The Great Gatsby Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Great Gatsby Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 1, 2025

Elliott Nugent's "The Great Gatsby" (1949) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by author and critic Paul Talbot; archival program with writer/film historian Alan K. Rode and David Ladd; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The bootlegger

All major cinematic adaptations of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s popular novel are problematic. This is an indisputable fact, so choosing the best one is essentially a game of preferences.

The problem with this game of preferences is that each film introduces such different readings of the original material from the novel that they become extremely difficult to compare and judge. For example, Baz Luhrmann’s film arranges a number of key developments from this material correctly but produces characters that alter its tone and identity. Elliott Nugent’s film does the opposite. It rearranges several key developments but produces characters that are superior replicas of the ones from the novel. Jack Clayton’s film features solid performances but gets the tone of the drama so wrong that they become irrelevant.

But what is highlighted above is simply a sample of the flaws, so a proper examination of what each film does and how would reveal a lot more that could have been done better. What is more important in this proper examination? The chronology of the events or the accuracy of the characterizations? The tone of the drama or the stylistic appearance of the visuals?

Alan Ladd’s Jay Gatsby is the most unique replica of the famous character, but it is difficult to declare with authority whether this is a good or bad thing. Ladd emerges as a very ambitious young man who creates an opportunity to remove himself from his miserable environment by befriending a very wealthy elderly man and eventually inheriting his fortune. Years later, Ladd moves to Long Island and begins organizing huge parties in his lavish home, whose purpose is to reunite him with a girl (Betty Field) he was once madly in love with. The girl, who is married to one of Ladd’s neighbors, is unaware that her former boyfriend has reappeared. Eventually, Ladd reestablishes contact with the girl and learns that her husband (Barry Sullivan) has been having an affair, which makes his ultimate goal of reclaiming her easier. However, shortly after he convinces the girl to walk away from her cheating husband, a terrible accident dooms their reunion.

The mystique that surrounds the original character is largely absent in Nugent’s film. It is partially because of the narrative construction, which introduces flashbacks that are not in the novel, but primarily because of Ladd’s performance. Indeed, Ladd’s Gatsby is a former bootlegger who is not ashamed of his past or wealth, an unapologetic doer too, but he is also a reformed man with a brittle side that becomes very easy to recognize as his relationship with the girl of his dreams is resumed. So, Ladd creates an admirably complex character, but at the same time is a transparent character that ultimately is not at all difficult to judge. (In the novel, Gatsby never creates the impression that he is a reformed man who begins a new chapter in his life after he reconnects with his former girlfriend. There are a lot of gray areas in his profile that make the novel fascinating to read and deconstruct).

Unfortunately, Field is not a good match for Ladd. She plays a one-dimensional character that moves through several situations, uttering the right lines but never convincing that a man like Ladd would risk everything, including his life, to reclaim her. The remaining supporting actors are slightly better but do not look much more authentic either.

While nicely lensed by the great John F. Seitz (Double Indemnity), the film is difficult to describe as a visual stunner. The footage from the decadent parties, for instance, looks quite modest and is disappointingly short.

Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master, prepared at Universal Pictures.

The Great Gatsby Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Great Gatsby arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In 2023, we reviewed this Australian Blu-ray release of The Great Gatsby, produced by local label Imprint Films. It is the only other Blu-ray release of the film that I have in my library.

Press materials we received at the time indicated that the Australian Blu-ray release was sourced from a 4K master prepared at Universal Pictures in 2022. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from a new 4K master, and after revisiting The Great Gatsby earlier tonight, I can confirm that it offers a different presentation of it. The new 4K master offers several improvements. For example, it produces noticeably healthier visuals. I would not declare that the visuals are immaculate because they retain some imperfections that appear impossible to eliminate. However, the various large and distracting cuts, marks, nicks, and blemishes that were present on the previous presentation are gone. Furthermore, the grayscale is rebalanced. On the previous presentation, in various darker areas, different ranges of blacks and grays were too prominent, producing different types of crushing that would flatten finer nuances. I did not think that this was a big issue, but I thought that it could have been avoided. On this release, virtually all of these darker areas look more convincing. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections, and I think that grain exposure is a little more convincing now as well. However, the best original elements for The Great Gatsby that Universal has in its vaults are obviously not in top condition, so you should expect to see small and bigger density fluctuations that impact delineation, clarity, and depth. (I am not referring to the density fluctuations that the original cinematography introduces in the flashbacks). As far as I am concerned, the unevenness is quite small, and even when it is noticeable, the visuals still maintain a strong organic appearance, but I have to mention its presence. Image stability is very good. In summary, I think that this new presentation of The Great Gatsby is superior and unquestionably more attractive, especially if viewed on a very large screen. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

The Great Gatsby Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

I am tempted to declare that the lossless track on this release is better than the one from the Australian release of The Great Gatsby that I have in my library. While revisiting The Great Gatsby last night, I had the volume on my system turned up quite a lot, and the upper register sounded very solid. However, there is some unevenness that is present on the original soundtrack, plus there is still a bit of thinning that pops up here and there as well. So, I am just going to declare that the lossless track on this release is slightly more satisfying. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report.

The Great Gatsby Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with David Ladd - in this archival program, writer/film historian Alan K. Rode interviews David Ladd, son of the great actor. Some of the more interesting comments address the production of The Great Gatsby, Alan Ladd's involvement with the film and his fondness for it, the reception of the film, and the great actor's time at Paramount. The interview was conducted on May 12, 2012. In English, not subtitled. (26 min).

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, author and critic Paul Talbot -- whom I consider the ultimate authority on all things Charles Bronson -- declares that The Great Gatsby is one of his favorite Alan Ladd films and discusses in great detail its conception, production, and reception. Talbot also shares a lot of interesting information about crucial discrepancies between the film and F. Scott Fitzgerald's popular novel (some linked to informative quotes), Ladd's performance and career, John F. Seitz's lensing, and the period appearance of the film. If you enjoy The Great Gatsby, find the time to listen to the entire commentary. It is predictably excellent.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Great Gatsby. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The Great Gatsby Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you ask five admirers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby to explain carefully what it is about, you will get five very different answers. Why? Because The Great Gatsby is not so much about unique characters and relationships as it is about grand ideas and their ability to define our perceptions of virtually everything that gives structure to our lives -- wealth, status, love, happiness, etc. This is why a proper cinematic adaptation of The Great Gatsby will likely never materialize. While imperfect, I think Elliott Nugent's film is the most satisfying cinematic adaptation of the classic novel, but everything great about it can be traced back to the quality of Alan Ladd's performance. The supporting cast is quite underwhelming.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master, prepared at Universal Pictures. I think it offers the healthiest and most attractive presentation of The Great Gatsby that you can get on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.