Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Fury Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 21, 2013

Brian De Palma's "The Fury" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the release include an original trailer for the film; a collection of production stills; archival video interviews with director Brian De Palma, producer Frank Yablans, and actors Carrie Snodgress and Amy Irving; new video interview with Sam Irvin, intern on "The Fury", author of the film's shooting diary and correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine; new video interview with actress Fiona Lewis; new video interview with cinematographer Richard H. Kline; short film tribute to Brian De Palma directed by Sam Irwin; and isolated score audio track. The release also arrives with a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Dumas, author of "Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma and the Political Invisible", as well as a re-print of a contemporary interview with Brian De Palma, and a brand new interview with screenwriter John Farris on the writing of the film, his and De Palma's unrealized adaptation of Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man, and more, illustrated with original stills and posters. Also included is a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The wanted man

The film opens up somewhere in Israel where a government agent’s son is kidnapped. Initially, it is unclear why. It is only revealed that the kidnapping is orchestrated by another government agent. The year is 1977.

After the prologue the action moves to Chicago. A year has passed and now the first agent, Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas, Champion), is actively looking for his son (Andrew Stevens, The Seduction, Night Eyes... Fatal Passion). He has hired a psychic to connect with an even better psychic that can pinpoint his son’s location. Sandza is also on the run. The second agent, Ben Childress (John Cassavetes, Rosemary's Baby, Machine Gun McCain), has been trying to track him down with the assistance of other men working for the government, but has repeatedly failed.

Things get very complicated when Childress' men begin following the psychic to get to Sandza. On one of Chicago’s beautiful beaches, the psychic makes contact with Gillian (Amy Irving, Carrie, The Competition), also a psychic but not yet aware of her supernatural powers, and phones Sandza to let him know that the girl can lead him to his son. After the call, Childress’ men go after Sandza.

Meanwhile, after a series of incidents at school, Gillian is sent to a special clinic where boys and girls with supernatural powers participate in a research program closely monitored by Dr. Jim McKeever (Charles Durning, Twilight's Last Gleaming, Dog Day Afternoon) and Dr. Ellen Lindstrom (Carol Eve Rossen, The Arrangement, The Stepford Wives). The latter works closely with Childress and notifies him each time a truly special psychic, such as Gillian, arrives at the clinic. After some initial tests, it is revealed that Gillian has the same powers as Sandza’s son, who has become Childress’ most precious possession.

A good portion of Brian De Palma’s The Fury is structured as a conventional thriller, but the second half veers off in a completely different direction. Here the atmosphere can best be described as suitable for a psycho-horror film. The switch is quite unusual, but the material is handled with a degree of seriousness that demands a lot of respect. (De Palma and his team did a lot of research before shooting The Fury to make sure that everything pertaining to the “psychic phenomenon” looks as authentic as possible).

The majority of the time the camera follows closely Gillian, the young psychic, because her gradual realization that she is in fact different essentially brings together the seemingly scattered pieces of the story. Though a series of flashbacks, which Gillian unintentionally evokes when she touches other characters in the clinic, past events of importance are also carefully inserted in the story. It all makes sense at the end, but at times this rather complex overlapping and rearranging of events could be a bit frustrating.

The cast is good. Irving looks appropriately brittle and insecure in the first half of the film, and confident and determined in the second. Cassavetes is also convincing as the shady government agent who makes all the important calls. Douglas is likeable, but it is probably the only actor who seems underused. Carrie Snodgress’ time in front of the camera is limited, but she leaves a memorable impression. The film’s producer, Frank Yablans, also has a small cameo.

The Fury is impressively lensed by cinematographer Richard H. Kline (The Andromeda Strain, Body Heat). It was Kline’s one and only collaboration with director De Palma.

The film’s excellent orchestral soundtrack was created by award-winning composer John Williams (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park).

The Fury Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.83:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Brian De Palma's The Fury arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The Fury has been exclusively restored in collaboration with Arrow Video, Carlotta Films, and Shock Entertainment for this release. All work was overseen by James White at Deluxe Digital Cinema - EMEA, London.

The original 35mm negative was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan, and the film was fully graded using the Nucoda Film Master color grading system. Restoration work was carried out using a combination of software tools and techniques. Thousands of instances of dirt, scratches and debris were carefully removed frame by frame. Damaged frames were repaired, and density and stability issues were significantly improved.

Throughout the restoration process, care was taken to ensure that the film's original texture, details, grain structure and soundtrack remained unaffected by digital processing."

