The Red Tent
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1971
Rated: G
Length: 121 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, Anamorphically Enhanced
Audio: Dolby Digital English 5.1
English Subtitles
Closed Captioned
Special Features: None
Suggested Retail Price: $14.99 USD |
Release Date: August 23, 2005
From the “better late than never file”... my apologies - this one got lost in the shuffle.
The Red Tent is a quasi-historical account of the ill-fated mission of the Italia, an airship under the command of explorer General Umberto Nobile (Peter Finch), in its attempt to fly over the North Pole in 1926. Torn apart in an arctic storm, the airship crashes, stranding survivors in the harsh, unexplored arctic near the North Pole.
While some of the Italia’s crew were blown away with remnants of the lighter-than-air craft, never to be seen again, Nobile and a handful of survivors were secure in the gondola, with a small supply of food, a red tent for shelter, and a radio.
Weeks went by. Rescue attempts were made, but nobody was able to pick up the distress signal, and blind flights in the polar region were fruitless. Rescuers had given up hope that anyone could have survived so long, when an amateur Russian radio operator picked up the distress call and let the world know there were still survivors at the pole.
But who would be up to the dangerous task of flying to the pole to rescue the Italians?
One of the few people up to the task was Roald Amundsen (Sean Connery), the Norwegian explorer and competitor to Nobile. He chose to take part in a rescue effort as much to show up the Italian as out of a humanitarian desire. As is historically accurate, the mission to rescue Nobile would be Amundsen’s last.
While the film explores the themes of guilt and responsibility, it sadly shies away from the politics of the day, the explorer’s competitiveness, and the feats of engineering required for such exploratory missions. The script can be a bit hokey, at times, in the way that Nobile recalls the entire film in flashback, as he convenes with the ghosts of those who died on the mission. Nobile seeks not only forgiveness from those who perished - but also answers... Could he have saved more of his crew had he acted differently?
The Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 and anamorphically enhanced, this transfer, while watchable, is less than perfect.
The print has occasional print damage in the form of dirt and other debris, and occasional scratches and other physical damage to the source. I’ve certainly seen worse, but the print shows its age. The image is somewhat soft, colors muted. Black levels are good, but whites are impure.
This gets no better than an average score for an older catalog title.
The Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. It is adequate, but uninspiring. Frequency response is good, but not great. Dialog is always clear. Music sounds okay. There is little in the way of directional or surround effects, but that isn’t unexpected for a film from this period.
Overall, both audio and video are average for a lesser known catalog title.
Special Features
None.
Final Thoughts
The Red Tent is a good film with solid performances. Though Connery gets top billing, his role is limited to a few minutes of screen time. It is Finch who carries the film, and he does it well. The film falls short of greatness by paying little attention to the politics and competitiveness of the explorations of the day.
The transfer is, at best, average.
