The Ambassador Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Ambassador Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 26, 2017

1984’s “The Ambassador” is a Cannon Films production, and I’m not entirely sure if producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus want to encourage peace in the Middle East with this feature or welcome its demise. It’s a bizarre effort from the beloved B-movie factory, bringing traditional action thriller beats to Israel, making a tough guy endeavor while dealing with longstanding hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians. The screenplay by Max Jack (who loosely adapts an Elmore Leonard novel) appears to be interested in the dialogue between warring sides, but director J. Lee Thompson doesn’t have much patience for stillness, filling “The Ambassador” with sex and violence, including a few nightmarish encounters peppered with the kind of gushing wounds more commonly on view in a horror film.

Hacker (Robert Mitchum) is a U.S. Ambassador to Israel searching for a way to broker peace in the land, joined by Stevenson (Rock Hudson), his chief security officer. While wading into the muddy waters of the Palestine Liberation Organization, trying to make a connection, Hacker puts himself into the line of fire, while his wife, Alex (Ellen Burstyn), is captured on film having sex with her secret lover, complicating any possible deals as a blackmail scheme emerges. Refusing to bow to his enemies, Hacker marches forward with his dealings, troubling Israeli Defense Minister Eretz (Donald Pleasence). Making progress in his mission to create a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, Hacker struggles with ongoing violence and his marriage to Alex, while Stevenson is determined to get to the bottom of the blackmail matter.

Once a celebrated filmmaker (“Cape Fear,” “The Guns of Navarone”), Thompson became Cannon’s top director of choice in the 1980s, with “The Ambassador” one of many actioners from the helmer, who often worked with Charles Bronson (“The Evil That Men Do,” “Death Wish 4: The Crackdown,” “Messenger of Death”). There’s little that remains surprising about the picture (outside of Burstyn’s nudity-laden role), but it does have political interests, challenging the fantasy of extreme violence, featuring helicopter chases and assassination attempts, with sobering reminders of the ways of the world, situating the hunt in the middle of a conflict that’s claimed an enormous amount of lives, with antagonisms a daily occurrence. The Tel Aviv setting is interesting, giving Thompson and the usual rounds of meaty men involved in the murder business a different corner of the world to work in, but Jack isn’t prepared to wrap his arms around the enormity of the conflict, cherry picking bits of optimism and fear as Hacker strives to unify a land, only to deal with extreme divide in his own house.

“The Ambassador” delivers requisite thrills, putting Hacker in dangerous situations that require rescue from Stevenson, who’s a punch-first type of protector. In one of his last roles before his death in 1985, Hudson is a highlight here, showing a level of aggression that keeps the picture as lively as it can be, showing complete authority while Mitchum seems like he’d rather take a nap than deal with his underwhelming scenes. They’re an odd couple, but “The Ambassador” spreads around paranoid and brutality to multiple characters, while Burstyn has the more reactive part, playing a bored wife whose privacy is shattered by secret police dealings. Indicative of the “yeah, who cares” method of direction Thompson prefers, Alex’s tryst is captured by a single camera positioned on the back of a bookcase, while the actual film of the event (shown to Hacker to make him compliant), features handheld camerawork, close-ups, and editing. It’s so helpful of Alex to submit to coverage for her personal and newly public nightmare.

The Ambassador Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation offers what looks to be a recent scan of "The Ambassador," emphasizing detail throughout. Some softness remains, but textures are found with facial particulars and locations, which explores the open expanse of the region. Colors are bright and communicative, showing most life with Middle East costuming and urban bustle, with bright signage. Pronounced hues on flags and set decoration also satisfy. Delineation is comfortable, never reaching into solidification. Source shows some slight wear and tear, but mostly looks intact.

The Ambassador Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is somewhat odd, with pure recording achievements not valued by the production. Inherent issues remain, including the battle of background noise, and levels aren't perfect, working through a few brief scenes of quieter dialogue exchanges. It's not an impressive track, but the basics remain, preserving performances as they wrestle with emotional explosions and hushed bedroom talk. Accents are easy to navigate as well. Scoring isn't memorable, more functional than vital, and instrumentation is merely adequate. Sound effects are louder, offering a range of blasting weaponry and bullet hits, and crowd activity is understood.

The Ambassador Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features editor Mark Goldblatt.

• Domestic and International Trailers (4:47, SD) are included.

The Ambassador Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While it takes on the enormity of Middle East woes, "The Ambassador" doesn't offer any special answers. Hacker wants both sides to sit down and work it out. Government officials do not, leading to a climatic massacre sequence that pushes the movie into exploitation mode, with Thompson lovingly detailing the shredding of bodies by machine gun fire, also showcasing the latest in blood splatter, making sure to highlight every gruesome death. It's absurd, especially in a production that appears to have a passing interest in the welfare of Palestinians and Israelis, suddenly shifting from semi- thoughtful dialogue to an orgy of violence, giving the feature no opportunity to return to a sense of the real after an extended scene showcasing every possible bullet wound and blood-drenched cry of agony. So much for healing the world. Not that "The Ambassador" is a documentary, but it's about something, which is rare for the genre, presented with a chance to introduce ideas to its audience. In the end, Thompson would rather repulse and fetishize than think, muting the material's ambitions and erasing any lasting reflection on the region's territorial instability.