Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Return to Macon County Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 18, 2019

Richard Compton's "Return to Macon County" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only supplemental features on the disc are a few promotional trailers and TV spots for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

We ain't got nothing to lose but our lives. Let's go.

Is it possible to revisit Return to Macon County and not ponder just how much Nick Nolte and Don Johnson have aged? The honest answer is no. And why is this important? Well, I don’t know if it is important per se, it is just something that the mind unintentionally brings up as soon as the opening credits disappear and you can’t just brush it away. These guys looked very different when they were younger and a then-and-now comparison is unavoidable. Trust me. Even if you disagree now as soon as you sit down to view the film you will realize that I am right. Then your mind will find the perfect moment to force you to ponder how time has changed these actors.

Rural Georgia, 1953. Best buddies Bo (Nolte) and Harley (Johnson) can barely contain their excitement because they have built their dream racer and are heading to California to participate in the Grand Nationals. Bo is the driver and Harley is the mechanic and they are convinced that as a team they are unbeatable.

At a roadside diner in Macon County, however, the boys get involved in a melee which makes them realize that the journey to California might be full of odd surprises. They are also joined by fired waitress Junell (Robin Mattson), who just wants to get away from the area as fast as she can. Then further down the road Harley gets beat up by a bunch of troublemakers, while Bo breaks the nose of a bored trooper (Robert Viharo) who vows to put them behind bars. They manage to get away but with the state police and the troublemakers tracking them down suddenly winning the race in California begins to look like an impossible dream.

Richard Compton’s Return to Macon County can be an excellent companion piece to Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop because both films see rural America through the same prism and have equally casual attitude toward storytelling. Compton’s film spends more time on character building but at the end it reveals the same passion for racing and that is one of two things that makes it memorable. The other key similarity between these films is their ability to effectively document the ‘exterior environment’ of their characters and make it interesting. What does this mean exactly? In both films the main characters move through areas that have their own rhythm of life, so quite often the ‘exterior environment’ becomes a lot more attractive than their latest predicaments. In Hellman’s film this particular element of the story is actually very carefully expanded and it is the exact reason why it became important -- it almost transforms it into an unconventional documentary. Compton allows this overlapping to occur organically, while the three fugitives are trying to outsmart the people that are after them and their relationships evolve, so when the shifts occur, they are usually a lot shorter.

There is quite a bit of improvising going on, but it is of the kind that actually helps the chemistry between the leads. This also has an effect on the film’s overall energy which is comparable to that of many great Americanas from the 1970s.

Compton used the services of cinematographer Jacques Marquette whose credits include such genre gems as A Bucket of Blood and Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, as well as TV’s Maverick and The Streets of San Francisco.

The soundtrack features classic tracks by Fats Domino ("I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday"), Chuck Berry ("Johnny B. Goode"), and Freddie Cannon ("Talahassie Lassie"), and Ricky Nelson ("Waitin' In School"), amongst others.

Return to Macon County Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Return to Macon County arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a very healthy new 2K remaster. Excluding a couple of density drops that occur around transitions and a few tiny white flecks that pop up here and there, the rest of the film looks very nice. Indeed, depth and clarity are always very pleasing, and even during the nighttime footage delineation remains convincing. Yes, some nuances can be better and shadow definition can be strengthened, but these would be primarily cosmetic improvements that will not alter dramatically the current quality of the presentation. The color grading is convincing as well. All primaries are solid and healthy, plus all supporting nuances are very nicely balanced. As result, the entire film has a very stable vibrant organic color scheme. There are no traces of problematic digital adjustments, such as sharpening and contrast boosting. (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).

Return to Macon County 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.

The lossless audio is free of age-related anomalies. Clarity and depth are very good and the racing footage actually surprises with some pretty good dynamic nuances. The dialog is always clean, clear, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no pops, dropouts, or distortions.

Return to Macon County Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a remastered vintage trailer for Return to Macon County. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• TV Spot - a vintage TV spot for Return to Macon County. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Radio Spots - a couple of vintage radio spots for Return to Macon County. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following releases from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. White Lightning
  2. Convoy
  3. Mulholland Falls
  4. Grace Quigley

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Return to Macon County Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you have recently discovered or revisited Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop and crave more of the same, Richard Compton's Return to Macon County could be the perfect fix for you. It has a very particular sense of humor, but it comes from the same era and does a lot of the same things that made Hellman's film special. I think that it is a very fine but criminally overlooked piece of Americana. Kino Lorber's release of Return to Macon County is sourced from a solid new 2K remaster but does not have any meaningful bonus features. Nevertheless, it is definitely worth picking up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (If looking for yet another dose of the same, consider Mark Lester's Steel Arena, which is one of my favorite releases from 2019).