6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Sean Connery stars as Jack Kehoe, leader of a militant workers group, in this account of the Irish-American coal miners' struggle against the exploitative working practices of their bosses. Kehoe's men - the Molly Maguires - are unafraid of using violence and intimidation to achieve their ends, and they pose enough threat to the bosses that the latter respond by sending undercover detective James McParlan (Richard Harris) to infiltrate their organisation. However, McParlan is a working class Irish immigrant himself and he soon begins to question where his true allegiances lie.
Starring: Sean Connery, Richard Harris (I), Samantha Eggar, Frank Finlay, Anthony ZerbeHistory | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Martin Ritt's "The Molly Maguires" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount Home Media Distribution. There are no supplemental features on the release. In English, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Molly Maquires arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount Home Media Distribution.
The release is sourced from an old master that is not bad but is difficult to describe as good. Part of the film can look a bit soft and flat, with the daylight footage revealing the least impressive visuals. Grain exposure can appear uneven as well, so there are other density fluctuations that further impact the overall quality of some visuals. However, I must point out that the original cinematography introduces some unevenness as well, so what you would see on your screen is a mix of things, not a particular weakness. Colors are stable, but there is plenty of room for meaningful improvements, especially in terms of saturation. Image stability is good. While viewing the film, I noticed small blemishes and white nicks, but there are no large cuts, warped, or torn frames to report. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit) and Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is advertised as "restored" and it is the one I used to view the film. While it is only a lossy track, it is very good. Clarity, sharpness, and stability were excellent. Its range of nuanced dynamics is quite nice too, though I did test the lossless 5.1 track and a difference was easy to hear. I did not encounter any anomalies to report.
Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.
Despite the promising story and good cast, The Molly Maguires is a disappointing film. It spends most of its time guessing how to tell its story, what areas of it to emphasize, and how to portray its stars. If you see it, a day later you would hardly remember any of it, which is odd because it is a long film. I think that virtually all of its troubles are easy to trace back to Martin Ritt's direction, which is not good enough. This Blu-ray release from Paramount Pictures is sourced from an old and mostly average master. Also, it uses a BD-R disc, not a standard pressed Blu-ray disc.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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