6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A band of desperate terrorists take over the American ambassador's home in London, and their violence sets into motion a chain of events that could lead to nuclear war.
Starring: Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, Richard Widmark, Edward Woodward, Robert WebberThriller | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Ian Sharp's "Who Dares Wins" a.k.a. "The Final Option" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an archival audio commentary with producer Euan Lloyd and director Ian Sharp; the documentary feature "The Last of the Gentleman Producers"; and vintage trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The pros
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Final Option arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
More than a decade ago, we reviewed this Region-B release from Arrow Video, which was sourced from a pretty old master and introduced the film as Who Dares Wins. This recent release is sourced from a different but again older master that introduces the film as The Final Option.
The technical presentation has a lot in common with the technical presentations of from the recent rerelease of the F/X and F/X2 films. What this means is that it reveals various obvious limitations that give the entire film a dated appearance with prominent video-esque qualities. For example, the dynamic range of the visuals is frequently below average and as a result very large parts of the film can look quite dark and flat. Indoor and nighttime visuals, in particular, can look quite problematic on a larger screen because the grain begins to collapse and evolves into noisy mush. Rather predictably, shadow definition begins to suffer as well, so most fine nuances are lost (see example in screencaptures #4, 15, and 17). The good news is that density levels can gravitate around acceptable, which means that there is still some pleasing detail, occasionally even depth. Image stability is good, too. Unfortunately, color reproduction isn't convincing because neither the primaries nor the supporting nuances appear properly saturated and balanced. A few blemishes and dark spots can be seen, but there are no distracting large cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. (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).
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 lossless track is solid and very healthy. To be honest, I did not encounter any issues or traces of ageing anomalies to report in our review. I thought that dynamic balance was very solid as well, so I am unsure if there is any room for meaningful optimizations. At best, I would say that a new remix could introduce some cosmetic rebalancing adjustments.
I have often wondered whether the success of The Professionals effectively destroyed any chances Lewis Collins might have had of becoming a legit James Bond contender. I suspect that the macho personality he conveyed in the TV series convinced some very important people that he would not have been able to evolve into the iconic spy in an appropriately classy manner, which was a huge error of judgement because Collins undoubtedly would have been a better fit for the part than Timothy Dalton. Watch how Collins seduces Judy Davis' terrorist and you will realize that he would have been an incredibly confident and impressive James Bond, quite possibly one of the best. Anyhow. Even though The Final Option looks pretty dated now, I enjoy it quite a lot. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a shaky old master, but back in the days this film did not even get a proper North American DVD release, so if you wish to own a copy of it in your library, I suggest you consider grabbing the Blu-ray release. RECOMMENDED.
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Slipcover in Original Pressing
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