7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Director William Friedkin and playwright Mart Crowley serve up the acclaimed, groundbreaking film adapted from Crowley's hallmark Off-Broadway play — a witty, perceptive and devastating look at the personal agendas and suppressed revelations swirling among a group of gay men in Manhattan. Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and Michael's demand that the group participate in a devious telephone game unleashes dormant and unspoken emotions in this humane, moving picture.
Starring: Kenneth Nelson (I), Frederick Combs, Cliff Gorman, Laurence Luckinbill, Keith PrenticeDrama | 100% |
Dark humor | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Making its big screen debut in 1970, years after its success on stage, “The Boys in the Band” carried a heavy responsibility. Largely credited as the first breakout hit of gay cinema, the picture is a crowded, argumentative ride of emotions, masterminded by playwright Mart Crowley. Setting out to create a gathering of men who defy and participate in stereotype, working to move past appearances and inspect pure behavior, Crowley creates a loving portrait of instability. “The Boys in the Band” is raw, catty, and sincere, shedding its theatrical origins thanks to smart direction from William Friedkin.
The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation doesn't represent a recent HD scan, with filmic qualities failing to spring to life, with grain erratic and periodically unnatural. Contrast has difficulties, especially in the final act of the movie, and delineation is mostly solid, losing dense hairstyles and costuming in limited lighting. Original cinematography favors softness, with details barely emerging even on intense close-ups, while background decoration is difficult to pick out. Colors are emphasized, giving clothing some heft, but skintones are very strange at times, looking more pastel than pinkish (the whole film resembles Freidkin's 2009 effort to alter the original color timing on "The French Connection"). Speckling is detected, along with sporadic debris.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix introduces itself with some instability, finding music and dialogue volatile throughout the main titles. The track eventually settles down once the drama begins, finding performances meaningful and clean, capturing emotional extremes without crispy highs. Soundtrack cuts are full. Hiss is minimal. Atmospherics kick in with rainstorms and group activity.
Gaining appreciation as a chapter in the 1995 documentary, "The Celluloid Closet," "The Boys in the Band" has become a celebrated foundation for gay cinema as we know it today. It's a remarkable accomplishment, earning its iconic status, but thankfully there's an artful, blisteringly performed feature underneath layers of accolades, with a sense of life and drama to carry it beyond simplistic labeling as the alpha gay film.
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