Ramrod Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Ramrod Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 14, 2018

Due to the vagaries of international licensing, Arrow Academy has recently released two films for the UK market that I reviewed quite some time ago when Olive released the pair for the United States market, Ramrod and Magnificent Doll. Making those vagaries even more interesting is the fact that of the two I had no problem playing Arrow’s Ramrod in my Region A players, while Magnificent Doll would only boot in my Region B players. Neither film is exactly an undiscovered masterpiece, but they each have their midlevel pleasures, including performances by some of their era’s most noteworthy stars.

For my thoughts on the film, please see our Ramrod Blu-ray review.

Ramrod Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ramrod is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following fairly generic verbiage about the transfer:

Ramrod was remastered by Ignite Films from original film elements and delivered to Arrow Films in High Definition. Additional work to minimise dirt and debris was carried out at R3store Studios in London. The film is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 [sic] with original mono audio.

Those who have already perused my review of the Olive release will note that the aspect ratio here is slightly wider, suggesting a new or different master, and that I've upped my video score to 3.5. That said, I would caution interested consumers about having overly high expectations, as at least some of the anomalies I mentioned in the review of the United States release persist on this one, though some have in fact been ameliorated. There is still occasional warping to be seen (as early as the MGM masthead), and numerous (admittedly pretty small at times) nicks, scratches and other blemishes dot the image with fair regularity. While contrast isn't perfect here, the rather large variances seen on the Olive release have been at least improved if not completely eliminated, as has some of the recurrent damage on the left side of the frame on the Olive release. Clarity and sharpness look about the same, frankly, as does the at times pretty heavy looking grain field. My score is 3.25.

Ramrod Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I frankly didn't hear much if any difference between the audio presentation in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono on the Olive disc and the LPCM Mono presentation on this Arrow release. There are still some minor ambient differences in location and studio set scenes, but Adolph Deutsch's rather impressive score resonates clearly throughout the film.

Ramrod Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unlike the bare bones Olive release, Arrow (as is their typical custom) has lined up some excellent supplements for their version.

• Feature Commentary by Film Historian Adrian Martin


• Peter Stanfield on Ramrod (HD; 21:04) is a really interesting piece, even if Stanfield occasionally looks slightly ill at ease (it looks like he's referring to prepared notes that are off screen). This gets into some other films in the "western-noir" hybrid. I may be misunderstanding (it's just a little hard for me to decipher exactly what Stanfield says at this moment), but it sounds like he interpolates Robert Preston into this film (a picture of Preston even appears on screen) when of course it's Preston Foster .


• Andre de Toth Interviewed at the National Film Theatre (HD; 47:29) is an archival piece from 1994 moderated by Kevin Jackson. De Toth (who's in a neck brace) can be a bit hard to understand at times during this career spanning reminiscence.


• Andre de Toth Conversation with Patrick Francis (HD; 1:34:45) plays under the film and acts very much like a second commentary. Francis introduces things and shows up interstitially to offer a bit of context now and again. Despite Francis warning that audio quality on these tape recorded interviews is "iffy", I personally found de Toth much easier to understand here (for the most part, anyway).


• Image Gallery (HD; 7:10) is culled from an archive housed at Brigham Young University, perhaps because the film was shot in Utah.

As usual, Arrow has provided a nicely appointed insert booklet.

Ramrod Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have to say I have a new appreciation for Ramrod after having gotten through the supplements on Arrow's release of the film. While I'm perhaps not at the "admiration" stage that either commentator Adrian Martin or de Toth interviewer Patrick Francis seem to be, I recognize that some of the film's more provocative elements are rather subtle. Technical merits are still a bit uneven, but Arrow has provided some really excellent supplements on this release. Recommended.