6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.7 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Mike Locken is one of the principle members of a group of freelance spies. A significant portion of their work is for the C.I.A...
Starring: James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill (I), Bo Hopkins, MakoDrama | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Sam Peckinpah spent much of his professional career fighting The Man, which for Peckinpah typically consisted of studio types and producing partners who attempted to rein in both Peckinpah’s legendary behavioral excesses as well as his often hyperbolic directorial style. Maybe the iconic director was simply tired by the time The Killer Elite came along in 1975. Peckinpah was already reeling from the abject failures of films like Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García, and a lot of The Killer Elite seems to have been “packaged” specifically to get seats in theaters, no matter what the cost. Two then very hot stars, James Caan and Robert Duvall, headline the cast, and if the film’s source novel (Monkey in the Middle by Robert Rostand) wasn’t exactly topping the bestseller lists, the general outline of the plot, pitting two kind of black ops contractors for the CIA against each other, had enough exciting elements to guarantee opportunities for Peckinpah’s typically wildly imaginative action sequences. And yet—The Killer Elite is a really weirdly amorphous film most of the time, one which stumbles and lurches rather than runs (or even coasts, as in some of Peckinpah’s other late career outings). As seemed to be more and more the case as Peckinpah’s career drew to a much too early close (he died at the tender age of 59), interference from others and Peckinpah’s own on set shenanigans led to an ungainly finished film that some have even argued wasn’t completely directed by Peckinpah, since his disgust with the process led to him sequestering himself from the actual shoot, leaving individual scenes to his underlings to complete. The result is an interesting but kind of sad curio that represents an obviously titanic director trying to weave together frayed strands of creativity. Everyone in front of the camera seems game, but there’s an unevenness to much of The Killer Elite that, unlike its expert marksmen at the core of the story, misses the bullseye.
The Killer Elite is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. It's unclear whether this
was sourced from the same master used for the French Blu-ray
which came out last year, but based on the comments of my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov and a cursory comparison of screenshots, it seems like
this
release is largely similar if not identical. The elements are in tip top shape, with no really problematic damage to report, and colors have also
weathered the intervening decades very well, with especially robust blues making the location photography in and around San Francisco really
pop.
Detail is quite pleasing, with close-ups providing at times squirm inducing fine detail (Peckinpah does like to linger on scenes of bodily
carnage). One of the best things about this transfer is the really impressive shadow detail and grain resolution, two aspects that have hobbled
previous home video releases. A lot of this film takes place in dark or dimly lit environments, and there's some real depth to the imagery now
that
was lacking on the DVD release. Grain is nicely organic looking, spiking at times in the darkest moments, but never appearing artificial.
It should be noted that this release only contains one version of the film, unlike the French release. This version runs 2:03:21, which, while a
minute
shorter than the uncensored timing mentioned by Svet in his review would indicate this is the uncensored version.
While there's nothing horribly wrong with The Killer Elite's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track, amplitude seems just a bit anemic, something that becomes more apparent in some of the big (and ostensibly noisy) set pieces like the car chase through San Francisco (as I mentioned above--derivative). Dialogue and Jerry Fielding's score come through very cleanly, but this track lacks significant punch and may require audiophiles to turn their volume "up to 11".
The Killer Elite is one of those rare releases where a frankly problematic film is rescued (at least somewhat) by its curio value and some stellar supplementary material. This is far from Peckinpah's best, and in fact is a little depressing at times given how chaotic it all feels, but technical merits are very good to excellent (especially the video component), and as mentioned the supplements are first rate. Recommended.
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