The Osterman Weekend Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		1.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

The Osterman Weekend Blu-ray Movie Review

It'll take the entire weekend for the eyes to recover from this disaster of a transfer.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 6, 2015

The Osterman Weekend, based on the 1972 book of the same name penned by Author Robert Ludrum (the Bourne franchise), will be remembered as Director Sam Peckinpah's (Straw Dogs, The Wild Bunch) final film and another in his canon marked by internal strife on the set. His various behind-the-scenes clashes are the stuff of Hollywood legend, but so too is his reputation for crafting a number of top films with layered character thematics and heavy doses of violence. While The Osterman Weekend isn't the quintessential Peckinpah film -- that distinction goes to the aforementioned The Wild Bunch -- it is somewhat representative of his greater career arc both in terms of its on-screen details and its behind-the-scenes story. Audiences in search of more information are encouraged to check out the Blu-ray for the quality supplements that dig deeply into Peckinpah's life and this film in particular. Sadly, they're also pretty much the only reason to give this disc a look.

We'll find who was responsible for this...disaster...of a transfer...

Laurence Fassett (John Hurt) is mourning the death of his wife, who was murdered in their own bed with him only feet away in the shower. He's gone rogue from the CIA in an effort to unravel the truth behind the murder and comes away believing a Soviet spy network known as "Omega" is responsible. CIA Director Maxwell Danforth (Burt Lancaster) informs Fassett that the agency wants to turn several members of the group to work for the Americans. The group, which met in college and has stayed in touch ever since, includes Bernard Osterman (Craig T. Nelson), Joseph Cardone (Chris Sarandon), and Richard Tremayne (Dennis Hopper), three well-to-dos who annually get together with hard-edge television interviewer John Tanner (Rutger Hauer). Fassett approaches Tanner with the information and promises him an interview with a high-up at the CIA in exchange for his cooperation. Fassett, with Tanner's blessing, bugs Tanner's home in an effort to entrap the attendees. But the situation quickly unravels leaving the weekenders in mental, emotional, and physical chaos and various true motives coming to light.

The Osterman Weekend requires more than a single viewing to fully understand, never mind fully appreciate to the extent that one can appreciate a movie that's too murky for its own good. It's a complexly layered film that works through a complicated plot and challenging subtexts and themes, many of which feel even more relevant today than when the film was released some three decades ago. The picture deals with a wide swath of broadly defined and individually intimate subtexts alike, from simple revenge to complicated manipulation, from intrusive espionage to overt voyeurism. The film struggles in its middle stretch to maintain an evenly keeled sense of direction; it reaches a point where its grossly complicated layers begin piling up with no obvious distinction, leaving the movie to suffocate as it fails to offer a more thoroughly delineated story and the sort of ever-engaging cadence necessary to maintain interest and credibility, particularly for a film with so many strings to pull as this. The problem, it seems, doesn't lie with any one aspect of the filmmaking process but instead that there's just not enough room for the story to breathe in film format, for the deeper exploration that only text can provide, exploration that helps the audience better understand every piece, each layer, any and all character motivations and the connections between the broader story arcs and the more intricate details that both hold it together and, more importantly, make it tick. The movie often feels more jumbled and unsure than it does confident and engaging, leaving it often on the precipice of something greater and never quite finding the means to make more sense of it all.

It's a shame the movie never quite works because there's a lot to like around the periphery. The Osterman Weekend features a stellar cast, arguably one of the finest ensembles of the 1980s. Perfromances are sometimes a little stilted for whatever reason -- to that end there are some interesting anecdotes within the fine documentary that accompanies this release -- but there's an unmistakable sense that even the actors aren't quite on the same page with what, exactly, the story is trying to do with them, not so much superficially but rather on the more intimate level that makes them more than necessary plot movers but instead characters around whom the audience can rally, one way or another. Sam Peckinpah, even through the all of the noise that followed him around his sets, maintains a level of visual excellence with the movie, perhaps stretching it a bit too far and transforming sex scenes into uncomfortable demonstrations of voyeurism, but he crafts intense action scenes of several varieties and frames the movie to maximize character development and performances, at least as far as the script will allow. The movie proves more engaging on a thematic level than it does on a dramatic plane, particularly considering its almost prescient relevancy when viewing it in 2015.

