Ravagers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Ravagers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 27, 2024

Richard Compton's "Ravagers" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. There are no supplemental features on the release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The hunted

Ask ten seasoned film collectors to name the top three post-apocalyptic films of all time and you will get at least seven different answers. In fact, there is a pretty good chance that you may get ten different answers. It is because different people have very different expectations of what a great post-apocalyptic film should be. Some would want it to produce stunning panoramic visuals and breathtaking action. Some would expect it to take them on a spine-tingling adventure with wild characters other films can never have. And some would want it to be a thought-provoking expose of what could go wrong and never should. In other words, the top three post-apocalyptic films can be any of the following films: Escape from New York, The Omega Man, Five, Mad Max, Time of the Wolf, Stalker, On the Beach, The Last Battle, and even Hardware and Six-String Samurai.

But the differences between films like Escape From New York and The Last Battle or On the Beach and Hardware are so many and so big that it is a lot easier to name the few things that make them similar. For example, all four create a tremendous atmosphere. In all four, there are some unforgettable visuals as well. And yet, their atmosphere and visuals are not identical either. They emphasize different qualities that do completely different things to legitimize the stories they tell. But why exactly? Because the directors who shot them were like the people you would ask to select the top three post-apocalyptic films of all time -- they did not share the same perfect cinematic vision of the post-apocalyptic reality.

Richard Compton’s Ravagers has routinely been cited as a lesser post-apocalyptic film because it does not do as well what its greatest relatives are known for. This is actually true, so it is guilty as charged. However, it is why it is worth seeing.

The story that is told in Ravagers comes from Robert Edmond Alter’s novel Path to Savagery, but while its drama is pretty good, it is not what makes the film attractive. What does is the strange place Compton’s camera reveals, where the survivors of WWIII are engaged in a seemingly never-ending hunting game. The hunters call themselves ravagers and belong to a huge gang whose leader (Anthony James) is a vicious lunatic with visions of grandeur. The hunted are outcasts who hide in the shadows or are constantly on the move to find supplies that can prolong their existence. When the ravagers begin tracking down one surprisingly elusive outcast (Richard Harris) after his girlfriend is murdered, the massive wasteland that emerges becomes far more intriguing than the hunt and the fate of the hunted.

Compton’s camera gives the wasteland a most unusual personality. It makes it look gloomy and spooky, primitive and grotesque, but at the same time borderline cartoonish because virtually all of the characters that populate this place look and behave like former psychiatric patients. As a result, the trip through the wasteland and the heavy atmosphere that materializes with it force the mind to begin pondering some pretty unusual questions. For example, what would be the value of rationality in a post-nuclear war world that is allergic to rationality? What would be the life expectancy of an intelligent survivor? How will progress be defined by the survivors that begin to dominate the wasteland?

While the hunt is in progress, Harris is joined by a young beauty (Ann Turkel) and a kooky army sergeant (Art Carney), and together they begin searching for a mythical place called Genesis, where life is a lot like it was before the start of WWIII. Instead, they reach a fortified ship operated by an old-fashioned dictator (Ernest Borgnine). It makes sense. If there are any survivors in the wasteland that would emerge after a nuclear holocaust, they will almost certainly be strange characters creating replicas of the mythical place Harris and his two friends are searching for. In this new cartoonish world, the strongest leaders will be the most unhinged ones too, which is precisely how Compton sees them through his camera as well.

Ravagers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Sony Pictures. This master has some limitations, the most obvious of which emerge in darker areas, but the overall quality of the visuals is very good. For example, delineation and clarity range from good to very good. Depth is also pleasing, but in several darker areas some of the more delicate nuances can be better. At the moment, there is a bit of very light crushing that a proper new master will undoubtedly eliminate. Density levels are very good. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Color balance is very convincing. In fact, I do not think that there is much room for meaningful improvements in terms of balance. Select primaries and supporting nuances can be healthier, and if they are the dynamic range of the visuals will be strengthened, but the current color settings are very good. There are no stability issues. A few nicks pop up, but there are no large cuts, debris, marks, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Ravagers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I have mentioned many times in the past that even very old masters that are licensed from Sony Pictures boast excellent audio tracks, and the master that was provided for Ravagers continues the trend. Clarity, sharpness, and stability are outstanding. I think that dynamic intensity is very good as well, but you need to keep in mind that the soundtrack does have some native limitations that make it impossible for action sequences to sound as aggressive as similar modern content can.

Ravagers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no bonus features to be found on this release.

Ravagers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ravagers cannot provide the same thrills and chills classic films like Escape from New York, The Omega Man, and On the Beach do because it sees the vast wasteland that has emerged after WWIII differently. Ravagers is much easier to compare to a low-budget curiosity like Cries of Ecstasy, Blows of Death, which also promotes the idea that the lucky survivors roaming the wasteland will be very strange, almost certainly delusional characters. I quite liked the unevenness of Ravagers because it frequently forces it to be allergic to logic, which makes it a refreshingly different film. RECOMMENDED.