6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
A French hit man is hired by a crime family to end the life of a rival mobster, but things fall apart when the boss who hired him is killed.
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Roy Scheider, Umberto Orsini, Angie Dickinson, Ann-MargretCrime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Jacques Deray's "The Outside Man" (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include two remastered trailers and exclusive new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson. In English and French, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Outside Man arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release introduces a recent 4K restoration of two versions of The Outside Man -- International English Version and French Version -- which was completed at French lab VDM on behalf of Gaumont. Each version is placed on a separated disc. I viewed the International Version.
The screencaptures that are included with this article appear in the following order:
Screencaptures #1-33 are from Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release.
Screencaptures #37-40 are from MGM's R1 DVD release of The Outside Man.
The 4K makeover is very disappointing. While it produces, clean and very healthy visuals, it regrades the entire film and gives it a very inconsistent appearance that is plagued by various anomalies. The regrading job affects several primaries and nuances, but the ones that are affected the most are primary blue and primary green, as well as white, black, and blue nuances. For example, the new grade routinely dials out blue and dials in cyan/turquoise, and in many areas completely collapses entire ranges of native nuances. You can get an idea how drastic these changes can be by comparing this sxreencapture from the Blu-ray release and this screencapture from MGM's R1 DVD release. As a result, the overall color temperature of the visuals is affected as well, which is why large portions of the film now look as if they take place during a cool autumn rather than a warm summer period in Los Angeles. The color alterations also destabilize the native dynamic range of some visuals, with the most problematic ones appearing during darker footage with subtle nuances. As a result, some of these visuals appear filtered without being digitally manipulated. You can see an example here. Density levels are good. Image stability is very good as well. All in all, after it was redone in 4K, The Outside Man no longer looks like the film Jacques Deray shot, or a film with an authentic 1970s appearance. (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).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (for the International Version) and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (for the French Version). Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided.
Unfortunately, I have to report that the original English audio track has been modified as well. After the film was restored in 4K at French lab VDM, Joe Morton's performance of the title song, "The Outside Man", was removed. So, the opening of Jacques Deray's film now looks different and awkward -- it lists "The Outside Man" but the song is gone.
The dialog is clear, stable, and easy to follow. In fact, Jean-Louis Trintignant's lines, which are routinely uttered with a very thick French accent, are a little easier to understand. Dynamic intensity is good, too. While viewing the film, I did not encounter any audio dropouts, crackle, pops, or distortions to report in our review.
BLU-RAY DISC ONE - INTERNATIONAL VERSION
The new 4K restoration of Jacques Deray's The Outside Man that was prepared at French lab VDM on behalf of Gaumont is very disappointing. It regrades the film and gives it a very awkward new appearance, and eliminates Joe Morton's performance of the title song, "The Outside Man". So, now the film does not look as it should and is missing a key piece. Hopefully, sometime in the future, the folks at MGM will locate an IP, or another suitable element, and produce a proper master for a proper presentation of the film on Blu-ray.
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