The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 13, 2021

Roger Spottiswoode's "The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by screenwriter Jeffrey Alan Fiskin and film historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer as well as vintage promotional materials for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

One-way road to freedom

It is only a matter of time before someone makes a film about Theodore John Conrad. I feel very comfortable declaring right now that it won’t be as good as Roger Spottiswoode’s The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, but his story will be told.

But who the heck is Theodore John Conrad?

Until approximately forty-eight hours ago, I had never heard of him either. Late on Friday night, I was getting ready to view The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, but then changed my mind and decided to spend another hour or so reading various news sites. I did, eventually my eyes got tired, and moments before I was about to turn off my computer, I stumbled upon an article about this man. It was so incredible, I read it twice. Later on, viewing The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper was one of the most surreal experiences I have had in quite some time, which is why I decided to share Conrad’s story with you.

In 1969, at the age of twenty, Conrad was a massive film buff, a bank teller at the Society National Bank on Public Square in Cleveland, and a brilliant thief waiting for the right moment to perform his greatest masterpiece. His favorite film was Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair, so he regularly told people around him that he can rob the bank like its famous protagonist would -- quickly and very professionally. Then, even though no one took him seriously, he vowed to do precisely that. On a Friday in July 1969, Conrad walked out of the bank with $215,000 in cash and vanished into thin air. He had kept his word. What is even more incredible, however, is that for the next fifty years the Feds could not figure out what had happened to him. Like his idol, Mr. Crown, Conrad turned out to be an astonishing chameleon. The Feds finally got their man earlier this year, but only after he had died of cancer. Can you guess where he spent most of his life? In a quiet suburb of Boston, apparently very close to the location where Jewison shot The Thomas Crown Affair. (The complete article about Conrad can be accessed here).

Spottiswoode’s film is about another brilliant thief who in 1971 pulled off an equally remarkable job and disappeared into thin air. In this case, the thief actually did spend some time in the air because not too long after boarding a Boeing 727 in Portland, bound for Seattle, he forced the crew to hand him $200,000 in small bills and then jumped off with a parachute somewhere over Reno. What happened next is anyone’s guess. Like Conrad, the thief, who apparently referred to himself as Dan Cooper, turned out to be a first-class chameleon and the Feds never figured out where he had gone. (The official FBI report about this person can be accessed here).

One of the popular myths about the thief is that he may not have survived the jump, but the film rejects it. Treat Williams plays a man called Meade who is the thief and not only survives the jump, but goes back to his wife (Kathryn Harrold) and the two head toward the southern border with the stolen money. A veteran insurance agent (Robert Duvall) then begins tracking down the fugitives, while another very shady character (Paul Gleason) inserts himself in the hunt and creates all kinds of serious problems.

Obviously, the film is incredibly easy to criticize because it uses a small bit of the original story to produce a completely different story. However, this is precisely the reason why I enjoyed it so much because it is very loose and has a lovely sense of humor. Frankly, it feels a lot like a distant relative of Charley Varrick, routinely oozing the same great energy and producing great surprises, looking just slightly rougher around the edges.

The cinematography is terrific, too. Some of the best footage comes from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, where eventually Williams and Duvall engage in a spectacular chase that reminds of the memorable finale in Charley Varrick as well.

The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an old and unfortunately quite harsh master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Indeed, excluding a few close-ups where delineation is rather pleasing, the rest of the film looks pretty rough and at times even smeary. Larger panoramic shots in particular can be quite disappointing because they don't have the proper delineation and depth to impress. Because of the digital adjustments that have been performed on the master, fluidity is seriously underwhelming too, which means that if you have a larger screen every time the camera zooms you will notice wavy, judder-like patterns all over it. Color balance is quite nice, but darker areas struggle to retain proper balance because the digital adjustments I mentioned earlier destabilize blacks and black nuances. Image stability is very good. All in all, it is disappointing that this film was not remastered at least in 2K before it transitioned to Blu-ray because it is beautifully lensed and frequently looks absolutely gorgeous. (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 Pursuit of D.B. Cooper 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 film may not look overly impressive in high-definition, but someone made sure that the audio is rock-solid. Indeed, there is a lot of action in it and the lossless track produces plenty of excellent dynamic contrasts. Intensity is good too, especially during the car chases. The dialog is very clear, clean, and stable. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, screenwriter Jeffrey Alan Fiskin and film historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer discuss the production of The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper and then casually deconstruct it. I found myself agreeing with virtually everything that was said about the film's style and tone. For example, towards the end of the commentary it is mentioned that the film's modest budget is what essentially defined its authentic style, which is most definitely true. This is precisely the reason why the action footage looks so good, and of course the reason why this type of an action film can no longer be made. In the digital era, all of the real crashes plus the gorgeous on-location footage will be recreated by a computer. I wholeheartedly agree with the observations about the quality of the performances as well. In the old days, this is how good actors created excitement, by letting loose and feeding off of their performances.

• Promotional Materials -
  
  1. Vintage Trailer One
  2. Vintage Trailer Two
  3. TV Spots
  4. Radio Spots

The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Someone will make a film about Theodore John Conrad because his story is even better than Dan Cooper's. This future film will probably be full of colorful embellishments too, but it won't be as entertaining as The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper. Do you know why? Because these types of loose action films can no longer be made. They started dying in the late '70s and by the late '80s were practically gone. The FBI does not know what happened to Cooper. Did he die after he jumped off the Boeing 727? Or did he survive and then, like Conrad, start a new life in some quiet place where no one could recognize him? At this point I'd say the truth is irrelevant, so don't even think about the real thief when you sit down to view The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper. I had a great time with this film. It is a bit rough around the edges, but every bit as entertaining as Charley Varrick. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an old and unfortunately pretty harsh master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. If you want to add it to your library, do so only when you can find it on sale. RECOMMENDED, but with reservations.