Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Rosebud Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 28, 2021

Otto Preminger's "Rosebud" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer for the film and exclusive new audio commentary by filmmaker/historian Daniel Kremer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The connected man

Rosebud is an awful film. And just to be perfectly clear, it is not one of those it-is-so-bad-that-it-can-be-entertaining affairs. It is a breathtakingly mediocre film of the kind that stains legacies in the worst possible way.

It is directed by Otto Preminger, who worked with a screenplay that was reportedly delivered to him by his son, Erik. At least this is the official story, and it seems somewhat plausible, but I am not convinced that it is legit. I think that Preminger’s son probably did quite a bit of work on the screenplay, but I am quite certain that other people contributed as well because in its current form the film looks absolutely terrible. I don’t want to guess the exact chronology of the events that explain its existence, but I am very skeptical that Preminger read a complete screenplay that describes the film exactly as it is now and committed to do it. There is a bigger and likely much more complex story that reveals how the film came to exist. Bad decisions, strange compromises, and desperate attempts to fix massive errors are probably at the heart of this story, perhaps even a secret rejection by Preminger. (The fact that the names of the people that made the film are only revealed at the very end is a tell-tale sign. The closing credits are quite short as well).

The action begins in Corsica where a group of Middle Easterners gather at a remote villa and begin preparing for a bold terrorist operation that is supposed to dramatically alter Israel’s foreign policy and promote the Palestinian cause to the rest of the world. A few days later, the men take over the luxurious yacht Rosebud and kidnap five young girls whose fathers are prominent businessmen and politicians. After some ‘smart maneuvering’ the girls are transported back to Corsica and then forced to make videos while reading specific political demands from their abductors that must be broadcast by major western TV networks. If the broadcasts are banned by western governments, one by one the girls will be killed and returned to their families. Shortly after the demands are dispatched to the proper parties a crisis center is established, and then a veteran British mercenary (Peter O’Toole) with close links to Israeli and western intelligence agencies is brought in to help. The mercenary is tasked to reach a notorious leftist radical (Richard Attenborough) who has converted to Islam, relocated to and become invisible in Lebanon, and is now running all major terrorist cells in the region and abroad.

The narrative is broken into multiple uneven episodes that focus on different aspects of the international crisis that is created after the kidnapping of the girls. Virtually all feature some sort of a discussion that channels opposing political views explaining why there have been troubles in the Middle East. However, the history lessons that emerge from them are so simplistic and so amateurishly done that it is absolutely impossible to accept that they were scripted exactly as they are. (The repetitive framing of the Jewish people as great oppressors with impossibly deep pockets should tell you all you need to know about their accuracy. And this is only a tiny fraction of the film’s bizarre education campaign). Most of the time it looks like different actors are simply improvising.

To make the drama appear truly grand, however, Preminger sends O’Toole’s mercenary to divided Berlin, where he quickly proves that his investigative skills and instincts are nonexistent, and then Lebanon, where he meets Attenborough’s fanatic in a giant underground cave. After important messages are exchanged and the mercenary is sent back to clarify the demands of the Palestinians, the Israelis figure out where the cave is and dispatch one of their commando units to capture the fanatic. This is basically it. The rest is a lot of bad showboating and ridiculous political chatter that can give any normal person with a functional mind a serious headache. (The footage with the Israeli commandos landing in Lebanon and going inside the cave would be problematic even for a parody. It is so poor that it makes the crew from Delta Force 2 look like real-life professionals with thousands of hours of invaluable experience).

The impressive -- but sadly only on paper -- cast also includes Cliff Gorman, Raf Vallone, Claude Dauphin, Klaus Lowitsch, Amidou, Isabelle Huppert, and Kim Cattrall. Former mayor of New York City John V. Lindsay makes an appearance as well.

Rosebud Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The release is sourced from a very nice recent 2K master. Aside from some minor cosmetic work that could have eliminated a few tiny white specks, and possibly slightly better density in a few areas, I think that this film looks about as good as it can on Blu-ray. Yes, you could spot places where depth and delineation could be a tiny bit better, but the overall quality of the visuals is very strong. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. The grading is very convincing as well, though this is another area where some minor balancing adjustments can be made to optimize saturation levels. Image stability is very good. All in all, I think that this is a very fine organic master that provides the film with a strong and pleasing filming appearance. (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).

Rosebud 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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I did not detect any technical or encoding issues to report in our review. The audio is clear, stable, and free of distracting age-related imperfections. Dynamic intensity is good for film from the '70s as well. In fact, during the footage with the plane and later on the attack on the cave there are some quite wonderful dynamic contrasts.

Rosebud Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Rosebud. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, filmmaker/historian Daniel Kremer discusses the relationship between Otto Preminger and Saul Bass as well as the design of the opening credits in Rosebud, the Israeli/Palestinian geopolitical scene at the time when the film was released, the unusual casting choices, Kim Cattrall's take on the director's working methods (and particularly his staging choices), etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

Rosebud Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is a surreal experience viewing iconic actors like Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, and Raf Vallone struggle as they do in Otto Preminger's Rosebud. There must be some incredible story explaining how this breathtakingly mediocre film was put together because nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, in it can be taken seriously. I have to give credit to the folks at Kino Lorber for choosing to release Rosebud on Blu-ray because I have known about its existence for years but never had the opportunity to see it. There is a reserved spot for it in my library now because these types of astonishing misfires can win some quite interesting debates.