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 January 4, 2014

Brian De Palma's "The Fury" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; 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 video introduction to the film by French writer Samuel Blumenfeld. In English, with optional French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"He has been under tremendous pressure..."

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 its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Brian De Palma's The Fury arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films.

The release uses as a foundation the same new 2K restoration of The Fury which British distributors Arrow Video used for their release of the film in the United Kingdom. Needless to say, the technical presentation is excellent. Image depth and clarity are very pleasing. The panoramic shots from Chicago, in particular, looks outstanding. Close-ups also boast tremendous depth, even when light is obviously restricted to enhance the tense atmosphere (see the finale). The image is also consistently very sharp, not sharpened, and crisp. Color reproduction is also outstanding. There is an excellent range of lush but very natural greens, yellows, blues, browns, and greys. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Overall image stability is also very good. Finally, there are no serious compression issues to report in this review. All in all, French speakers interested in owning a copy of The Fury should seriously consider investing in this excellent release produced by Carlotta Films. (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 three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, and French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. For the record, Carlotta Films have provided optional French subtitles for the main feature.

As mentioned in our review of Arrow Video's release, I prefer the two-channel lossless track, but the DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 track very clearly opens up the film in select sequences. The overall dynamic intensity, however, is not improved, so you should not expect to hear any major discrepancies when you compare the two lossless tracks. The dialog is equally crisp, stable, clean, and easy to follow on the two tracks.

The Fury Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Preface de Samuel Blumenfeld - Samuel Blumenfeld, co-author of Brian De Palma, introduces The Fury. In French, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Bande-annonce - original U.S. trailer for The Fury. In English, with optional French subtitles. (3 min).

• "Double Negative" - this short film tribute to Brian De Palma starring Bill Randolph, Dori Legg, and Justin Henry was directed by Sam Irwin in 1985. The following text provided by Mr. Irwin appears on the Arrow Video release (the same short film is also included on it): "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"".
  
  In English, with optional French subtitles. (17 min).

• Entretiens d'epoque - 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. In English, with optional French subtitles.
  
  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. (7 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. (8 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. (6 min).

• "Furie" - Journal de tournage - 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, with optional French subtitles. (48 min).

• Histories de pivotage - 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, with optional French subtitles. (14 min).

• Du sang sur l'objectif - 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, with optional French subtitles. (26 min).

The Fury Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Carlotta Films' Blu-ray release of Brian De Palma's The Fury is the release French speakers on both sides of the Atlantic should seek to add to their collections. It uses as a foundation the same new and very beautiful restoration of the film that was already released in the United Kingdom. Carlotta Films' release also comes with a wealth of supplemental features, including an exclusive new video introduction to the film by French writer Samuel Blumenfeld. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.