6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In the faded light of Harry Hope's 1912 New York skid row bar, a rag tag group of fallen men, each like a ghost haunting the wreckage of his own life, await the annual arrival of Hickey (Lee Marvin). This year, however, the charismatic Hickey brings not the usual rounds of drinks and pats on the back, but the unwelcome news that he's off the sauce for good and has come to persuade Hope's drunks to do the same. One by one, the regulars' booz-basted pipe dreams come under Hickey's leering microscope until finally the most shocking self-deception turns out to be Hickey's own.
Starring: Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan (I), Jeff Bridges, Bradford DillmanDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English: DTS 2.0
LPCM 3 hour cut; DTS 4 hour cut
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Eugene O’Neill’s plays are not for the faint of heart. In addition to the often roiling, even devastating, emotional content O’Neill proffers in his work, there’s a perhaps more “mundane” aspect to many of them that may provide a hurdle for some prospective audience members — their length. Those may be two reasons why many film adaptations of O’Neill plays have failed to really connect strongly with audiences (or perhaps more accurately, translate into massive box office receipts), despite the fact that virtually every film based on an O’Neill play has made manifest changes to the source material, including at times fairly dramatic (no pun intended) shearing of text in order to get running times down to something most film audiences would consider “normal”. In that regard, Ely Landau’s visionary American Film Theatre subscription series (more about that a bit later) didn’t have to worry about exhibitors balking at an unduly long running time (the annals of the film business are filled with anecdotes of theater owners revolting when what they considered “overly long” films kept their daily showing numbers down, since they couldn’t automatically screen films every two hours or so). That was because Landau’s concept was itself rather revolutionary, offering a subscription series for “high minded” patrons where notable plays would be presented in a handful of showings in a carefully selected set of movie houses which contracted with Landau to (typically) show the films on a single Monday and/or Tuesday, days (and/or nights) when audience numbers for “regular” films were usually fairly small.
The Iceman Cometh is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber's Kino Classics imprint in two versions with AVC encoded 1080p transfers (mostly) in 1.84:1. Kino is touting "new 2k restoration(s)" for both versions, but there are some issues that videophiles may want to keep in mind. This is definitely an upgrade over the DVD version, but my personal recommendation is to temper expectations somewhat, something I've purposefully hoped to help along with a mid-range video score. While director John Frankenheimer, a veteran of live television dramas, wisely utilizes a lot of close- ups and midrange shots, two strategies that help to support at least decent detail levels, this production's visual allure is perhaps hobbled by an often dark ambience and what is often a very heavy grain field. In fact the grain is so heavy that it clumps and looks positively chunky a lot of the time, with a somewhat pixellated appearance that can veer from blue to yellow. The gritty grain is most apparent in the many dark or dimly lit scenes, and for one reason or the other tends to be most noticeable toward the bottom of the frame a lot of the time. While the palette never really "pops" in any meaningful way, there's a good accounting of what is often an emphasis on browns and yellows in the production design. I've tried to provide a variety of screenshots showing these tendencies, though I'd say this looks at least somewhat better in motion than some of the screenshots may indicate. Screenshots 1-15 are from the three hour version, while screenshots 16-19 are from the longer "director's cut", and those screenshots may indicate another potential problem for some viewers: the longer version is obviously cobbled together from at least two different source elements, with the "additional" scenes from what I have to assume is a secondary (or frankly tertiary or beyond) element that is in a different aspect ratio and, while to my eyes still sourced from film, has a somewhat "video-esque" appearance. Grain is much less pronounced in the "additional" material, and so ironically may be more palatable for some viewers. However, color timing and contrast are often radically different from the bulk of the film, and even within the "additional" scenes, there are fairly wide variances (pay attention at around 42:30 when color and contrast go a bit haywire in the middle of an additional sequence, looking almost desaturated and blown out for a moment).
The four hour director's cut features a DTS 2.0 soundtrack, while the three hour theatrical version features an LPCM 2.0 track. Clarity and amplitude are arguably a bit better and/or forceful on the LPCM 2.0 track, though anomalies like a rather loud pop at the beginning of the film and continuing (if relatively minor) pops, cracks and rustling noises (kind of like aficionados of old style long playing records may be used to hearing when a stylus hits vinyl) pretty continually accrue throughout the presentation. There are some stumbles in the director's cut as the soundtrack segues from the theatrical version to the "additional" elements, often with small pops in attendance and some fluctuations in amplitude. All of this said, O'Neill's memorable dialogue makes it through the gauntlet well enough, and despite these hurdles, there isn't a ton to complain about given reasonable expectations.
Disc One
- Butley (1080i; 2:58)
- A Delicate Balance (1080i; 3:25)
- Galileo (1080i; 3:30)
- The Homecoming (1080i; 2:36)
- The Iceman Cometh (1080i; 2:38)
- Jacques Brel is Alive and Well. . . (1080i; 3:26)
- Lost in the Stars (1080i; 2:10)
- Luther (1080i; 2:31)
- The Maids (1080i; 3:06)
- The Man in the Glass Booth (1080i; 2:44)
- Rhinoceros (1080i; 1:55)
- Three Sisters (1080i; 2:43)
The American Dream as self-delusion haunts The Iceman Cometh, and the film's political subtexts are often as interesting as some of the more personal, psychological aspects. This is a towering production brilliantly directed by John Frankenheimer and featuring a glut of really visceral performances, especially by some of the more "seasoned" actors. Video and audio both encounter some hurdles along the way, for those considering a purchase. Those caveats aside, Recommended.
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