6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Ned Kelly (Mick Jagger) is the legendary outlaw of the Australian outback sought by authorities for stealing horses. At age 20, Ned has already served a three-year prison term at hard labor. When Ned's mother (Clarissa Kaye) is arrested and jailed on a bogus murder charge, Ned offers to surrender in exchange for his mother's freedom. When the authorities refuse, the Kelly brothers go on a robbing rampage. Cornered by the law in a saloon, Ned's brothers commit suicide rather than be taken alive. Shel Silverstein wrote the music performed by Waylon Jennings, Jagger and Glen Tomasetti. Australian folk songs are also included in this story taken from a popular 19th-century ballad
Starring: Mick Jagger, Clarissa Kaye-Mason, Frank Thring, Bill Hunter (I), Tim Van RellimWestern | 100% |
Biography | 15% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Did success spoil Tony Richardson? From the late fifties through (perhaps) the mid-sixties, Richardson directed a handful of fascinating, and some would argue classic, films, including such redolent titles as Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, A Taste of Honey, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and then in 1963 the film which would win him not one but two Academy Awards (for Best Picture and Best Director), Tom Jones (still sadly missing on Blu-ray). Richardson took a couple of years off after Tom Jones, eventually directing the completely outré 1965 farce The Loved One, a film which famously (and probably accurately) advertised itself as “the motion picture with something to offend everyone!” But then—well, to say that Richardson’s output post 1965 was a bit of a roller coaster ride in terms of consistency and perhaps even competence might be something of an understatement. Interesting if by now largely forgotten films like Mademoiselle disappeared quickly, while putative epics like The Charge of the Light Brigade crashed and burned at the box office (if not in the estimation of some critics). Fitfully compelling “experiments” like Laughter in the Dark (culled from a Vladimir Nabokov story) and a minimalist Hamlet starring Nicol Williamson failed to make much if any impact with audiences, and so it was perhaps understandable that Richardson indulged in a bit of “stunt casting” for his first film of the 1970s, the largely disparaged supposed biography of infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly. A late eighties tome on the history of United Artists discusses the film’s use of Mick Jagger in the title role as an attempt to exploit what the graybeards and bean counters in the studio offices thought was a still largely untapped “youth movement,” but you know how fickle “kids” can be, and not even Jagger’s involvement could salvage the film, which was formally denounced not just by Jagger, but by Richardson himself.
Ned Kelly is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a transfer that shows its age in a number of ways. First off, the elements have an above average amount of wear and tear, and colors have faded perceptibly, something that undercuts what must have once been the rather luminous cinematography of Gerry Fisher. This also has the look of an older master, and in fact looks like it may even have been created in the DVD era, for there are signs of artificial sharpening that become especially apparent in brightly backlit outdoor sequences, where halos are evident. The grain field looks natural and has no resolution issues. There's fairly marked telecine wobble during the opening credits but no other image instability issues of any major concern.
Ned Kelly features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix which artfully supports the film's dialogue and many sung moments (Jagger even gets into the musical mix at one point). While inherently narrow, the mix offers very good prioritization and solid fidelity, with no issues of any kind to warrant concern.
There are no supplements of any kind on this Blu-ray disc.
Ned Kelly has had a rather problematic history on film, though some wags aver that 1906's The Story of the Kelly Gang was the first dramatic feature length film. This Richardson opus and 2003's Heath Ledger Ned Kelly both failed to ignite with either critics or audiences, though at least the Ledger version pulled in a few respectful reviews along the way. This is a rather odd situation, for the basics of the Kelly story are fascinating and certainly seem tailor made for a cinematic tour de force. Some Jagger fans may well want to check this out to "satisfy" their curiosity, but the film is a haphazard experience at best. Technical merits are average (video) to very good (audio) for those considering a purchase.
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