7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Noir-melodrama hybrid pitting a trio of vicious bank robbers against a small Arizona mining town riddled with secret sins. Adulterers, alcoholics, voyeurs and thieves all find their fates hanging in the balance on one VIOLENT SATURDAY.
Starring: Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Stephen McNally, Virginia Leith, Tommy NoonanFilm-Noir | 100% |
Drama | 61% |
Melodrama | 7% |
Heist | 4% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.55:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.55:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
French: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Richard Fleischer's "Violent Saturday" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films. The supplemental features on the disc include a conversation with director William Friedkin and an in-depth look at the film with director/writer Nicolas Saada. In English, with optional French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
We have a perfect plan...
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.55:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Richard Fleischer's Violent Saturday arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films.
The high-definition transfer is enormously impressive. Clarity and image depth are the very best I have seen in a film from the early '50s. This should not be too surprising considering the fact that the film was shot in CinemaScope, but the overall consistency is likely to surprise some viewers (see screencaptures #5 and 9). Color reproduction is also terrific - right from the get-go lush yellows, browns, reds, and blues fill up the screen. The daylight sequences in particular are like moving pictures. There are no traces of excessive degraining corrections. Sharpness is terrific throughout the entire film, but it has nothing to do with the artificial sharpening some releases of classic films are plagued with. Indeed, the type of sharpness Violent Saturday boasts is all natural. Lastly, there are no damage marks, debris, or cuts. Excluding some extremely light banding early into the film, the presentation is indeed very, very impressive. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0., and French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. For the record, Carlotta Films have provided optional French subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I chose to view the film in its entirety with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. The dialog is exceptionally clean, always stable, and easy to follow. The overall range of dynamics is excellent - the action sequences are appropriately aggressive while elsewhere Hugo Friedhofer's orchestral score is quite vibrant (check the sequence where the leader of the gangsters arrives at the Amish farm). Dynamic movement is slightly more flexible on the English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 track, but overall rear activity isn't likely to impress too many viewers.
Like director William Friedkin, I think that Richard Fleischer's Violent Saturday is a small masterpiece. It is a heist film with different social undertones that oozes style and elegance. This should not be too surprising, however, as the script for the film is from Sydney Boehm, who also delivered the script for Fritz Lang's classic The Big Heat. Carlotta Films' presentation of the film is very, very impressive. I cannot wait to see what the French label has done with Fleischer's The Boston Strangler. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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