Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Eddie Macon's Run Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 8, 2020

Jeff Kanew's "Eddie Macon's Run" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment. There are no supplemental features on the release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The man from Florida

During the annual Huntsville Prison Rodeo in Texas inmate cowboy Eddie Macon (John Schneider) finds a way to outsmart the guards and get on a big cattle trailer. Hundreds of miles away from the event he gets off the trailer at a rest area, where he easily finds a bag full of civilian clothes, a pair of running shoes and a map. It is all part of a plan that will reunite him with his wife Chris (Leah Ayres) and their boy Bobby. Now all Eddie has to do is run, real fast, and get to Laredo, from where the three will cross the border and begin a new life in Mexico.

But back in Huntsville a large posse of bounty hunters begin tracking down the fugitive, and when the news about his escape reaches veteran detective Carl ‘Buster’ Marzack (Kirk Douglas) he quickly joins the party. Unlike the bounty hunters, however, Marzack is not in for the money, he wants to get Macon to settle an old score.

Despite being prepared for the run to the border, Macon quickly becomes exhausted. He continues his run but nearly gets killed during an unexpected encounter with a couple of drunken ranchers (outstanding Jay Sanders and Tom Noonan) and a genuinely deranged female (Lisa Dunsheath). With Marzack right behind him, Macon then takes hostage Jilly Buck (Lee Purcell), a wild gal with connections, who against all odds decides to help him reach his final destination.

Director Jeff Kanew relies on a number of flashbacks to reveal what actually becomes quite obvious without them, which is that Macon is a good family man in trouble, not a bad man trying to get back to his old ways. The crucial flashback where Macon’s life spins out of control has footage from an oil rig where the young man is working extra hours to save for the medical treatment his son needs but gets cheated by a very nasty supervisor (John Goodman) and loses his temper. After he beats the cheater, the state troopers pick him up and a lousy judge throws him behind bars. Then in another flashback Macon has an argument with Marzack and leaves him with a large scar on his aging face, which is the reason why the old is after him -- it is very personal for him.

The most enjoyable moments come after Macon meets Jilly, who quickly realizes that he is exactly the type of stand-up guy that she has wanted to meet and fall in love with. Instead of getting clogged up with melodramatic clichés, however, the film becomes funnier and a lot more energetic, making it even easier for the two unlikely partners to appear natural together. Because of their great chemistry the action becomes more attractive as well.

The old pro, Marzack, should have been played by a younger actor. Douglas looks a good ten years older than he should have been to convince that he can be a threat to Macon. The footage from the hotel, for instance, looks quite weak. On the positive side, the big chase at the end of the film is really well shot and looks very authentic. (This was the type of action that American films from the ‘70s did exceptionally well).

Schneider sings two great songs that are heard multiple times throughout the film, “It's Gonna Be All Right” and “Forever More”. Macon was his first major role in a feature film.

Eddie Macon's Run 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, Eddie Macon's Run arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment.

The release is sourced from a master that was supplied by Universal Pictures, which is the exact same master that Swiss label Explosive Media worked with to produce this European release of the film in 2018.

Unfortunately, this is an old master with some rather serious flaws. Indeed, virtually the entire film has that very familiar flat and occasionally smeary appearance that older master emerging from Universal's vaults have a reputation for. On a larger screen the delineation can be quite problematic, while depth struggles in ways that can make one's viewing experience rather frustrating. A lot of background details are lost, plus in certain areas the native nuances that should be easy to recognize are simply missing (see screencapture #14). Conventional edge enhancement pops up as well (see screecapture #13). The color scheme is decent, but balance easily can be improved, with ranges of nuances that would make a pretty substantial difference. In fact, this is one area where a proper fresh 2K/4K master will offer a serious upgrade in quality. Image stability is good. Also, there are no distracting large debris, cuts, stains, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, some darker footage can the flaws that are highlighted above somewhat well, but it is always easy to tell the master is simply not good enough to produce a convincing or at least satisfying technical presentation of the film on Blu-ray. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will must have a Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Eddie Macon's Run 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 lossless track is very strong. I mentioned in our review of the Swiss release of Eddie Macon's Run how pleasantly surprised I was because it is actually quite easy to tell that someone made sure that it is free of serious age-related imperfections. If the video presentation was half as good, this would have been a very nice release.

Eddie Macon's Run Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no special features on this Blu-ray release.

Eddie Macon's Run Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am not at all opposed to having the boutique labels use older masters to produce Blu-ray releases of smaller films if they have strong, or at least decent, organic qualities. Of course, the ideal scenario would be to have proper new 2K/4K masters that would ensure a beautiful Blu-ray release, but some smaller films can't get them. Eddie Macon's Run isn't a small film though, so Universal Pictures should have provided a solid master for it. The current master that Mill Creek Entertainment worked with to produce this Blu-ray release has plenty of flaws, and to be honest I don't like it at all. It is not a disaster, but it is about as frustrating as the master that the major licensed to Indicator/Powerhouse Films for the label's release of Charley Varrick -- you can instantly tell that the film can and should look much better in high-definition. So, this will likely be it for Eddie Macon's Run, which is disappointing. Maybe you can still pick up this release if you enjoy the film, but when you decide to do so it will have to be heavily discounted. In the meantime, use your money to get for your collection some of the label's recent excellent releases, like the restored Andy Sidaris films.