Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Dimension 5 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 11, 2018

Franklin Adreon's "Dimension 5" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by video store owners Matt Owensy and John Robinson and a gallery of vintage trailers. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

She is already here?

Dimension 5 is a very close relative of genre projects like Deadlier Than the Male, Hot Enough for June, and Code 7, Victim 5. They were all inspired by the success of the early James Bond films but were made with smaller budgets and less glamorous cast. The best -- which usually meant the most exotic ones -- emerged during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, though unlike the Bond films they quickly lost their appeal and then almost completely disappeared from the marketplace as the Eurospy genre died.

The prologue sets the tone for the entire film. Following a short but wild chase a fugitive uses some sort of a miniature device to go back in time and outsmart a group of armed men after he is trapped in a remote corner of an unknown country. In Los Angeles the fugitive becomes Agent Power (Jeffrey Hunter) and after he is congratulated by his superior learns that he is needed for a new assignment. This time Agent Power must track down Big Buddha (Harold Sakata), a notorious criminal in charge of a powerful underground syndicate, and neutralize him before he and his thugs destroy the city. One of Big Buddha’s ‘dragons’, who earlier has been captured by the authorities, is then forced to reveal that secret couriers are already smuggling into the country the different parts for the bomb that will be used in the terrorist act. Agent Power is also informed that his time traveling device has performed as expected and therefore he can use it as often as need, and that he is going to be assisted by the multilingual female agent Kitty (France Nuyen). Before they go to work the two partners agree to have a quiet night together so that they become more comfortable with each other, but they are forced to change their plan when shortly after they exit Agent Power’s favorite Cantonese restaurant someone destroys their car with a powerful explosive.

Director Franklin Adreon treats the material that scenarist Arthur Pierce delivered to him a lot like a rookie bartender that is preparing a very exotic new cocktail -- he picks bold colors and mixes a lot of contrasting flavors while guessing the right dosage for each. Dimension 5 has that kind of an experimental identity because there is so much in it that simply feels way too exotic to be in this type of a genre film. Indeed, one part of it is seems quite interested in time traveling, another part focuses on spy action and international conspiracies, and then there is another part that wishes to transform the two agents into a great couple of lovers who are repeatedly getting distracted by wacky oriental thugs. The whole thing is quite the colorful mish-mash of ideas that can very quickly and very convincingly overload the mind.

If seen at the right time and with the right expectation, however, films like Dimension 5 can be seriously engrossing. They can leave the impression that anything is fair game and if the cast is passionate to sell it as best as possible they could pleasantly surprise. Dimension 5 is only halfway there -- it has a good atmosphere but during the second half it misses the opportunity to get really wild and justify the chaos. Once the two agents identify their target Adreon settles for a series of action sequences that only conveniently tie up as many loose ends as possible.

Cinematographer Alan Stensvold, who lensed Dimension 5, worked on a couple of much better film noirs during the same period, most notably Thunder Road with Robert Mitchum, and Please Murder Me with Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr.

Dimension 5 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, Franklin Adreon's Dimension 5 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video.

The film has been fully remastered in 4K -- apparently by Paramount Pictures Archives -- and it is very easy to tell. It has a lovely organic appearance and excluding a couple of tiny white flecks that I spotted it looks very healthy. There are absolutely no traces of digital tinkering, so on a large screen depth and fluidity are quite pleasing. In fact, with a few minor optimizations to ensure better grain exposure this release could have been quite a stunner. Colors are very nicely saturated and balanced. The existing ranges of nuances are also terrific. Image stability is excellent. All in all, I hope that Kino continue to license new remasters from Paramount Pictures Archives because so far all of the ones that I have seen have had very strong organic qualities. Well done. 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 or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Dimension 5 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 not provided for the main feature.

The is stable and free of distracting age-related imperfections. Some unevenness is occasionally noticeable, but it appears to have been inherited. The dialog is clear, but optional subtitles should have been included because a few of the exchanges feature thick accents that some folks might find difficult to understand. Other than this there are no technical issues to report.

Dimension 5 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - a collection of trailers for other Kino Video releases.

• Commentary - this brand new audio commentary features Matt Owensy and John Robinson from Videodrome, Atlanta's only surviving independent video store which opened back in 1998. These guys are not only genuine film fans, but, quite unsurprisingly, incredibly knowledgeable film fans with a great sense of humor. They have a lot of interesting information to share about the parties that produced Dimension 5, the two leads and the interesting supporting cast, other projects that these folks contributed to, the wild plot twists throughout the film, etc. So, this is an informative but also quite funny commentary.

• Booklet - printed catalog for other Kino Video releases.

Dimension 5 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The late '60s and early '70s saw a lot of genre films like Dimension 5. The overwhelming majority of them were more or less copycats that were made because of the success of the early James Bond films, but quite a few actually did some very interesting experiments that produced great surprises. Dimension 5 is one such exotic experimental film that plays with a number of different themes while hoping to impress. By contemporary standards it is dated B-grade entertainment, but this is exactly what people like me find attractive -- the period atmosphere, frequently completely unrealistic plots and silly action. This isn't one of the more effective films from the era, but it is still great for late-night viewing. Kino Video's release is sourced from a lovely organic remaster that was apparently prepared by Paramount Pictures Archives. I have managed to pick up quite a few such remastered releases and every single one has offered a good organic presentation. Hopefully, Kino Video has a lot more of them in the pipeline. RECOMMENDED. (*Franklin Adreon's Cyborg 2087 has also been remastered and is already out on Blu-ray. Click on the link to see our listing and review of this release).