P.J. Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

P.J. Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 11, 2020

John Guillermin's "P.J." (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer for the film; archival promotional materials; and exclusive new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The last man standing gets the job

Why did Universal never bother to release John Guillermin’s thriller P.J. on home video? I like the answer critics Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell offer in their exclusive new commentary because it is exactly what I figured as soon as its final credits rolled on my screen. A long time ago, someone powerful, or a couple of similar people, at Universal concluded that it was too bad. No, not that kind of a poor and disappointing film, rather one that was too uncivilized and too violent for the masses. Berger and Mitchell bring up the original trailer the studio cut for it and claim that it validates their answer, and I think that they are correct. The guy that narrates the trailer openly promises exactly that kind of badness, and the visuals tell the rest of the story. But there is even more, proving that Berger and Mitchell's claim is legit. When Universal prepared P.J. for TV, someone did a lot of hard work to ensure that the masses see a properly sanitized version of the film. Berger and Mitchell even identify some of the exact visuals that were removed from the edited version that ended up on TV.

There is a lot that I like about P.J., but before I identify its strengths, I wish to clarify something so that if you decide to see it, you can approach it with realistic expectations. P.J. is not a genuinely controversial film. It does not break any genre boundaries, either. The main reason why Universal shelved it is its attitude -- it is an ‘anything goes’ attitude, which frees the two sexes to go as hard at each other as needed. There are many earlier film noirs that have the exact same attitude, and plenty that go much further.

Private eye P.J. Detweiler (George Pepard) is hired by aging businessman William Orbison (Raymond Burr) to be the personal bodyguard of his much younger mistress Maureen Preble (Gayle Hunnicutt) because someone has been sending her anonymous letters warning that she will get killed. The businessman is still officially involved with his wife, Betty (Coleen Gray), but no one suspects that she could be responsible for the drama.

Shortly after P.J. begins escorting Maureen, however, someone fires a gun in her posh bedroom at the Orbison estate. Because P.J. fails to catch the attacker, the old man orders the entire family to temporarily relocate to the West Indies, where his company has started working on different projects with the local authorities and is quickly growing. Here, after a lavish party, someone kills the old man’s business partner (Jason Evers) and P.J. becomes a suspect. While assisting the local investigators led by inspector Waterpark (Brock Peters) P.J. realizes that he has been set up, and when he eventually returns to New York goes to work to find out why.

The success of Harper was almost certainly what convinced the top brass at Universal to finance P.J., but in terms of attitude, this film has a lot more in common with the likes of Out of the Past and 99 River Street. It is unapologetically direct and often even borderline primitive, oozing a special type of negative energy that can be, and probably was, rather intimidating. This negative energy, not the set-up and later on the progression of the P.J.’s investigation, is what produces all the variety and excitement in the film because it evens the playing field for the different characters, and by doing so makes the drama and fireworks quite unpredictable. The most shocking moment in the entire film, for instance, comes out of left field during a seemingly very ordinary scuffle between P.J. and a small-time villain in New York City’s subway.

The exotic material isn’t at odds with the negative energy, either. On the contrary, in the West Indies the film produces its strongest and most cynical evidence that the world P.J. belongs to is an irreparably corrupt place and those that have doubts that it is so are doomed to suffer. (In Robert Lynn’s similarly themed thriller Code 7, Victim 5 Lex Barker’s detective lands in beautiful Cape Town to do a job for another wealthy businessman and soon after the exotic material completely overwhelms the narrative. Predictably, its authenticity suffers and the end result is just another B-grade James Bond copycat).

Peppard leads with authority, but there are quality contributions from the entire cast. Barr’s unbridled meanness, for instance, is what will stick in the minds of many viewers that rediscover the film.

P.J. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The release is sourced from an exclusive new 2K master that gives the film a terrific healthy look. Frankly, excluding a few tiny white specks and the fact that ideally density levels should be slightly better, I think that the presentation is as good as it could be. Clarity and delineation, for instance, are wonderful. Depth is terrific as well, though you should expect to see some minor fluctuations that are introduced by specific stylistic preferences. The grading job is outstanding as well. There are solid, very healthy primaries, with equally great and nicely balanced supporting nuances. The best news is that there are absolutely no traces of problematic digital adjustments. The encoding is solid as well. All in all, this really is a fantastic presentation that makes rediscovering the film on Blu-ray quite the special treat. Well done. My score is 4.75/5.00. (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).

P.J. 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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio track is very healthy. I had the volume on my system turned up quite a bit and was quite impressed with the clear and stable sound that was coming out of my speakers. Neal Hefti's dynamic jazzy score sounded quite wonderful as well. I did not detect any transfer-specific anomalies to report in our review.

P.J. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage trailer for P.J. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - a predictably great and very informative audio commentary recorded by critics Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell. There is a wealth of information in it about Universal's handling of P.J., its reputation as an ignored cult classic, the casting choices, the film's tolerance for violence/abuse/sexual tension, the evolution of the 'private eye' genre and the era in which the film emerged, etc. Great commentary.

• Image Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for P.J. With music. (3 min, 1080p).

P.J. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The people that worked hard to make this release of John Guillermin's P.J. a reality deserve a ton of credit. The film is as wild as the few that had been able to see it uncut in the past have claimed, plus it looks gorgeous after it was remastered in 2K. Universal did not bother to bring it to DVD (or VHS), so I think it is fair to say that Kino Lorber saved it and gave it a new life. If Harper and Marlowe are films you enjoy, place your order now. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.