Target: Harry Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Target: Harry Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 5, 2019

Roger Corman's "Target: Harry" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The bonus features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell and trailers for other releases from the label's catalog. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The American pilot

While enjoying the sun in beautiful Monte Carlo, American pilot Harry Black (Vic Morrow, The Glass House) is hired by a busy businessman named Jason Carlyle (Stanley Holloway) to fly him to Istanbul for an urgent meeting. Shortly after Harry lands his plane near the Bosporus Bridge and Turkish officials check the visitors’ papers, however, the businessman is killed by an assassin. It happens when they part ways, so Harry begins exploring the city completely unaware that his wealthy client is dead.

On a busy street Harry is then approached by Diane Reed (Suzanne Pleshette, Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?), a stylish beauty with seemingly impeccable seduction skills, who engages him in a conversation and eventually reveals to him that he might be in a whole lot of trouble because of the murder -- unless he agrees to cooperate and help her locate the pair of British money printing plates that the dead man was carrying. At first Harry assumes that Diane is playing some sort of silly game with him, but he changes his mind when some shady characters begin following around the city. Eventually, Harry crosses paths with Mosul Rashi (Victor Buono, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), a local crime boss with international ambitions and competitor of Diane, who politely informs him that he is still alive only because he has not been able to figure out if he is an associate of the dead man and therefore capable of revealing the location of the plates. Mosul Rashi and his assassins then go to work to convince Harry to spill the beans on a complicated deal that he knows nothing about.

The only legit description of Roger Corman’s Target: Harry is to say that it is the end product of gonzo filmmaking of the highest caliber. Indeed, it is very clear that the film was shot on a budget that very few directors would have actually considered for a project like it, and yet instead of immediately falling apart as it should have, it actually manages to transform itself into a period charmer with an obvious sense of style. There are couple of reasons for this. First, it helps tremendously that Corman was able to sell his ‘vision’ to a few solid actors that essentially make the bulk of the film look legit -- and not by making the action appear authentic, but by bringing attitudes that make their characters look attractive. Second, Corman’s instincts were great and the footage from Monte Carlo and Istanbul works miracles for the overall atmosphere of the film. In fact, because of the excellent locations it is extremely easy to ignore the much of the sloppiness of the ‘fights’ and ‘gruesome’ executions that occur in Istanbul. Then there is the solid score from the old pro Les Baxter which further elevates the image of the film and leaves the impression that it was a much bigger and better polished project.

The film’s Achilles’ heel is the plot. Simply put, it does not have enough depth to produce intriguing relationships and from there multiple layers of suspense. After Harry discovers that he has accidentally become a key piece in an international conspiracy he basically switches into survival mode and the film begins rehashing some old genre clichés. This is unfortunate because it feels like the potential to do more with Diane was there but no one dared to think out of the box.

Ultimately, Target: Harry should appeal to folks that enjoy smaller exotic period action thrillers that place greater emphasis on atmosphere and attitude because they are fully aware that these are two areas where they can excel. So, anyone that had a good time with the likes of Mozambique and Bang! Bang! You're Dead! as well as Hot Enough for June and The High Commissioner should find Corman’s film quite attractive and enjoyable.

*Target: Harry was conceived as a pilot for an upcoming TV series, but due to various unexpected developments it evolved into the feature film that is presented on this release. Corman is credited in it as Henry Neill. Also, another influential maverick, Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop), edited the film.

Target: Harry 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, Roger Corman's Target: Harry arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a very solid new 2K remaster. Aside from a couple of tiny blemishes and dirt spots -- all of which I basically consider 'cosmetic imperfections -- the rest looks great. Depth and clarity, in particular, are enormously impressive and a lot of the daylight footage has the type of consistent organic appearance that typically new remasters and restorations have that appear via the Criterion Collection. Also, the color grading is excellent. The primaries are very lush and healthy, plus there are equally impressive ranges of healthy supporting nuances. A lot of the panoramic footage from Monte Carlo and Istanbul looks really impressive. There are no traces of questionable digital work. A few momentary density fluctuations can be observed, but it is very easy to tell that they are sourced-related. Image stability is excellent. Indeed, a very impressive remaster. My score if 4.75/5.00. (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).

Target: Harry 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 audio is what gives away the film's low-budget production identity the most. It is very easy to tell that Roger Corman and his crew shot quickly and basically did the best with the organic footage from the streets of Istanbul because the audio does not have the type of stability that a big studio project from the same era would have demanded. This is not to imply that there are serious anomalies, rather that there are small but noticeable dynamic fluctuations that are essentially a byproduct of the organic sounds and noises that flood the footage where Harry and Diane are trying to have a conversation, or elsewhere a lot of people come together at the same time. This is clearly how the audio was recorded, so the lossless track reproduces the native qualities of the film's soundtrack. Les Baxter's score sounds great. For the record, there are no distracting pops, background hiss, distortions, or other similar age-related anomalies.

Target: Harry Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, critics Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell have plenty of interesting comments about the odd production history of Target: Harry and Roger Corman's work, some of the additional footage that was shot for it, the casting choices, and the film's tone and atmosphere. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Trailers - a gallery of trailers for the following Kino Lorber releases:
  
  1. Busting
  2. The File of the Golden Goose
  3. The Laughing Policeman
  4. The Sicilian Clan
  5. Trouble Man

Target: Harry Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you put Target: Harry under the microscope you will quickly begin to discover that there is a lot -- and I mean a lot -- in it that is more than a bit odd, starting with the kind of badass that Vic Morrow wants his character to be but the script isn't comfortable with, and then moving to the massive amount of spectacular panoramic footage from Monte Carlo and Istanbul that the film promotes. Indeed, there are plenty of unconventional contrasts here even for a Roger Corman film. But you know what, it is exactly why the film looks so chic, and it is certainly the main reason why I enjoyed it so much. Kino Lorber's release of Target: Harry is sourced from a wonderful exclusive new 2K remaster. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.