The Road to Salina Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Road to Salina Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 23, 2026

Georges Lautner's "The Road to Salina" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson, and episode of Trailers From Hell with Larry Karraszewski. In English or French, with optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".

The Road to Salina could have been made only during the 1970s. It is strange, it is memorable, it is arty, it is a gamble. Like many other such films, it was forgotten, but now, in the digital era, it has been rediscovered by some film aficionados and praised as a minor classic.

It is a curious project, but I am unsure if it deserves to be praised as a minor classic. It was made by one of the great French directors of the last century, Georges Lautner, and turned out to be Ed Begley’s final film. Rita Hayworth, who also has a part, made only one other film after it. However, Begley and Hayworth are not its stars. It is a French production, but it was shot entirely in English.

Its narrative is a collage of uneven episodes, most merging events from the past and developments in the present, with a few more possibly borrowing from very fluid dreams. At the center of it all is a hippie drifter (Robert Walker, Jr.) who enters a desert diner and instantly replaces the owner’s (Hayworth) missing son. When the owner’s beautiful daughter (Mimsy Farmer) appears, she also recognizes her missing brother, but then becomes his lover. An old-timer (Begley) also agrees that the missing son has returned. Instead of declaring that he is a different person, however, the hippie embraces his new identity and then everything else that comes with it.

But what comes with the hippie’s new identity quickly begins to overwhelm him, mostly because some of it may or may not be related to a murder. While attempting to rationalize the behavior of the new people in his life and figure out exactly what his role is in their lives, the hippie spooks and, when a friend with several girls unexpectedly appears, he decides to end his performance.

So, what exactly is going on in The Road to Salina?

It makes perfect sense if you see and deconstruct it from the same angle you would two films Barbet Schroeder made at the same time, one again with Farmer called More, and one with Bulle Ogier called The Valley. It is a big trip. However, it is a big trip without the LSD lacing and Pink Floyd’s tunes, both of tremendous importance in More and The Valley, which is why it does not have the same pull. Also, unlike Schroeder’s films, The Road to Salina remains stuck in one small area.

All of these films, shot to impress as big trips began emerging in the 1960s, peaked in the 1970s, and disappeared by the early 1980s. They were made on both sides of the Atlantic -- in America, Roger Corman produced several such films -- but the more interesting ones were European productions. The Road to Salina is a hybrid project that aspires to be like its European relatives while employing American stars. This is what makes it strange, memorable, arty, and, ultimately, a gamble.

Lautner worked with frequent collaborator Maurice Fellous, who lensed two of his biggest hits, The Great Spy Chase and The Seventh Jurror.

The Road to Salina Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 0180p transfer, The Road to Salina arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K master, prepared on behalf of StudioCanal. All visuals boast very good to excellent delineation, clarity, and depth, as they should. Their density levels are outstanding as well, so on a large screen typically they look terrific. In a few areas, small fluctuations can be observed, but they are introduced by the original cinematography, not digital anomalies. However, color reproduction is inconsistent and, ultimately, underwhelming. In multiple areas, the blues are pushed toward turquoise/light teal, which is a very common issue on 4K masters that are prepared on behalf of StudioCanal in France. The partially good news is that these shifts are not too prominent. I did not encounter any traces of problematic digital corrections, like sharpening, filtering, etc. Image stability is excellent. (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 Road to Salina Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English track is preferable, for obvious reasons, but both tracks are considered original. I thought that the overall quality of the English track was excellent. It is very healthy, sharp, nicely balanced, and with a fine range of nuanced dynamics. However, because the film does not have any elaborate action footage, there are no big and memorable dynamic contrasts.

The Road to Salina Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers From Hell - presented here is an episode of Trailers From Hellwith Larry Karraszewski. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson.

The Road to Salina Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Road to Salina is worth seeing because it unites a couple of big American stars, which other films like it preferred to avoid. These films, made on both sides of the Atlantic, were part of a trend that started in the 1960s, peaked during the 1970s, and died in the early 1980s. If you decide to track down The Road to Salina and see it, pair it with Barbet Schroeder's More and The Valley, both superior productions, which will make it perfectly clear to you why these genre films became so popular.