REVIEW: Three Classic Blu-Ray Releases From MGM

MGM has been releasing many titles from its vast catalog on Blu-ray. Pop Culture Zoo will be reviewing a handful of these titles each month. Here’s what we checked out in May:

ROCKY
Rocky is one of those films that you forget how good it is until you watch it again and then you wonder why you waited so long. It’s perhaps the quintessential underdog story of a generation and watching it you feel yourself not only transported to 1970s working class America, but also the streets of Philadelphia. It’s still staggering to realize that it is not only Sylvester Stallone’s first screenplay, but also his first leading actor role. Shot for less than $1 Million and in 28 days, Rocky went on to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing and launch Stallone into a huge Hollywood career. I don’t think it would be fair to say that Stallone would not be the star he is today without the success of Rocky, but it certainly would have been a much harder and longer climb. Thirty-five years later this film still holds up well and features amazing performances from not only Stallone, but also Carl Weathers, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith and Talia Shire. And director John Avildsen more than earns his Oscar statue. Simply put, if you want to see how a movie should be put together, this is one you want to watch, again and again.

This movie-only release of Rocky is on one single-layer disc presented at 18 MBPS MPEG 2 and I have to say is looks beautiful. A lot of time was put into cleaning this up and transferring it from the original, at least that’s the way it looks. There is a lot of black and gray in this film and it stands out strong against the minimal use of color. The 5.1 DTS-HD audio mix is what really blew me away on this. A lot of films from this era tend to sound tinny and slightly odd to me, but the sound mix here is very rich and works well. The disc is housed in a hardback book case and that is where you will find the Special Features. There is an essay about the making of the film by Richard Tanne entitled “Stallone: Going the Distance” that gives insight into the inspiration for the script and Stallone’s desire to star in this film clashing with the studio’s intention to feature a big-name star. Travis Baker breaks down the climatic bout between Rocky and Apollo Creed in the article “Anatomy of a Scene: The Final Fight.” There are fact-filled profiles of actors Stallone, Shire, Young, Weathers and Meredith as well as director Avildsen.

If you want the best quality version of one of the greatest films ever made then this is the set for you. Every avid film enthusiast and collector should have this on their shelf.

THE TERMINATOR
Fresh off a career-igniting role as Conan the Barbarian in the eponymously titled first film and the sequel Conan the Destroyer, Arnold Schwarzenegger was next cast in The Terminator as the character he would be most closely linked to from then on. This film also let everyone know who James Cameron was and made a name for both Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn. The story cleverly played off of the fear of the then new-fangled computer technology and extrapolated that fear to the nth degree. This film also marks the debut of two lines of dialog that have now gone beyond iconic; “Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back” have been mocked and appropriated countless times over the years, most especially in future installments of The Terminator franchise. This first film also establishes a continuity that, while revised each time, plays out across the successive sequels and informs the short-lives TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The impact of this film is still felt to this day and will reverberate for many years to come.

This Blu-ray presents The Terminator as good as it has ever looked. The film does look soft in places, but I think that was a condition of the way it was shot and not anything to do with the transfer. The uncompressed 5.1 audio is pretty extraordinary although some of the gunshots sound a little flat to me, but again, I think that was in the original mix and probably not fixable. There are 7 Deleted Scenes and two Special Features, Creating The Terminator which focuses on the visual effects and the music, and Terminator: A Retrospective which features the original trailer and archival interviews. The booklet has two essays; Richard Tanne’s “James Cameron: Cinematic Terminator” talks about Cameron’s journey bringing his idea to screen and Travis Baker’s “Tech Noir: The Dark Side of Techno” explores the film’s themes and depictions of the present and future. Rounding things out are profiles on Schwarzenegger, Biehn and Hamilton, plus a page of trivia.

Again, this is highly recommended for the film buff and those that want the best possible version of a film. This is a must for your collection.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
There was a time when films generally did not have a big twisting shocker reveal ending, but that more or less changed with the release of The Usual Suspects. Christopher McQuarrie’s and Bryan Singer’s little film blindsided audiences and everyone has been playing catch up since. In what would be later credited as a genius marketing plan, the studio released “Who is Keyser Söze?” posters and TV spots ahead of the film fearing no one would know how to pronounce the mysterious villain’s name. This fueled early interest in the film and word of mouth did the rest in generating pre-release publicity. And still no one saw it coming. The unexpected reveal of Keyser Söze at the end is one of the most iconic moments in cinema and has informed over a decade of movie making. The Usual Suspects is that rare perfect storm of cleverly written script combines with sharp directing and mixed with amazing acting. Groundbreaking is a term that is bandied about way too often concerning films, but this one deserves that label wholeheartedly.

The film gets full use of the disc and is presented in MPEG 2 at 20 MBPS with 5.1 DTS-HD audio. The film looks and sounds stunning and I suggest turning off the lights and cranking up the volume on your home theater. It didn’t look and sound this good during its initial cinematic release. The accompanying booklet is feature rich including Richard Tanne’s insightful essay “The Unusual Allure of The Usual Suspects” and Travis Baker’s look at the final reveal in “The Ending That Shook The World”. Also included is trivia and short profiles on Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri and director Bryan Singer.

Telling you to go buy this edition now would not be a strong enough recommendation. You simply need to have this and have it now.