Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Ragtime Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 14, 2021

Paramount brings the powerful, if not disjointed, 1981 film 'Ragtime,' based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel of the same name, to Blu-ray as part of the studio's prestigious 'Paramount Presents' line. The 1080p video transfer and 5.1 lossless soundtrack are both very good. The disc includes plenty of extras and a second disc houses an alternate 'Director's Cut Workprint,' running nearly three hours and presented in flawed, but watchable, condition.

Ragtime takes place in the early 1900s during the Teddy Roosevelt administration and follows several storylines and characters. However, its most dominant plot line, both by screen time allotted and interest and engagement earned, is that of black ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Howard Rollins) who discovers that his baby, and the baby's mother Sarah (Debbie Allen) who had previously abandoned the baby to die by exposure and neglect, have been taken in by a wealthy white family, which includes Father (James Olson), Mother (Mary Steenburgen), and her younger brother (Brad Dourif). With Coalhouse in town trying to secure his place as the child's father, he finds himself embroiled in a quest for justice when local white firefighters trash his new Model-T. With no legal recourse available to him, he takes matters into his own hands and turns to drastic measures to make the wrong right.

Ragtime spins a complex web of turn of the century American life and times. In some ways the picture defies a traditional review. It’s got tentacles reaching into not so much a myriad of characters -- thought there are quite a few – but certainly through a myriad of societal, cultural, and racial complexities which altogether build a complex portrait of the country within a microcosm snippet of people, places, things, and ideas. This kaleidoscopic yet focused portrait explores the depravity of racism, anger, fear, murder, adultery, and a laundry list of man’s worst qualities yet exhibited in a beautifully crafted picture teetering on masterclass. Director Miloš Forman, who has several classics to his name (including One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Amadeus), shows some his best work here. Its only sin is a lack of focus on the core story; a trimmed cut excising some of the nonessential elements would have elevated the film to an excellence beyond that which it achieves in its current state.

Beyond some bloat that assuredly played better in the novel, the film is a winner, translating to its performances and production design as well. The film is gorgeously detailed and authentically turn of the century America. The film is worth watching for a number of reasons, not the least of which is for its living, breathing world alone; the recreation of and commitment to fine detail and absolute screen, and audience, immersion cannot be praised highly enough, from essential set pieces to adornments, from clothing to cars, everything is a seamless transport back into time, helping to better frame the story's beating hearts. Performances are excellent, too; every actor melts into character with uncanny believability. The clashing perspectives and heartfelt convictions allow each character to develop from a natural starting point that altogether plays into the film's narrative flow, plot developments, and final resolution. This is great stuff. It's a shame it's a bit bloated, because the core really can't be beat.

Ragtime Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount touts Ragtime as "remastered from a 4K film transfer" and the results are every bit as spectacular as fans have come to expect from the 'Paramount Presents' line. The picture is authentically filmic, true to its roots, and handsomely presented for color, clarity, and grain. The picture springs to life from the first scenes forward, beginning with a lavish dinner party where the picture exhibits all of its characteristics: excellent detail, fine grain, bold color, deep blacks, and crisp whites. All of these hold for the duration. The fine grain lends a practically perfect cinematic veneer to it and accentuates the high yield textures and supreme clarity that is in evidence throughout the film, bringing critical and much appreciated life to the densely detailed era production design that is vital in transporting the viewer to the film's timeframe and reinforcing its various themes. Facial complexities are excellent as well, as are the period clothes on display. Color output is terrific. There's a very nice blend of punchy tones – American flag red, white, and blue and natural greens, for example – as well as more grounded colors, all of which yield expressive vitality and natural contrast. Flesh tones are lovely, black levels are just about perfect, and whites are brilliant and stable. The picture is free of any obvious print flaws or encode deficiencies. This is a brilliant, beautiful image from Paramount.

Ragtime Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ragtime arrives on Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It would not be correct to call the track "well rounded" because it's fairly front heavy, but it would be correct to label it "authentic." The track is agreeably balanced within its natural construct and confines, yielding appreciably well detailed music and dialogue, the former of which flows with satisfying front side engagement and the latter of which holds steady to a central front location. Some of the chaotic din, such as when Thaw shoots White around the 20-minute mark, or city din out on the street around the 30-minute mark, both lack precision and immersion; the sound elements are largely up front and a little muddled but generally acceptable. An explosion towards film's end marks the most prolific output the track has to offer. While not prodigious or ramping up the bass to an extreme degree the core effect sounds fine, albeit still front heavy. This is not a terribly involved track, but Paramount brings every element to the table to sonic satisfaction.

Ragtime Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beyond the core supplements on disc one, which are divided into "new" and "legacy" categories -- including an audio commentary track, featurettes, and a deleted scene -- the treasure is undoubtedly on disc two, a Director's Cut Workprint of the film (1080p, Dolby TrueHD 2.0, 2:54:02). A text introduction reads: "The following is a director's cut workprint which differs from the theatrical release of the film. Thanks to the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation for preserving this material. As with all workprints, in its current form, it was never intended for theatrical or other distribution so it will have defects, black and white footage, and other anomalies consistent with the editorial process." The image is certainly a far cry from the feature presentation quality but is very watchable despite various examples of print wear and color fading.

This release is the 28th in the "Paramount Presents" line and includes the slipcover with fold-open poster artwork. A digital copy code is included with purchase.

• NEW! Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 17:06 total runtime): Several scenes, all in black-and-white, provided no identifying titles or other markers.
• NEW! Ragtime Revisited: A Conversation with Larry Karaszewski and Screenwriter Michael Weller on Ragtime (1080p, 21:11): A discussion centering on film origins, writing the screenplay, story themes and characterization, plot and character complexities, editing, and much more.
• Deleted Scene (480i, 10:19): Another scene, this one fairly lengthy, not provided any text markers. Primarily in black and white.
• Remembering Ragtime (480i, 18:32): Exploring themes and story, scriptwriting, production details, cast and characters, performances, and more.

Ragtime Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In brief, this is a fantastic release. While the movie is imperfect, it's an engaging bit of cinema artistry that's as absorbing and powerful as anything out there when it's on, which is much of its second half. The Blu-ray look terrific and sounds pretty good, too, all things considered. This release includes an abundance of supplements including a second disc dedicated to a nearly three-hour workprint cut of the film. Highly recommended.