Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

That Man Bolt Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 20, 2023

Henry Levin and David Lowell Rich's "That Man Bolt" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include an exclusive new program with Fred Williamson and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"That's quite a nice tan you have." "Yeah, I keep it all year round, too."

I would enthusiastically place That Man Bolt (1973) above some of the classic James Bond films. Do not ask me to name them, but I absolutely would. That Man Bolt has sizzling action, very hot women, and some incredible panoramic footage from Macao, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Charles Bernstein’s score is pure dynamite, too. So, why is That Man Bolt an almost forgotten film? Well, watch the new program with Fred Williamson that is included on this release and you will get your answer -- multiple times, too. According to Williamson, some very important people that ran Universal and some very important critics that saw and wrote about That Man Bolt profiled it as a blaxploitation film. You can guess what happened next, can’t you? The important people at Universal completely screwed up the publicity campaign for That Man Bolt and let Williamson get out of a deal for multiple films he had signed with them. No, they did not fire Williamson. The important people at Universal paid him for not making the other films that were part of their deal and he was free to begin making completely different films with an option to return. Williamson could not be happier, but he felt bad about That Man Bolt because he knew that it turned out a very good film. He knew that it was not a blaxploitation film either because he had made plenty of them. Hammer (1972), Black Caesar (1973), and Hell Up in Harlem (1973) are completely different genre films.

What a massive fumble!

That Man Bolt could have launched quite the franchise and made a ton of money for the important people at Universal. How do we know this? Have you heard of Secret Agent 077? In the 1960s, Ken Clark went to Italy and made three small but very nice films about the handsome spy Dick Malloy -- Mission Bloody Mary (1965), From the Orient with Fury (1965), and Special Mission Lady Chaplin (1966) -- that became big hits in Europe. They could have become even bigger international hits if they had proper backing from a major Hollywood studio. That Man Bolt looks better than the films in Clark’s trilogy and had proper backing from Universal, so all that it needed to launch a successful franchise was a powerful man with a vision. Williamson mentions that there was someone at Universal with the right instincts that could have taken control of it, but I must disagree with him. If you view That Man Bolt and declare that it is a blaxploitation film, then you did not have a proper grasp of its genre identity, and without it, you could not have launched a successful franchise.

After he is prematurely released from a lousy jailhouse in Macao, “the highest flying, the slickest, meanest dude you’ll ever face” named Jefferson Bolt (Williamson) is offered a deal: take a briefcase with $1,000,000 from Hong Kong to Mexico City, via Los Angeles, or get back to his cell. Bolt chooses wisely and shortly after meets Griffiths (Byron Webster), a man with a thick British accent, proper manners, and important connections, who explains to him what his mission would entail. A few days later, Bolt lands in Los Angeles but has a surprising encounter with some mafia guys that give him a good reason to visit an old friend (Jack Ging) in Las Vegas. A few more surprising encounters then redirect Bolt to Hong Kong, where he becomes a target for Kumada (Masatoshi Nakamura), the area’s biggest and shadiest businessman.

Directed by Henri Levin and David Lowell Rich, That Man Bolt is a wet dream for seasoned action lovers. Why seasoned only? Because it overflows with relentless old-school action that is free of trickery. Indeed, Williamson does all of his fights and gets banged up, real furniture and glass are broken, and real cars are destroyed. Only the bullets that are fired are blanks.

Like the classic James Bond films, That Man Bolt moves fast from one exotic location to another as well. It does it with style, too. It was lensed by Gerald Perry Finnerman (TV’s Night Gallery, Kojak).

*After the Blu-ray disc loads, but before its main menu appears, there is a note from Kino Lorber's producers that reads: In Loving Memory of Bill "Banana Man" Olsen. It is a wonderful gesture.

That Man Bolt 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, That Man Bolt arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The new 2K master that was used to produce this release is a bit rough but has strong organic qualities. Indeed, delineation, clarity, and depth are not as good as they could have been, but the overall quality of the visuals is very attractive. I would say that this is the type of quality you would get if you scan an interpositive, which is perfectly fine. From time to you you would see minor blemishes, a few scratches, and large dirt spots, but this is fine, too. The color grading job is very convincing. In an ideal world, all colors and the overall dynamic range of the visuals would be better, but color balance is good. There are no stability issues. Grain exposure is slightly uneven, which is why some areas have minor density spikes and drops, but everything looks good. There are no traces of harmful digital corrections. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

That Man Bolt 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.

I did not encounter any serious anomalies to report in our review. However, if it is fully remastered with current digital tools the audio will almost certainly sound better rounded, fuller, and slightly more even. There is nothing to worry about, but you will realize that the audio was transferred without any and left as is without any additional work.

That Man Bolt Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• That Man Hammer - in this exclusive new program, Fred Williamson recalls his involvement with That Man Bolt and discusses the evolution of his career. Mr. Williamson also has some very interesting observations about old-school action films and the style and personalities of his two idols, Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for That Man Bolt.. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

That Man Bolt Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"It was a damn good film. It worked out. I was smooth. I was cool". Fred Williamson's short description of That Man Bolt from the exclusive new program that is included on this release pretty much sums up why I had a terrific time with this film. It is loaded with old-school action and loose in all the right ways that make American genre films from the 1970s special. Honestly, I think that it would have been one of the very best additions to Code Red's catalog, and certainly one of my favorites from it. The release we have reviewed is sourced from a slightly rough but very good new 2K master. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.