The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 21, 2023

Top Negro League baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) is fed up with the way his team owner (Ted Ross) treats him. In response, he forms his own lineup, recruiting the likes of big-hitting powerhouse Leon Carter (James Earl Jones), the ever-scheming Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor) and other would-be All Stars who dream of playing in the majors. Boycotted by black teams, Long's outfit begins to play against white minor league teams, earning more attention as entertainers than as players. However, their success soon wins them a chance to play again in the Negro League, this time as equals. The film also stars Stan Shaw, Leon Wagner, Tony Burton, Jophery Brown, Mabel King and DeWayne Jessie.

The far superior film in Mill Creek's Blu-ray Double Feature release, Bingo Long is well worth its weight in fun. It isn't entirely the dramatic powerhouse it could be, nor does it push as far as its racially charged period premise might allow, but there's a breeziness and ease to the hijinks that makes it more than watchable; it remains genuinely entertaining some forty-five years later. It also isn't the Richard Pryor showstopper some might expect. This is a Billy Dee Williams vehicle, long before Empire Strikes Back carved his name onto the hearts of film fans across two centuries. Pryor doesn't stop by to phone in a bit part, though. He's a scene stealing swindler of a character, albeit one that feels borderline inappropriate in retrospect. His Charlie Snow poses as everything from a Cuban slugger to a Native American player, tossing any and every stereotype at the screen that could feasibly make a 1970s audience double over with laughter. Is it offensive? Yes? No? Eh, your mileage will vary. It vanishes as quickly as it appears. Over the course of the film, Pryor shines as part of a well-cast ensemble that exudes legitimate chemistry and appears to be having real, God-given fun together on and off the screen. It's light, good-natured comedy with a heart. Full of life (and bigger than life players), it doesn't rise to the level of being a timeless classic but I'm glad to see it climb out of the grave and take some deep breaths on Blu-ray.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings is presented with a decent 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. It doesn't feature the dazzling remaster that might bring the movie to real, high definition life, but, sourced from a solid Universal master, it isn't riddled with substantial problems or unsightly issues either. There are blemishes throughout - specks, scratches, spurts of inconsistent grain, and the infrequent yet still present crushed shadows -- but it stands as a welcome exception to Mill Creek's reputation for slapdash quality releases. Colors are lifelike on the whole, as are skintones, and contrast is dialed in reasonably well. Black levels aren't always the deepest, nor is detail always the most revealing. But more often than not, fine textures have been preserved, edges are clean and nicely defined, and grain is intact. Will the video presentation blow you away? Goodness no. But for a film that could have easily disappeared from memory, the encode justifies the Double Feature's bargain price.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While I'd rather have found a more faithful one-channel mono mix on the Blu-ray debut of The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, Mill Creek grants the film an adequate DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track. Toss me in the minority maybe, but splitting a mono audio mix into two channels comes as a slight irritation. Will it bother most people? Most likely not. Dialogue is clear and neatly prioritized, though the kind of ADR-esque hitches in quality and consistency (that litter sound mixes of the era) stand out. Music can get a bit overpowering but rarely at the cost of understanding what an actor is saying, and sound effects are crisp, despite suffering from the canned, tinny tone (again) common to '70s films. There isn't much more to say. A fuller remaster of the audio elements would've certainly been appreciated but I guess beggars can't be choosers.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release of The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings doesn't include any special features.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Which Way Is Up? Take it or leave it. But The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings? Worth the cost of the Double Feature admission alone. Regardless of which you prefer, Mill Creek fortunately grants both films decent video presentations and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. Neither is perfect -- oh, to see two proper remasters -- but take one look at the Double Feature Blu-ray's pricepoint and, even with just Bingo Long in mind, you'll probably come to the same conclusion as I did.