The Pride and the Passion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Pride and the Passion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 22, 2016

Stanley Kramer's "The Pride and the Passion" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. There are no supplemental features on the Blu-ray. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The mighty cannon

The events in the film take place sometime after Napoleon’s armies have entered Spain. Small groups of patriots are occasionally clashing with the invaders, but they don’t have a clear strategy how to drive them out of the country.

British officer Anthony Trumbull (Cary Grant, Notorious) arrives in Spain to establish contact with the local resistance leaders and prevent a giant cannon from falling into the hands of the French. Deep into the countryside, Trumbull meets Miguel (Frank Sinatra, Ocean's 11), who has the cannon and together with his men is slowly moving towards the ancient city of Avilla. Miguel’s plan is to reclaim Avilla from the French and then organize a massive uprising in the region.

Despite having a common enemy, however, Trumbull and Miguel fail to warm up to each other. Initially Trumbull attempts to remain diplomatic and avoid Miguel, but as the terrain becomes more challenging and the convoy is forced to slow down the two men become suspicious of each other and even openly question their decisions.

The only person that seems to have some control over the men is the stunningly beautiful Juana (Sophia Loren, A Special Day). They listen to her and frequently follow her advices, though both suspect that her words may not always be as sincere as they sound. Eventually, however, their desire to outright win her love and affection evolves into a dangerous rivalry that seriously jeopardizes their mission.

Stanley Kramer’s The Pride and the Passion has all the necessary indigents to be a big period epic, but the end result is rather underwhelming. For example, while the three leads certainly look impressive when they are alone in front of the camera, there is an obvious lack of chemistry between them that makes their interactions look awfully dull. Predictably, large segments of the film feel like collections of pre-scripted tests that begin and end at the ‘correct’ time, not like unique parts of one big and supposedly evolving narrative. The action footage is similarly unconvincing. The technical elements are mostly great, but the visuals are edited in ways that create the impression that Kramer and cinematographer Franz Planer were also trying to get as many ‘correct’ panoramic shots and then somehow make them work. But it very quickly becomes painfully obvious that they are routinely misplaced, and the more they prominent they become, the more problematic the entire films begins to look.

*It is said that Marlon Brando was initially offered the role of Miguel, but after he read the script he politely declined. It was then that Sinatra joined the cast.

The Pride and the Passion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Stanley Kramer's The Pride and the Passion arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

It is clear that a better master is needed to produce a proper release of The Pride and the Passion, but my guess is that one isn't available at the moment. What this means is that the film has a dated appearance and that there are typical age-related imperfections on display. For example, select close-ups could look rather decent, but virtually all panoramic shots are quite flat and anemic. There are noticeable fluctuations in terms of clarity and fluidity, with darker footage typically suffering the most. The good news here is that no attempts have been made to resharpen and repolish the film. Rather predictably, despite the issues highlighted above the film still has a fairly decent organic appearance. Ultimately, however, there simply isn't enough depth in the visuals, and the larger your screen is, the easier it will be to see that the film should look far better in high-definition. My score is 2.75/5.00. (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 Pride and the Passion 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.

The audio also has some noticeable limitations. Clarity is fairly good, but occasionally there are short segments in which some flatness emerges and then produces noticeable unevenness. The overall dynamic range is also rather limited. On the other hand, the dialog is stable and very easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, audio dropouts, or distracting distortions to report.

The Pride and the Passion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

The Pride and the Passion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I consider The Pride and the Passion to be one of director Stanley Kramer's weakest efforts. It is based on a very good novel and it has a great cast, but there is a lot in it that simply does not work. Olive Films' recent Blu-ray release is sourced from what appears to be a very old master, but my guess is that at the moment it is probably the only one in MGM's vaults. If you like the film and want to have it in your collection, see if you can find this release on sale. Otherwise, you should RENT IT.