Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Hopscotch Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 21, 2017

Ronald Neame's "Hopscotch" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; archival episode of The Dick Cavett Show with Walter Matthau; and archival documentary featuring interviews with writer Brian Garfield and director Ronald Neame. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Glenn Kenny. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

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Here’s a film that fits perfectly into the ‘They Don’t Make Them Like This Anymore’ category. It is an old-fashioned charmer with a cast of real stars who are at the top of their game and genuinely enjoying the characters they signed up to play. It was directed by Ronald Neame, who started his career as a cameraman for Alfred Hitchcock, became a cinematographer and even produced a few of David Lean’s big classic films.

Walter Matthau plays Miles Kendig, an aging CIA agent who has spent the bulk of his life outsmarting hordes of formidable Soviet spies but has now become too famous and too much of a liability for the agency, which is why his boss, Myerson (Ned Beatty), wants him to retire from the ‘game’ and get a desk job. Feeling deeply humiliated, Kendig accepts Myerson’s ‘recommendation’, but then secretly destroys his personal file and goes on offensive to prove that seasoned pros like him are irreplaceable. When Myerson and his associates agree that the best way to deal with the rebel is to neutralize him, Kendig goes a step further and threatens to publish his memoirs and expose all of their dirty secrets. At first Kendig’s former coworkers conclude that he is bluffing and is probably looking for a payout, but when he teams up with an old flame (Glenda Jackson) living in Europe and the two begin mailing chapters of his future novel to them they panic. The horrified Myerson then quickly unleashes the full creative powers of the agency in a desperate attempt to take out Kendig and prevent a serious international crisis.

Hopscotch is based on Brian Garfield’s novel of the same name, but it is one of those rare films that actually gets its identity strictly from the terrific chemistry between its stars. Indeed, the main story and the many twists that keep shifting the action to all sorts of spectacular locations very quickly begin to fade away because the real surprises actually occur during the spirited and witty exchanges between the stars.

Matthau is the heart and soul of the film but there is a casual lightness in his performance that rubs off on everyone else and makes the otherwise silly action very enjoyable to watch. So this truly is an ensemble piece in which everyone contributes with the same authentic eagerness and appreciation of the fun that ultimately makes the film works. This may seem like a fairly simple recipe for success, but in the absence of a strong story it requires a group of very talented actors that can feel each other’s instincts and continuously respond in the proper fashion rather than simply deliver their lines at the right time.

There are quite a few carefully calculated political jabs, but they don’t attempt to demean while pretending to be funny. Many of them are actually justified because the hypocrisy, backstabbing, and secret dealings of people like Beatty’s character are very much integral parts of the political reality in which they spend the majority of their time.

*Brian Roy lensed only three films during his career and Hopscotch was the final one. The remaining two are All the Young Wives (1973) and the excellent action comedy Moonrunners (1975).

**Criterion's release features two soundtracks for the film. In addition to the original theatrical soundtrack, there is an alternative television soundtrack that has all of the colorful exchanges replaced.

Hopscotch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.42:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ronald Neame's Hopscotch arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from a 35mm internegative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic tracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.

Transfer supervisor: Russell Smith.
Colorist: Jason Grump/Metropolis, New York."

The release is sourced from a solid new restored 2K master. Excluding a couple of short sequences where I feel that density could be slightly better the film looks really solid in high-definition, with virtually all of the outdoor footage looking especially good. There are some minor fluctuations in terms of grain exposure, but they are typical for the sensitive 35mm stock that was used for a lot of films during the 1970s and 1980s. Here the most obvious examples can be traced back to the manner in which abundant or restricted natural light is captured by the camera. In other words, they are not a byproduct of problematic digital adjustments or corrections. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments either. The primary colors are stable, nicely saturated and convincingly balanced. There is a healthy range of nuances as well. Image stability is excellent. Lastly, there are no distracting large scratches, debris, cuts, stains, warped or torn frames to report in this review. (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).

Hopscotch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0/Original Theatrical Soundtrack and English Dolby Digital 1.0/Television Soundtrack. (For additional information on the latter, please see the main review of the film). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio has been remastered and depth and clarity are terrific. The various music excerpts that are heard throughout the film are also nicely balanced with the dialog. Dynamic intensity is very good but there are some rather obvious native limitations. Hiss, crackle, pops, and other age-related imperfections have been removed.

Hopscotch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Dick Cavett and Walter Matthau - presented here is a very funny archival episode of The Dick Cavett Show in which Walter Matthau discusses his childhood years, some 'illuminating' experiences he had, and his latest film, Little Miss Marker. The episode was filmed on April 21, 1980. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080i).

• Brian Garfield and Ronald Neame - in this documentary, writer Brian Garfield and director Ronald Neame discuss how Hopscotch from a novel to film. The documentary was produced for Criterion in 2002. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080i).

• Trailer - original trailer for Hopscotch. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Teaser - original trailer for Hopscotch. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Glenn Kenny.

Hopscotch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I would give Hopscotch as a prime example of the delightfully witty and harmless R-rated action comedies that Hollywood forgot how to make. I will concede that the current crop of big stars clearly isn't as talented as the ones that made Hopscotch, but the truth is that there is a cultural shift that actually legitimized complete turkeys like CHiPS, The Interview, and Puerto Ricans in Paris, and I find this new reality to be quite disappointing. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from a very solid new 2K restored master that should remain the go-to source for Ronald Neame's film. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.