The overwhelming majority of the daylight footage boasts tremendous depth. Where there is plenty of light, definition is truly outstanding. Close-ups also impress, even during the indoor sequences where shadow definition could fluctuate. The film also looks remarkably sharp, not sharpened, and crisp. Color reproduction is also very impressive - there is a wide range of wonderfully saturated but very natural greens, browns, blues, grays, and blacks. There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Edge-enhancement is also not an issue of concern. Unsurprisingly, from start to finish the film looks vibrant and notably healthy. Finally, there are no stability issues. There are no large debris, scratches, cuts, damage marks, splices, stains, or warps to report in this review. Also, compression is very good. To sum it all up, this is the very best, most competent presentation of The Fury that I have seen released on Blu-ray in any region. Indeed, it is the one to own. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Fury Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and English LPCM 2.0. Arrow Video have also provided an Isolated Score track (LPCM 2.0). Optional English SDH subtitles are also provided for the main feature.

I prefer the LPCM 2.0 track, but the DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 track opens up the film quite well in a number of different areas. (See and compare the car crash in the second act or the intense finale with the special effects and the big explosion). John Williams' score also benefits from the lossless treatment, though you should not expect to hear a dramatic improvement in overall dynamic intensity when switching between the DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. The dialog is consistently crisp, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

The Fury Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Fury. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Gallery - a collection of stills from the shooting of The Fury in Chicago, Illinois. With music. (1 min).

• Isolated Score track - LPCM 2.0.

• Archive Interviews - included here are four interviews recorded during the original 1978 promotional tour for The Fury. The interviews were conducted by Austin TV personality Carolyn Jackson.
  
  1. Brian De Palma - the American director discusses the special effects used in his film, some of the preparations the actors were required to do before shooting began, and the research that was needed to make the film look as realistic as possible. (6 min).
  
  2. Frank Yablans - producer Frank Yablans, who also directed two scenes in The Fury and has a small cameo in another, discusses the "psychic phenomenon" and explains why Chicago was chosen as the primary location for the film. (7 min).
  
  3. Carrie Snodgress - actress Carrie Snodgress (Hester) discusses the character she plays in The Fury. (6 min).
  
  4. Amy Irving - actress Amy Irving (Gillian Bellaver) explains what type of training she had to go through while preparing for her role in The Fury. (5 min).

• The Fury: A Location Journal - a very long and very informative interview with Sam Irvin, intern on The Fury, author of the film's shooting diary and correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine. Mr. Irwin recalls his first encounter with Brian De Palma, his trip to Chicago and interactions with the cast (and specifically his conversations with John Cassavetes), how and where key scenes from the film were shot, and the first negative reviews of The Fury. Mr. Irwin also discusses John Williams' score. The interview was directed, produced, and edited by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (50 min).

• Spinning Tales - in this video interview, actress Fiona Lewis (Dr. Susan Charles) discusses her contribution to The Fury and Brian De Palma's directing methods. Mrs. Lewis also comments on a scene she had with Kirk Douglas which was cut from the final version of The Fury. The interview was directed, produced, and edited by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• Blood on the Lens - in this video interview, cinematographer Richard H. Kline (King Kong, The Boston Strangler) recalls his one and only collaboration with Brian De Palma on The Fury. The interview was directed, produced, and edited by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (27 min).

• Double Negative - a short film tribute to Brian De Palma directed by Sam Irwin in 1985, starring Bill Randolph, Dori Legg, and Justin Henry. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).
  
  The following text provided by Sam Irwin precedes the film:
  
  "Double Negative is a valentine to Brian De Palma who gave me my start in the business. I interned for Brian on The Fury, associate produced his next film Home Movies, and assisted him on Dressed to Kill. Utilizing actors and crew I had met during my De Palma years, I wrote, produced, and directed my debut film Double Negative. Graciously, Brian let me use his editing facilities for free. The film was an official selection of the 1985 Sundance Film Fesitval and played theatrically in New York and Los Angeles. New York Times film critic Janet Maslin wrote that the film was "an exceptionally promising film effort"".

• Cover art - reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw.

• Booklet - booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Dumas, author of Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma and the Political Invisible, as well as a re-print of a contemporary interview with Brian De Palma, and a brand new interview with screenwriter John Farris on the writing of the film, his and De Palma's unrealized adaptation of Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man, and more, illustrated with original stills and posters.

The Fury Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arrow Video's upcoming Blu-ray release of director Brian De Palma's The Fury is a thing of beauty. Treated with a brand new high-definition transfer struck from the original camera negative, the film looks exceptionally healthy, the best it ever has. As usual, the British distributors have also provided an impressive selection of supplemental features, including brand new interviews with cinematographer Richard H. Kline and actress Fiona Lewis. If you want the best current presentation of The Fury in your collection, this is the one to own. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (Note: French speakers should also keep in mind that Carlotta Films are releasing the film in France on November 8th. See our listing of this upcoming release here).