Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

Convoy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 29, 2013

Sam Peckinpah's "Convoy" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; TV and radio spots; production stills; three featurettes; footage from Mike Siegel's outstanding documentary film "Passion and Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah"; and more. In English, with optional English SDH, French and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"No panties of anything?"

Somewhere in Arizona, truck driver Martin 'Rubber Duck' (Kris Kristofferson) and his two buddies Bobby 'Love Machine' (Burt Young) and Spider Mike (Franklyn Ajaye) are pulled over by shady Sheriff Lyle 'Cottonmouth' Wallace (Ernest Borgnine), who demands that they pay him cash if they wish to drive through his town without visiting his jailhouse. The boys pay their dues and shortly after end up in a roadside cafe to celebrate Duck’s birthday.

While Duck is getting ready to enjoy his birthday present -- one of the cafe's naive waitresses -- in the back of his truck, Sheriff Lyle appears and begins harassing the bubbly Spider Mike. Duck is quickly informed, and moments later he and the rest of the truckers inside the cafe give Sheriff Lyle a good beating. The boys then quickly jump in their trucks and head west. Duck is joined by the beautiful Melissa (Ali MacGraw), who has played a nasty trick on another cop after being pulled over in the desert.

Duck, Love Machine and Spider Mike are soon joined by other truckers who have had enough of the area’s shady cops. Sheriff Lyle and a few of his boys go after them, but by the time Duck’s group reaches New Mexico, there are so many trucks that the local news stations send their people to get a good look at the convoy. The National Guard is also mobilized.

After Sheriff Lyle repeatedly fails to stop the convoy, Duck becomes a star. There are people supporting him and his cause (though it is unclear what his cause is) all over the great state of New Mexico. This forces the governor (Seymour Cassel) to join the festivities and meet Duck, hoping that by endorsing his cause he will also secure his reelection. But when Duck refuses to play nice with him, and Spider Mike gets a good beating in a small jailhouse in Texas, all hell breaks loose.

This legendary bad film from director Sam Peckinpah needs more time to join the rest of the it-is-so bad-it-is-actually-good outcasts from the late ‘70s. Maybe twenty years from now the lines its characters utter will sound just as cool as those of many of the bad guys in various early film noirs do, but right now they feel as sloppy as they did when the film was first released in theaters across America.

Two things make Convoy somewhat attractive. First, the big trucks the rebels drive. Kristofferson’s stylish monster, in particular, looks absolutely spectacular in the desert. (According to a short interview included on this new release of Convoy, the truck has achieved cult status amongst real truckers in Scandinavia). The second is the outstanding soundtrack. The title song by C.W. McCall a.k.a. Bill Fries still sounds great. Also heard in throughout the film are Billie Jo Spears’ upbeat “Blanket on the Ground”, Kenny Rogers’ top ballad “Lucile”, Gene Watson’s “Cowboys Don't Get Lucky All the Time”, and Glen Campbell’s classic “Southern Nights”.

Peckinpah has a small cameo in Convoy. Halfway through the film, he appears as a sound engineer next to the bold news reporter who interviews Kristofferson’s character.

StudioCanal’s new Blu-ray release contains the fully uncut version of Convoy which runs at approximately 112 minutes.

Convoy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sam Peckinpah's Convoy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

Please note that the disc's main menu can be set in one of the following languages: English, French, German. Therefore, I have to speculate the French and German Blu-ray releases of Convoy will be identical to this UK release.

This new Blu-ray release of Convoy is quite the revelation. Using a brand new transfer, the film looks pleasingly vibrant and very healthy. Image depth, clarity and fluidity are very satisfying. The larger panoramic shots, in particular, look wonderfully crisp tight (see screencaptures #4 and 6). Color reproduction is also very convincing - there is a good range of warm, very well saturated browns, greens, blues, grays, and blacks. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Also, there are no traces of sharpening adjustments. Unsurprisingly, the film has a solid, very convincing organic look. Some light artifacts and tiny flecks pop up immediately after the opening credits, but there are absolutely no large cuts, stains, damage marks, or warps. Finally, overall image stability is excellent. To sum it all, viewers who have previously experienced Convoy only on DVD will be enormously impressed with StudioCanal's new 35th Anniversary Blu-ray release. The film looks quite spectacular in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Convoy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, StudioCanal have provided optional English SDH, French, and German subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The lossless track has a very good range of nuanced dynamics. The chase sequences also have plenty of depth (the truck engines sound terrific). The film's fantastic soundtrack also benefits a great deal as the music is very well rounded and there are absolutely no sudden spikes in dynamic movement. The dialog is crisp, stable, and free of excessive background hiss.

Convoy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Convoy. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• U.S. TV Spot - original TV spot for Convoy. In English, with optional German and French subtitles. (1 min).

• U.S. Radio Spots - four original U.S. radio spots. With stills from the film. In English, with optional French and German subtitles. (3 min).

• Trucker Notes from Norway - Anders Lofaldli, Convoy fan from Norway, explains why the film has achieved cult status in Scandinavia. In English, with optional French and German subtitles. (4 min).

• More Production Stills - a collection of production stills from the shooting of Convoy. With music. (4 min).

• Featurettes - three featurettes. In English, with optional French and German subtitles.
  
  1. Promoting Convoy - posters, lobby cards, promo stills, CD jackets, magazine covers, and photographs from the U.S., Germany, Hungary, Finland, England, France, Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Australia, Thailand, and Japan. With music. (6 min).
  
  2. Three Lost Scenes - a collection of rare production stills with original text descriptions from the shooting script. These stills are from scenes that did not make it into Sam Peckinpah's final version of Convoy. (6 min).
  
  3. In-Jokes, Friends, Cameos - footage and stills highlighting various jokes and showing cameo performances by members of Sam Peckinpah's crew. (6 min).

• Passion & Poetry - Sam Trucker Movie - the footage in this very informative featurette is from Mike Siegel's outstanding documentary film Passion and Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah. Included in it are various interviews with Kris Kristofferson, the late Ernest Borgnine, Ali MacGraw, EMI executive Michael Deeley (1977-1979), and Peckinpah biographer Garner Simmons, amongst others. In English, with optional French and German subtitles. (70 min).

Convoy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

StudioCanal's new Blu-ray release of Sam Peckinpah's Convoy is guaranteed to please fans of the film who have been patiently waiting for a strong release on any home video format. The Blu-ray uses a brand new high-definition transfer which truly is quite wonderful. Also included on this release are a number of very informative supplemental features. (Some of these supplemental features are from Mike Siegel's outstanding documentary film Passion and Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah. If you are interested in the American director's legacy, you should have this DVD release in your collection). RECOMMENDED.