Ross and their plan to get rich quick is already in progress. Soon after, Moira has the surprise of her life, and Joe turns the table on his ‘friends’. When they begin improvising, all hell breaks loose.

The plot is full of gaping holes that make all the drama that ensues after Bronson’s character goes to work to free his wife and daughter quite unbelievable, but this isn’t what makes this film problematic. Its biggest weakness is the fact that its stars never really become comfortable with their characters, which is why the chemistry between them is either awkward or flat-out atrocious. (In the commentary that is included on this release one of the guests compares Young to Jess Franco, and as odd as it may sound the wild casting choices and type of relationships that the film promotes actually make the comparison legit. Indeed, there is a certain surreal quality to this film that is very common for many of Franco’s films from the 1970s. See Kiss Me Killer).

Without a credible plot and good chemistry what the film has left to offer is only a decent selection of beautiful panoramic footage from the south of France. The best sequence is in the final third where Bronson’s character drives like a maniac from a secluded shack in the hills to the city and back; the locations here are superb and the racing footage rivals the one that made Bullitt a classic.

Young was able to secure the services of cinematographer Jean Rabier, whose credits include such legendary films as Cléo from 5 to 7, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and Bay of Angels. (The latter is quite possibly one of the most beautiful black-and-white films ever shot in the Nice and Monte Carlo areas).

Cold Sweat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Terence Young's Cold Sweat arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older master, likely one that was prepared some time ago for a DVD release of Cold Sweat. However, despite some typical minor limitations, which I will mention below, it is actually quite nice, and with a few specific encoding optimizations this film could have looked really very nice in high-definition. So, the best news is that ere are no traces of digital tinkering, which why even tough there are some minor density fluctuations overall the visuals have a strong organic appearance. From time to time black crush pops up and flattens native nuances, but delineation is still good, and on a larger screen there are plenty of smaller details to see (see screencaptures #5 and 18). The color grading is convincing, and I actually do not think that nuances can be dramatically expanded. There is room for some rebalancing work, but even saturation looks nice. Image stability is great. All in all, the basic qualities of the current remaster are good and even on a big screen the film looks quite good. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Cold Sweat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 upper register is stable and completely free of distortions, pops, and other age-related anomalies. The mid-/low ranges are nicely balanced as well, which is why there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity. Clarity is very good.

Cold Sweat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this audio commentary, film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson discuss the conception of Cold Sweat, its deservingly cold reception by the critics in America, the exact spot that it occupies in Charles Bronson's body of work, and some of the film's strengths and weaknesses.

• Car Chase Promo - arguably the most exciting footage from the film is presented here as a promo piece. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 480/60i).

• Trailers - a collection of trailers for the following films starring Charles Bronson:
  
  1. Cold Sweat
  2. Rider on the Rain
  3. Mr. Majestyk
  4. Breakheart Pass
  5. The White Buffalo

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Cold Sweat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While I don't agree that Cold Sweat is the insufferable abomination many old reviews on this side of the Atlantic have described, I can't say that it is an underappreciated genre classic either. Simply put, the stars that were hired to do this film do not look credible together, and this really is the main source of all of its major problems. On the other hand, there are some spectacular visuals from the south of France, and even some top-notch racing footage that is on par with the one that made Bullitt a cult classic, but this is basically filler material. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an old but good organic master.