Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The Killing Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 26, 2011

Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing" (1956) and "Killer's Kiss" (1955) arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include theatrical trailers; exclusive video interview with producer James B. Harris; excerpts from two episodes of the French program Cinema cinemas featuring actor Sterling Hayden; video interview with poet and author Robert Polito; and video interview with critic Geoffrey O'Brien. The disc also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film historian Haden Guest and a reprinted interview with Marie Windsor. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the two films. Region-A "locked".

Let's roll!

The Killing (1956)

The men have decided to rob a heavily guarded race track. If all goes well, they estimate that they will be able to walk away with approximately two million in untraceable bills. After they split the money, the men do not plan to see each other ever again.

Their leader is Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden, The Asphalt Jungle, The Long Goodbye), a fast-talking perfectionist who has thought of everything. This would be the biggest job he has ever done -- and his last one. After it, Johnny will retire.

George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr., The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep), a cashier at the race track, is one of Johnny’s most important men. His life has been a disaster, but he has been lucky to share it with a beautiful woman, Sherry (Marie Windsor, Force of Evil, The Narrow Margin). George has agreed to work with Johnny for Sherry. With his cut of the money, he will finally be able to give Sherry the type of life he always felt she deserves. However, George does not know that for quite some time Sherry has been secretly seeing a younger man (Vince Edwards).

Mike O’Reilly (Joe Sawyer, Gilda), a bartender at the race track, has failed his seriously sick wife Ruthie (Dorothy Adams). The two never had the life he promised they would when they first met. Mike feels that it is time that he finally delivered on his promise.

Randy Kennan (Ted de Corsia, The Naked City, The Lady from Shanghai) is a patrolman who has agreed to help Johnny because he desperately needs money to cover his massive gambling debts. One of his creditors, Leo (Jay Adler), has just given him two weeks to settle his obligation to him. If he fails, Randy's life will become very complicated, painful too.

Marv (Jay C. Flippen, The Wild One, Hot Summer Night) is an old-timer looking for some excitement in his life. He has loaned Johnny a large sum of money to cover various expenses. Marv’s apartment is where Johnny’s men will discuss their final preparation efforts.

Maurice (Kola Kwariani) is a former bouncer with an impressive police record. He has been hired by Johnny to take care of "half a dozen private dicks". Nikki (Timothy Carey, One-eyed Jacks, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie), a lonely bachelor, has also been hired to help Johnny. He is a terrific shooter who can keep his mouth shut.

On the day of the robbery, a minor detail goes wrong. Johnny’s men are forced to improvise and then, in just a few hours, the entire operation falls apart.

Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing, adapted from Lionel White’s novel Clean Break (with dialog by Jim Thompson), is a classic film noir that works with typical genre ingredients -- transgressive behavior, fatalism, and brutal realism. However, its pragmatism often makes it look like an atypical period documentary.

Though Kubrick immediately makes it clear that the main protagonists in the film are doomed, their actions are fascinating to behold, and the finale is quite surprising. A big reason why is Kubrick's decision to fracture the narrative into brilliantly scripted episodes that allow the film to move at an incredible pace, never dragging or overenhancing looks and moods.

A dark sense of humor is very easy to detect, but it is expertly controlled and does not interfere with the film's pragmatism.

The acting is excellent. Hayden leads with authority and very much looks like a seasoned professional who has figured out the perfect plan to get rich quickly. Sawyer and Windsor are very convincing as well. There is a large supporting cast, but all secondary parts are essential.

Killer's Kiss (1955)

A lousy New York City boxer (Jamie Smith, The Faithful City) falls in love with a beautiful nightclub dancer (Irene Kane, All That Jazz). They plan to leave the city and settle down in Seattle, where the boxer’s uncle has a horse ranch. But the singer’s boss (Frank Silvera, Lonnie), an aging gangster, decides to keep her for himself. When she tries to get the money he owes her, all hell breaks loose.

Killer’s Kiss is not so much about the boxer and the nightclub dancer as it is about the underbelly of New York City. It is raw, notably dark and moody, at times overflowing with melancholy. The film has its fair share of flaws, but it offers an interesting look at the evolving style of a young and obviously tremendously gifted director.

