6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A gold mine manager is involved in a web of intrigue at a South African gold mine.
Starring: Roger Moore, Susannah York, Ray Milland, Bradford Dillman, John GielgudThriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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".
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).
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.
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.
1986
1976
1972
1996
1974
1954
1974
1977
Reissue
1974
1975
Warner Archive Collection
1959
1990
Warner Archive Collection
1935
Warner Archive Collection
1962
1951
1956
1976
Warner Archive Collection
1948
Universal 100th Anniversary
1970
1965