7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon, Keely Smith (I), Trevor BardetteFilm-Noir | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | 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
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Robert Mitchum was rather infamously arrested for marijuana possession back in the “Dark Ages” of 1948, long before the era of medical pot or widespread acceptance of use of the herb. Mitchum was typically sanguine about it all, joking that jail was like “Palm Springs without the riff raff,” and ultimately the conviction was set aside several years later when it turned out the arrest was part of a set up (though no one ever substantially argued with the fact that Mitchum not only toked, but actually inhaled). While that event actually sparked production of a quickie exploitation flick called She Shoulda Said No! starring Mitchum’s fellow arrestee, Lila Leeds, it perhaps also inspired Mitchum to undertake a supposedly fact based exposé of another “scourge” that rather surprisingly was evidently still going strong in the late fifties, namely moonshine running in the southeastern quadrant of the United States.
Thunder Road is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Timeless Media Group, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a fairly modest looking high definition presentation, one that's certainly organic, with an at times very heavy layer of grain, but one that never achieves much in the way of sharpness or clarity. Contrast is occasionally problematic, making some of the dimly lit scenes in cars hard to make out. There are also curious differences in overall sharpness and grain structure that suggest this may have been sourced from disparate elements. Unfortunately some of the grainiest and least clear sequences are those featuring Keely Smith, a great singer who never had much of a film career. Image stability is fine and there are no signs of digital tweaking in terms of noise reduction or artificial sharpening.
Thunder Road's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix supports the film's dialogue and car chase sound effects very well, perhaps revealing the limitations of the source stems only in a somewhat shallow sounding reproduction of the score, which includes Mitchum's co-written title tune (that is not Mitchum singing, though it kind of sounds like him). Fidelity is fine and dynamic range is at least reasonable, given the era of the soundtrack's recording technologies.
A kind of florid, Southern Gothic take on individual responsibility within the confines of an illicit activity, Thunder Road offers Robert Mitchum a nice showcase for his patented tough but vulnerable persona. Barry's a little generic and bland as the government agent out to bring those dang nabbed moonshiners to justice, but a lot of the supporting cast is great. Atmospheric if also a little hokey in places, Thunder Road should certainly appeal to Mitchum fans. Video quality is a little iffy, but on the whole Thunder Road comes Recommended.
Warner Archive Collection
1951
1932
1955
1996
1955
1955
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1955
1961
The Boulting Brothers Production of Brighton Rock / Young Scarface
1947
1941
Warner Archive Collection
1948
Special Edition
1946
1951
1954
1955
1954
1954
1950
Encore Edition | Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1953
Fox Studio Classics / Alternate UPC
1950