The Killing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Stanley Kubrick's The Killing arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

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

"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the original 35mm camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.

Telecine supervisor: Lee Kline.
Telecine colorist: Sheri Eisenberg/Colorworks, Los Angeles."

The high-definition transfer Criterion have used for this Blu-ray release is simply beautiful. Fine object detail, for instance, is excellent even during the darker sequences from the race track building. Where there is plenty of light, the image is striking. Clarity is also dramatically improved. Where many scenes from the old DVD of The Killing look soft and hazy, here they convey outstanding depth and fluidity (see screencapture #6). The close-ups are also incredibly well detailed. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are never a serious issue of concern. I also did not see any traces of overzealous sharpening and filtering. Naturally, there is a prominent layer of healthy, well resolved grain throughout the entire film. The color reproduction is also impressive -- the blacks are rich and well saturated, while the variety of grays and whites have very pleasant organic qualities. Last but not least, there are no large damage marks, debris, scratches, or specks. The only possible issue here is the presence of light chroma noise during certain scenes. However, I was only able to spot its presence after I took the screencaptures for our review, not while viewing the film.

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Killer's Kiss also looks mighty impressive - perhaps a notch below The Killing, but fine object detail and especially clarity are indeed dramatically improved. Again, I did not see any traces of overzealous sharpening, though partial noise corrections have been applied. Film grain is mostly evenly distributed throughout the film, but is not as well resolved as it is on The Killing. Naturally, selected scenes have a tendency to look slightly softer than others. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review, but I did notice a couple of tiny flecks popping up here and there. All in all, the presentation is convincing, easily up to Criterion's high standards.

(Note 1: Please note that screencaptures #1-14 are from The Killing, while screencaptures #15-19 are from Killer's Kiss).

(Note 2: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Killing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 1.0 for The Killing and English Dolby Digital 1.0 for Killer's Kiss. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for both films.

The English LPCM 1.0 track boasts a fuller, better rounded and generally better balanced sound. The shootouts, in particular, are crisper than they are on the DVD release of The Killing, while the dialog is stable and clean. Gerald Fried's score gets a decent boost as well. For the record, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissing (which is notably reduced here), or dropouts.

The English Dolby Digital 1.0 track delivers a slightly softer and less condensed sound -- dynamic progressions are not as effective as they are on the English LPCM 1.0 track. The dialog is also not as crisp, but this is not to say that it is in any way disappointing. There are no annoying pops and cracks, but some background hiss is present.

The Killing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Killer's Kiss - director Stanley Kubrick's 1955 film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. (67 min, 1080p).

• James B. Harris - an exclusive video interview with producer James B. Harris conducted for Criterion in 2010. The interviewee discusses his collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick and the production history of The Killing. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080p).

• Sterling Hayden - excerpts from two episodes of the French program Cinema cinemas, one from April 1 and another from July 3, 1984, directed by by Philippe Garnier, in which actor Sterling Hayden recalls his history in Hollywood, fascination with communism, and work with director Stanley Kubrick. In English, with burnt-in French subtitles. (24 min, 1080i).

• Polito on Thompson - in this video interview, poet and author Robert Polito (Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson) discusses celebrated crime novelist Jim Thompson's work with director Stanley Kubrick, his problematic relationship with Hollywood, and his ongoing cinematic legacy. In English, not subtitled. (19 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for The Killing. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Geoffrey O'Brien - in this video appreciation of Killer's Kiss, critic Geoffrey O'Brien discusses the film's charms and points out key elements that would reappear in Stanley Kubrick's subsequent works, including The Killing. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - trailer for Killer's Kiss. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film historian Haden Guest and a reprinted interview with Marie Windsor on The Killing.

The Killing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Criterion have put together a very strong package for director Stanley Kubrick's The Killing and Killer's Kiss. The two films look great on Blu-ray, the best they ever have. Clearly, this is an excellent companion piece for Criterion's equally impressive Paths of Glory release. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.