UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Topaz -- in 4k UHD (2 Viewers)

[Robert Harris]

I can’t wait until he finds out that The Man Who Knew Too Much is a remake.

Not certain about that, but if you visit here, the review will discuss the possibility of damage in shipment because of possibly flimsy outer packaging.

 

[Dick]

My favorite shot in the film - Karin Dor falling to the marble floor.

Mine, too! But I also really like the first 20 minutes of the film. They're suspenseful as hell, and promise that the rest of the movie will be equal to it. Sadly, I do not feel it is. Still, not the Hitchcock bomb it's been called so often.

 

[haineshisway]

What's really fascinating about Topaz is that the version released on home media (save for the very first VHS release and maybe the first laserdisc release, is not the version shown in theaters. It is about twenty-something minutes longer and was a preview cut, apparently. But they make NO mention of that on the packaging and I find it very odd that they've not included the version that played in theaters. I saw it the day it opened and I have to say I thought it was a really good movie - great opening scene, all the Harlem stuff is great, and the Cuba stuff is great. Then we get a little bogged down in melodrama with the French scenes, with the saving grace of a short but superb performance by Philippe Noiret.

 

[jayembee]

Apple Stores have Geniuses. Best Buy has Geeks.

And Buy Mores have Nerds.

 

[jayembee]

And then there is the danger of leaving original wrap on lasers, as it warps them. Best to remove, although value drops precipitously.

I never understood the desire for "still-sealed" laserdiscs in the second-hand market. If it's never been opened, it's never been watched. And if it's never been watched, there's no knowing for sure whether or not the disc has succumbed to laser rot.

 

[Robert Harris]

I never understood the desire for "still-sealed" laserdiscs in the second-hand market. If it's never been opened, it's never been watched. And if it's never been watched, there's no knowing for sure whether or not the disc has succumbed to laser rot.

Laserdiscs, especially early examples, didn’t have rot as an immediate problem. It was dirt captured within the outer coating. I would generally purchase 3-4 copies of a film I desired, and build sets, based upon finding two sides that played on a single disc.

Rot came later.

 

[Worth]

What's really fascinating about Topaz is that the version released on home media (save for the very first VHS release and maybe the first laserdisc release, is not the version shown in theaters. It is about twenty-something minutes longer and was a preview cut, apparently. But they make NO mention of that on the packaging and I find it very odd that they've not included the version that played in theaters. I saw it the day it opened and I have to say I thought it was a really good movie - great opening scene, all the Harlem stuff is great, and the Cuba stuff is great. Then we get a little bogged down in melodrama with the French scenes, with the saving grace of a short but superb performance by Philippe Noiret.

The European disc has the original cut.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The European disc has the original cut.

What European disc?

 

[Worth]

What European disc?

The French, Scandinavian and Spanish discs.

See on Amazon

 

[Douglas R]

The French, Scandinavian and Spanish discs.

See on Amazon

Yes I noticed that when looking at the previously released Blu-rays which only have the theatrical version. . Germany as well. UK only has the extended version.

 

[Worth]

Yes I noticed that when looking at the previously released Blu-rays which only have the theatrical version. . Germany as well. UK only has the extended version.

My guess is they didn’t do foreign dubs for the longer version.

 

[AlexNH]

I’ve seen parts of it. Appears better than the Blu-ray. Here’s a nice review. The YouTuber seems to like the green on the spine. Most important thing is to learn how to properly remove the outer wrapping without damages the discs.

This is both more dangerous and potentially damaging to the discs than previously reported.

Lot to be learned here about the films, including the metaphysical attributes of Alien Layer Technology (ALT).

Don’t forget to “Like” and “Subscribe”.

And make sure you click on the links below when you purchase the box set. It really helps keep this all going.

 

[Tom Fynan]

My guess is they didn’t do foreign dubs for the longer version.

I wonder is this is why the Volume 3 films all have multiple dubs except Topaz, which has only English and French. Does anyone know what was cut for the theatrical release?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The French, Scandinavian and Spanish discs.

See on Amazon

One of these days I’ll pick that up. I’ve only seen the U.S. disc versions but I suspect this is a film that might play better for me in a shorter version.

 

[Robert Harris]

And the take from Mr. Canby at The Times:

​

December 20, 1969​

​

​

'Topaz': Alfred Hitchcock at His Best​

By VINCENT CANBY​

t's perfectly apparent from its opening sequence that no one except Alfred Hitchcock, the wise, round, supremely confident storyteller, is in charge of "Topaz," the film that opened yesterday at the Cinerama Theater. "Topaz," the code name for a Russian spy ring within the French Government, is the film adaptation of the Leon Uris novel, which itself was based on a real-life espionage scandal that kept both sides of the Atlantic busy in 1962.

