6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Four hapless bank robbers bury their loot and attempt to hide out in a deserted desert town, but very soon find out that the town is not really deserted.
Starring: Biff Yeager, Sy Richardson, Joe Strummer, Courtney Love, Dick RudeWestern | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Alex Cox's "Straight to Hell" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with the director and co-writer and star Dick Rude; archival featurettes; and original trailer. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The outsiders
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alex Cox's Straight to Hell arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from a recent 2K remaster which is quite inconsistent, though I have to say that it creates a very different impression at first glance. Indeed, the film looks healthy and there are no traces of problematic digital work. Also, the overall color balance is quite nice -- the primaries are stable and with good ranges of supporting nuances. However, the grading has also introduced plenty of black crush, and in certain areas it is actually quite easy to tell that finer details are lost and depth isn't as good as it should be (see screencapture #11). Furthermore, for some unknown to me reason there are different parts of the remaster that exhibit light shakiness, and the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to see it. In fact, I noticed two sequences where it almost looks like the image 'stutters'. There are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you need to have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.
I viewed the film with the 5.1 track and then did some random comparisons with the 2.0 track. My impression is that there are in fact parts of the film where the 5.1 track attempts to open up the action a bit better, but I am not convinced that significant efforts were made to create a superior track. The separation is just as good on the 2.0 track and I could not quite tell where was the improvement. (See the shootout around the 21.00 mark). Obviously, I did not view the entire film with the 2.0 track, so I don't know if there are specific segments where a lot changes.
Straight to Hell is so desperate to be seen as strikingly exotic and cool that it actually looks like the creation of an amateur director who was accidentally given a budget to make it. It is full of pretentious posturing and over-the-top 'acting' that at times are flat-out unbearable. However, it might be worth seeing because there are not a lot of flops like it that have a similar cast of stars. The release comes with an equally strange audio commentary in which Alex Cox and co-writer and star Dick Rude routinely describe a completely different film.
1957
1966
Return of the Magnificent Seven
1966
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2010
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1968
1946
1926
1976
Limited Edition to 3000
1980
1931
1933
1991
2K Restoration
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1924
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1928