Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Gold Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 19, 2018

Peter R. Hunt's "Gold" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and exclusive new audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson. In English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

A serious accident in one of South Africa’s biggest gold mines opens the door for Rod Slater (Roger Moore, Live and Let Die, The Wild Geese) to become its General Manager. What Slater does not know is that he has also been chosen by a group of powerful financial investors to be the key player in a massive plan to destroy the mine and triple the price of gold on the international markets.

While being interviewed for the new position by the owner of the mine, Hurry Hirschfeld (Ray Milland, Dial M for Murder 3D, The Uninvited), Slater stars an affair with his married granddaughter, Terry Steyner (Susannah York, Sands of the Kalahari, Superman: The Movie), whose husband (Bradford Dillman, The Enforcer) is secretly assisting the greedy investors. Terry makes sure that Slater gets the job and the two decide to spend a weekend in a secluded mansion deep inside South Africa’s countryside. While they make love and drink champagne, an ‘accident’ occurs inside the mine and thousands of workers are trapped underground.

Slater hears of the 'accident' when a local radio station begins broadcasting from the mine. By the time he and Terry reach the mine, a number of workers die. Barely able to contain his anger, he vows to stop the water that has already flooded multiple areas of the mine from collapsing it and enters it together with a brave veteran miner named Big King (Simon Sabela).

Directed by Peter R. Hunt in 1974 – the same year Guy Hamilton’s The Man With the Golden Gun was released - Gold is the perfect film to see on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It is filled with overused clichés, but it is a light and frequently quite beautiful film that is very easy to enjoy.

Gold has two contrasting identities. On one hand, it works rather well as an exotic adventure film in which an honest man has to overcome a series of obstacles to save the lives of thousands of poor miners that have been trapped underground. The honest man also happens to be a very attractive man so, naturally, in addition to the action there is also a good dose of soapy romance that gives the film a bit of a James Bond-esuqe old-fashioned glamour. (The part of the film where Moore has dinner with York, seduces her and then takes her to his apartment easily could have been used in one of the classic James Bond films). On the other hand, there are also some serious political overtones in the film. And this should not be surprising considering the fact that Gold was filmed primarily on location in South Africa at a time when the apartheid regime governed every aspect of life in the country.

A few of the character transformations during the second half are weak, but at this point it is clear where the film is heading and why. Also, once Moore enters the mine, the only question that remains is how he will get out, not whether he will survive.

The footage from the flooded mine looks great. There are no big special effects, and a few of the key sequences definitely leave a lasting impression. The panoramic shots from the romantic trip also look terrific.

The film’s lush orchestral score was created by Oscar winning composer Elmer Bernstein (John Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven, Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters). Jimmy Helms sung the title song.

Gold Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Peter Hunt's Gold arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from the same restored master that five years ago British label Odeon Entertainment used for this release of the film. At the time it was the first and only widescreen presentation of the film that I had ever seen.

While far from looking striking in high-definition, the film actually had some decent organic qualities, such as pleasing depth and even some proper ranges of nuances. There were still some rough spots with traces of fading and notable density inconsistencies, but overall image stability was also very good. Unfortunately, the new master also had some very awkward stretching and it was clear to me then, as it is now, that something had gone wrong. In our review I have included plenty of screencaptures that I believe clearly highlight the issue, so you can browse through them to get an idea how the film's composition is affected. My score is 2.75/5.00. (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).

Gold 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 subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

My only criticism pertains to the presence of some extremely light background hiss. (You can hear an example right after the footage from the airport ends around 00.52.20). It never becomes distracting, but I believe that it is something easily could have been addressed with digital tools. Otherwise, clarity, depth, and stability are very nice.

Gold Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Gold. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - exclusive new audio commentary featuring film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson.

• Trailer Reel - a collection of trailers for other Kino Lorber releases.

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Gold Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a very frustrating Blu-ray release. I purchased a copy because I saw that it has a brand new audio commentary and this gave me confidence that the issue we highlighted in our review of the old Region-B release might have been fixed. Unfortunately, it is not. The release is sourced from the same restored master that Pinewood reportedly prepared and the exact same bizarre stretching is retained. To be honest, I don't know how this master was created, but I can't be the only one seeing that something is off. Even if there is footage that comes from different elements, I see very obvious stretching inside the frame that cannot possibly be correct. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that the folks at Pinewood signed off on this, and if I had to speculate I would say that someone actually transferred their restored master of the film incorrectly.

When five years ago Gold arrived on the market I thought that if the Blu-ray is found extremely cheap, possibly during a sale of some sort, it could be a good idea to pick it up because up until that point there was never a proper DVD release of it in North America. So, the old release was at least an option to finally see the film as it was shot, which would be in widescreen. Now here we are five years later and it is clear that nothing has been done to correct the problematic stretching. It is quite frustrating because now it seems almost certain that this is how Gold will be available to view in widescreen. I am going to rate this release even lower than the first one because it is such a missed opportunity to get a proper presentation of the film.