The Lost Man Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

The Lost Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 13, 2026

Robert Alan Aurthur's "The Lost Man" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff and restored teaser trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The community action committee

It is tempting to describe The Lost Man as an underrated genre film and speculate that it may have provided some inspiration for future blaxploitation classics like Across 110th Street and cult mind-benders like Ganja & Hess. Its action has a half-kitschy, half-authentic urban quality. Its tone is refreshingly unpredictable. Its identity is fascinatingly flexible. It is the kind of genre film that a French critic would tirelessly praise, but only to shame an American critic with a history of dismissing unconventional genre films.

Virtually everything that makes The Lost Man an unconventional and somewhat intriguing genre film, however, is unintended. Indeed, The Lost Man works with quality material and frequently produces quality visuals, quickly creating the impression that the sum of its parts was carefully conceived to be in a category of its own. Unfortunately, the bond between the quality material and the quality visuals is very problematic.

There are two reasons for this crucial development. The first is the relentless determination of The Lost Man to juggle two identities -- one meant to appeal to those who just a few years later will flock to see the various blaxploitation films, and one for those who would expect Sidney Poitier to impress in another film like In the Heat of the Night. The former is supported by dramatically better material. In this material, Poitier is the leader of a gang of black revolutionaries associated with The Organization, who agree to pull off a bold heist and use the loot to pay the members of various families mistreated by The System. Even though there is plenty of hilariously bad political chatter here, the action material looks lovely. The latter promotes soapy yet serious melodrama in which Poitier and his future wife, Joanna Shimkus, playing a sympathizer, begin falling in love. Poitier is injured and a fugitive, and as the police close the city and identify the area where he must be hiding, Shimkus vows to stay with him in a most dramatic fashion. Now, they are the urban Bonnie and Clyde, very much in love, and united against The System.

The two identities are utterly incompatible, producing contrasts that can be seriously amusing. For example, after Poitier lectures his accomplices about the purpose of the heist, two of them end up in an underground brothel, determined to spend some of the loot, and several ladies instantly go to work to impress them. In a different segment, while having a good time with her father, Shimkus abruptly changes masks in a most dramatic fashion and reveals her hatred for everything he represents. A hardened detective (Michael Tolan) running a fever also risks his life to track down Poitier, without a clue where to look for him.

In its current form, The Lost Man is neither a proper blaxploitation film nor a conventional crime melodrama. It is something in between whose only strength is its unmissable desire to be a chameleon. During the 1970s and 1980s, Italian directors made many such genre films, and they almost always had a distinct sense of humor that made them attractive. The Lost Man is allergic to humor. It wants to be taken seriously, even by those who would appreciate everything that makes it appear like an odd relative of the popular blaxploitation films.

Robert Alan Aurthur worked with the same original material that inspired Carol Reed to direct his excellent film noir Odd Man Out in 1947. The material is from F.L. Green's novel of the same name, published in 1945.

The Lost Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Lost Man arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release presents a gorgeous new 4K restoration of The Lost Man, completed at Universal. excluding the opening credits, where I noticed a few nicks, the rest of the film looks as good as I think it should and can on Blu-ray. Delineation, clarity, and depth are fabulous, and the density levels of all visuals is outstanding. The 4K restoration is beautifully graded as well. All primaries and supporting are very healthy and strikingly lush, and both are perfectly set. Unsurprisingly, the entire film has a very convincing period appearance. I was very impressed with the dynamic range of all visuals, too, because on my system large portions of the film looked as good as native 4K content. Image stability is outstanding. I did not encounter any traces of problematic digital corrections. My score is 4.75/5.00. (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 Lost Man 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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio is very clear, sharp, and nicely balanced. The footage from the heist sounds very good, but the entire film lacks memorable dynamic contrasts. In fact, I think that some of the action-free footage where Quincy Jones' harmonies are more prominent, becomes more interesting. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Lost Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff.

• Teaser - presented here is a restored teaser for The Lost Man. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

The Lost Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Robert Alan Aurthur's The Lost Man and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out borrow material from the same source, a popular crime novel by F.L. Green, published at the end of WWII. However, they could not be any more different. This is perfectly fine, but the former juggles two incompatible identities, producing seriously amusing contrasts, some of which are exactly like the ones that the popular blaxploitation films are remembered for. Had The Lost Man multiplied these particular contrasts and eliminated the soapy melodrama from its second half, it would have been impossible not to describe it as the spiritual godfather of the classic blaxploitation film. Kino Lorber's release presents a terrific new 4K restoration of it, completed at Universal. RECOMMENDED.