The Osterman Weekend Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

What a disaster. The Osterman Weekend makes the short list for "worst transfer of 2015" and is easily one of the poorest on the format. This thing is a bonafide mess of epic proportions that, at its absolute very best, in its finest shot, can claim that detailing approaches "complex" and colors get close to "stable." First, and most obvious out of the gate, is the thorough noise reduction. Every single shot has been completely wiped clean, leaving every surface in the movie, and faces in particular, an inorganic, smoothed-over mess that leaves the image looking smeary and dead. Even "grain haters" will find DNR this deep to be a hideous monstrosity. The 1080p resolution at least boosts basic clarity, allowing what little complex details remain to be visible, but most people won't be able to see beyond the ugly smoothness. Colors are just as bad. The palette fluctuates with regularity and color timing is all over the map, with various scenes appearing somewhere in the range of ghastly pale and murky, purple- and pink-tinted, and unusually warm. Faces are the most obvious victims, and the combination of unnatural coloring and smoothed-over detailing results in hideous shot after hideous shot. Black crush defines many shadowy corners, but there's a fair bit of bright and purply blacks, too. Various pops and speckles appear throughout, as does some edge enhancement, but neither are ever anywhere near as atrocious as the DNR'd and improperly colored elements. This is a terrible presentation in every way and a disgrace to the film and the format.

The Osterman Weekend Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Osterman Weekend's lossless soundtrack satisfies base requirements but traverses a rocky road to do so. Anchor Bay's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack struggles to approach genuine clarity and attention to detail. Dialogue is never at all precise, coming across as uneven, crunchy, and a touch shallow. Likewise, musical definition never reaches common heights, but a fair surround implementation and a nice, wide front help mask some of the more intimate shortcomings. The track does produce a fair number of involved action effects, though again none of them get all that close to natural transparency. Car chases spill through the stage with a good bit of rattling and rumbling and a healthy surround package. Likewise, a helicopter rips through the stage to fair effect and with plenty of back channel information. Gunfire and various action scene crashes offer plenty of enveloping sound but not much precise detail. That's the story of the whole track, really. It's active, and it tries hard, but it comes up well short of greatness at every opportunity to shine.

The Osterman Weekend Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Osterman Weekend contains a commentary and a lengthy documentary.

• Audio Commentary: Sam Peckinpah Historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle and Nick Redman discuss this film's place in Peckinpah's career, his combative nature with producers, his personal shortcomings, the movie's plot and style, scene specific insights, cast, Peckinpah's direction and style, and much more. This is a fascinating track with several knowledgeable and well-spoken individuals who tell a story much larger than the movie while also thoroughly dissecting it. This is a must-listen.
• Alpha to Omega (480i, 1:18:05): This detailed piece examines the original Ludlum novel and the story's complexity, both in the original novel and the film script; the beginnings of the process of transitioning the story to film; the creative and financial Hollywood landscapes at the time the film was made; bringing Sam Peckinpah on board and his life and career at the juncture he and this film intersected; funding; casting; location scouting; Peckinpah's relationship with producers, his personal problems, work with the actors, and directorial style; life on the set and tales from the shoot; score; Peckinpah's controversial open to the film and the conflict that stemmed from his steadfastness to keep it; and more. Producers Bill Panzer and Peter Davis and various members of the cast and crew are interviewed. Like the commentary, this is a quality and captivating piece that movie lovers will want to watch, whether they enjoyed The Osterman Weekend or not.
• Theatrical Trailer (480i, 2:57).

The Osterman Weekend Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Osterman Weekend is a fascinating film in just about every way imaginable. It's the last film from a great director, it embodies said director's combative career, it's based on a book by a popular author, its narratively confusing but substantially relevant, and it boasts one of the finest casts of the 1980s. It would be a crime for any movie fan to miss it, as imperfect as it is. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray, however, is also a crime. While it boasts a couple of terrific supplements, its lossless audio track leaves a bit to be desired and its video presentation is atrocious, easily one of the worst the format has seen this year, or any year. Rent it for the movie and the extras but be prepared to endure a classically awful transfer.