Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Red Line 7000 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 25, 2024

Howard Hawks was nearing the end of his venerable and really amazingly long lived career when he helmed Red Line 7000 in 1965. After his epochal achievements in the thirties and forties, Hawks' output started becoming a bit more intermittent as the fifties gave way to the sixties, but as some of the supplements on this disc get into, he still seemed to be open to trying new approaches, and he certainly never shied away from attacking widely variant genres, even if he still tends to be remembered best for either screwball comedy or westerns (something that in and of itself points out Hawks' inherent versatility). As the rather sweet commentary featuring Julie Kirgo (whose father George wrote the film) gets into, Red Line 7000 was not exactly received rapturously by critics and ticket buyers back in the day, and it's often seen as a "lesser" film in Hawks' titanic oeuvre. It may admittedly not be an especially innovative film, and it in fact may show signs of Hawks perhaps unwisely attempting to appeal to the so-called "youth market", but it's a nice, solid piece of storytelling that is, yes, rote and probably overly cliché ridden, but which has some exciting car racing action (much culled from actual stock car challenges) and a relatively early performance from James Caan.

The fact that Kirgo and her late partner Nick Redman are featured on the commentary for this film suggests this may have been in a queue for potential release from Twilight Time, a label which was sold by business partner Brian Jamieson after Redman's death a few years ago. Interestingly, in that regard, the first Blu-ray release, while offering this same Kirgo / Redman commentary, was actually put out by Kino Lorber several years ago. Brian Orndorf's Red Line 7000 Blu-ray review of that release provides a bit more information on the plot dynamics, as well as Brian's reaction to the technical presentation.

Red Line 7000 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Red Line 7000 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

Red Line 7000 is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with mono sound. The high definition master was supplied by Paramount and Kino Lorber. Additional grading and restoration work was completed by R3Store Studios, London.

As can probably be gleaned from the above verbiage, this unsurprisingly shows similarities to Kino Lorber's release from several years ago, but as you can see by comparing screenshots (I've attempted to come close to duplicating frames from Brian's review), this is a much more consistently saturated effort, without the overly bright appearance that Brian mentions in his review. There are still pretty wide variances in quality as the story jumps from (no pun intended) stock footage to newly filmed material, and some of the scenes involving racing can look rather badly damaged and "dupey". The bulk of the presentation is largely though not completely damage free, with age related wear and tear showing up mostly in the form of minor flecks and the like. Detail levels are generally secure, but it's the improvement in color timing and general suffusion of the palette that puts this release ahead of the Kino Lorber release. My score is 4.25.

Red Line 7000 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Red Line 7000 features an LPCM Mono mix in place of the Kino Lorber DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. There's some inherent boxiness in some of the racing sound effects in particular, but otherwise this is a solid accounting of an intermittently boisterous, even rambunctious, track. The interpolation of some frankly bizarre "rock 'n' roll" tunes at the local watering hole sound decently full bodied, and all dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, with the possible exception of Caan's nascent mumblecore proclivities. Optional English subtitles are available.

Red Line 7000 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary is an archival piece by Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo, of the original Twilight Time releases. Kirgo's father George wrote the film and is featured in archival audio.


• Bruce Keller: Man in Motion (HD; ) is a kind of combo platter featuring both an appreciation by Howard S. Berger and an interview with the elusive assistant director.


• Gas, Gears, Girls, Guys & Death (HD; ) is a visual essay by Howard S. Berger, who has a special fondness for this film.


• A Modern Type of Woman (HD; ) is another interesting piece from Kat Ellinger, though (and, yes, reviewer obsession alert noted) her omission of Frances Farmer in Come and Get It as a paradigmatic example of the so-called "Hawksian Woman" is odd, especially since Hawks called Farmer the finest actress with whom he had ever worked, and both women Farmer portrays in that film are certainly completely within the perceived mold Ellinger outlines. There's also a peculiar still from Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve that shows up among more appropriate stills from actual Hawks films, which is also tangentially ironic vis a vis Farmer since Sturges is known to have wanted Farmer instead of Veronica Lake for another 1941 opus of his, Sullivan's Travels.


• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, the keepcase features a reversible sleeve and encloses a folded double sided poster. Arrow's typically well appointed insert booklet features an especially interesting essay about late period Hawks by Martyn Conterio. Finally, packaging features a slipcover.

Red Line 7000 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Red Line 7000 finds Hawks probably understandably a bit uneasy in crafting a tale probably tailor made for the teenage drive in crowd in 1965. The ensemble cast has some interesting folks in it (the commentary gets into some of the rather peculiar histories of some of the actors), and Hawks gets some exciting race footage shoehorned into the proceedings. Technical merits are generally solid, and video in particular shows some improvements from the older Kino Lorber release. As is typical of Arrow releases, the supplemental package is outstanding, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.