Hitchcock sets his scene in a first act that dramatizes the defection of a high Soviet intelligence officer to C.I.A. officials in Copenhagen. The sequence, which lasts approximately 10 minutes and uses only a minimum of dialogue, is virtuoso Hitchcock, beginning with a dazzling, single-take pan shot outside the Soviet Embassy, then detailing the flight, pursuit through, among other things, a ceramics factory and the final safe arrival of the irritable Soviet official and his family aboard an American plane headed for Wiesbaden. The Russian's only comment to the proud C.I.A. man: "We would have done it better."
"Topaz" is not a conventional Hitchcock film. It's rather too leisurely and the machinations of the plot rather too convoluted to be easily summed up in anything except a very loose sentence. Being pressed, I'd say that it's about espionage as a kind of game, set in Washington, Havana and Paris at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, involving a number of dedicated people in acts of courage, sacrifice and death, after which the survivors find themselves pretty much where they started, except that they are older, tired and a little less capable of being happy.
"Topaz" is, however, quite pure Hitchcock, a movie of beautifully composed sequences, full of surface tensions, ironies, absurdities (some hungry seagulls blow the cover of two Allied agents), as well as of odd references to things such as Michaelangelo's "Pieta," only it's not a Mother holding her dead Son, but a middle-aged Cuban wife holding her dead husband, after they've been tortured in a Castro prison.
Hitchcock, who can barely tolerate actors, has been especially self-indulgent in the casting of "Topaz." The film has no one on the order of James Stewart or Cary Grant on which to depend, although it does use some fine character actors (Michel Piccoli, Phillipe Noiret) in small roles. Most of its performers are, if not entirely unknown, so completely subordinate to their roles that they seem, perhaps unfairly, quite forgettable.
John Stafford, who plays a Washington-based French intelligence man (and is more or less the lead), and John Forsythe, his counterpart in the Central Intelligence Agency, have all the panache of well-tailored salesmen of electrical appliances. Dany Robin, cast as Stafford's worried wife, and Claude Jade, who was so lovely in Truffaut's "Stolen Kisses," and who here plays Stafford's worried daughter, frown quite a lot.
The people one remembers are those who are employed for the effect of their looks (John Vernon as a bearded Castro aide with brilliant blue eyes, Carlos Rivas as his bodyguard, a Cuban with remarkably red hair), or who are bequeathed vivid images by the narrative (Karin Dor as a beautiful anti-Castro Cuban who is shot for her efforts and collapses onto a marble floor, her body framed by the brilliant purple of her dress).
The star of "Topaz" is Hitchcock, who, except for his brief, signature appearance, remains just off-screen, manipulating our emotions as well as our memories of so many other Hitchcock films, including "Foreign Correspondent," "Saboteur" and "Torn Curtain," all inferior to "Topaz." This is a movie of superb sequences that lead from a magnificent Virginia mansion to the Hotel Theresa in Harlem, from an extraordinarily well-stocked Cuban hacienda to a small, claustrophobic, upstairs dining room in a Paris restaurant. Even architecture is important.
It's also a movie of classic Hitchcock effects. Exposition may be gotten across by being presented either as gossip or as incidental, postcoital small talk. Conversations are often seen -- but not heard -- through glass doors. A Cuban government minister, staying at the Theresa, finds a misplaced state document being used as a hamburger napkin.
The film is so free of contemporary cinematic cliches, so reassuring in its choice of familiar espionage gadgetry (remote control cameras, Geiger counters), that it tends to look extremely conservative, politically. "Topaz," however, is really above such things. It uses politics the way Hitchcock uses actors -- for its own ends, without making any real commitments to it. "Topaz" is not only most entertaining. It is, like so many Hitchcock films, a cautionary fable by one of the most moral cynics of our time.

 

[Charles Smith]

Fascinating. What a pleasure it is to read that.

 

[mark-edk]

There were three endings to TOPAZ. I believe the original was the longer one with a duel (to me far better than the other two). Then they shot an alternate where the bad guy just got on a plane and waved to his pursuers, who commented something about how diplomacy lets the big guys escape. The US ending, with a suicide, was created in the editing room with spare footage. It's my least favorite of three. I still like this movie a lot.

That chessboard floor Karin falls onto? I saw that entire set, including the floor, in an episode of (if I'm remembering correctly) 'Name of the Game'.

 

[Christian D66]

Hitchcock is my favorite director and yet I've never seen TOPAZ until last night on VUDU UHD -- and it looked sharp on my OLED 4K but there was a distinct ugly red tint to people's mouths so I can't believe this is the best 4K version on the disc.

The film was better than history has judged but I wonder if using big stars on TORN CURTAIN made Hitch go in the opposite direction with this bland international dubbed cast, which was a big mistake. Some of the conversations are almost Universal TV level of framing (look at that shot at the end on the tarmac!) while other scenes are pure Hitchcock. I like that Hitch let Roscoe Lee Browne take over the movie but we could have used more of him. I did laugh out loud when Noiret is showing Browne his top secret docs in full silent view. And that final shot of the suicide was so clearly done with a still image and gunshot sound that I laughed in disbelief. There is a good film within there but it's as diffused as those gauzy Hitchcock close-ups. I'd like to see the different endings because I had to rewatch the last few minutes to see what I had missed when it was over.

 

[garyrc]

Hitchcock's 1969 Topaz, based upon the best seller by Leon Uris, seems to be given short shrift in many circles. Interesting that Uris receives no mention in the credit block.

Although not A Hitchcock, I've always enjoyed the film, which is beautifully photographed by Jack Hildyard.

Universal has created a new 4k UHD release, based upon a stellar scan of the OCN. We'll simply attest to the fact that everything is perfect.

My favorite shot in the film - Karin Dor falling to the marble floor. My least favorite, the knee protectors...

Image – 5 (HDR10)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 2.0)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 7.5

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Absolutely!

Worth your attention - 7.5

Slipcover rating - 2

Highly Recommended

RAH


Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

See on Amazon

 

[garyrc]

Hitchcock's 1969 Topaz, based upon the best seller by Leon Uris, seems to be given short shrift in many circles. Interesting that Uris receives no mention in the credit block.

Although not A Hitchcock, I've always enjoyed the film, which is beautifully photographed by Jack Hildyard.

Universal has created a new 4k UHD release, based upon a stellar scan of the OCN. We'll simply attest to the fact that everything is perfect.

My favorite shot in the film - Karin Dor falling to the marble floor. My least favorite, the knee protectors...

Image – 5 (HDR10)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 2.0)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 7.5

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Absolutely!

Worth your attention - 7.5

Slipcover rating - 2

Highly Recommended

RAH

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

See on Amazon