A Few Words About A few words about...™ Personal Best -- DVD (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris · Feb 6, 2013

I'm a huge fan of Robert Towne's work (The Last Detail, The Parallax View, Chinatown et al), and his first directorial effort is a beautiful film. Personal Best is very much a character piece, taking us inside competitive sports and the relationships between athletes. In this case, a smartly presented lesbian relationship, with a real ring of truth to it. As a new Warner Archive title, I presumed that it might have been pressed, but it's actually burned (no difference in quality between the two), and even projected on a large screen, the imagery holds up nicely. While I'd love to have this, and a number of other titles owned by WB on Blu-ray (Four Friends comes to mind), this DVD will do quite nicely. Image - 5 (DVD quality) Audio - 4.5 A beautiful film, and a superb DVD from Warner Archive. Highly Recommended. RAG

Jon Hertzberg · Feb 6, 2013

Robert Harris said:
I'm a huge fan of Robert Towne's work (The Last Detail, The Parallax View, Chinatown et al), and his first directorial effort is a beautiful film. Personal Best is very much a character piece, taking us inside competitive sports and the relationships between athletes. In this case, a smartly presented lesbian relationship, with a real ring of truth to it. As a new Warner Archive title, I presumed that it might have been pressed, but it's actually burned (no difference in quality between the two), and even projected on a large screen, the imagery holds up nicely. While I'd love to have this, and a number of other titles owned by WB on Blu-ray (Four Friends comes to mind), this DVD will do quite nicely. Image - 5 (DVD quality) Audio - 4.5 A beautiful film, and a superb DVD from Warner Archive. Highly Recommended. RAG

One of my all-time favorites, Robert. When I saw your post, I momentarily got excited that we would be seeing a Blu-ray. I, of course, bought this when it was first released on DVD by WHV several years ago. I wrote a little about it here.

Jon Hertzberg · Feb 6, 2013

Robert Harris said:
I'm a huge fan of Robert Towne's work (The Last Detail, The Parallax View, Chinatown et al), and his first directorial effort is a beautiful film. Personal Best is very much a character piece, taking us inside competitive sports and the relationships between athletes. In this case, a smartly presented lesbian relationship, with a real ring of truth to it. As a new Warner Archive title, I presumed that it might have been pressed, but it's actually burned (no difference in quality between the two), and even projected on a large screen, the imagery holds up nicely. While I'd love to have this, and a number of other titles owned by WB on Blu-ray (Four Friends comes to mind), this DVD will do quite nicely. Image - 5 (DVD quality) Audio - 4.5 A beautiful film, and a superb DVD from Warner Archive. Highly Recommended. RAG

Does the Archive disc retain the commentary track and trailer that appeared on the initial disc? Finally, it's a minor quibble, but I would have liked to have seen WB reproduce the artwork of Mariel Hemingway as it appeared on the one-sheet. The DVD cover utilizes the same image, but positions it it a manner that's just not as aesthetically pleasing nor does it flatter Ms. Hemingway:

Powell&Pressburger · Feb 6, 2013

I used to own the pressed DVD yrs back, kicking myself for selling it off!

theonemacduff · Feb 7, 2013

Yeah, Personal Best is a great flick, but Four Friends is DEFINITELY one I want to see in blu. I'm not really convinced by its "evil rich people" subplot, but that is a truly minor glitch in an overall beautiful piece of work. People always think of Penn as the Bonnie & Clyde guy, but there isn't one of his films but it has a unique hook, something arresting that draws you in – and I include the sometimes pretentious Mickey One in that estimation.

Ken_McAlinden · Feb 8, 2013

I reviewed the previously released pressed disc for the forum here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/268398/htf-dvd-review-personal-best
It sounds like the image and audio are as good as the excellent predecessor. I too was wondering if the trailer or commentary were ported over to the manufactured on demand version. I am also hoping that they fixed the typo on the cover of the original DVD that incorrectly listed Kenny Moore's name as "Kevin" (a blow to Kenneths everywhere - solidarity, brother ).

Virgoan · Feb 8, 2013

While you have mentioned wishing you had this one (and "Four Friends") on Blu ray, are you as disappointed as I am that Warner Archives has not yet announced followup Blu ray release titles/dates? Or have I somehow missed them?

Jon Hertzberg · Feb 8, 2013

Ken_McAlinden said:
I reviewed the previously released pressed disc for the forum here: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/268398/htf-dvd-review-personal-best It sounds like the image and audio are as good as the excellent predecessor. I too was wondering if the trailer or commentary were ported over to the manufactured on demand version. I am also hoping that they fixed the typo on the cover of the original DVD that incorrectly listed Kenny Moore's name as "Kevin" (a blow to Kenneths everywhere - solidarity, brother ).

Wow, I'm a stickler for correct credits in the billing block and somehow I missed the Kevin / Kenny snafu.

Jon Hertzberg · Feb 8, 2013

Robert Harris said:
I'm a huge fan of Robert Towne's work (The Last Detail, The Parallax View, Chinatown et al), and his first directorial effort is a beautiful film. Personal Best is very much a character piece, taking us inside competitive sports and the relationships between athletes. In this case, a smartly presented lesbian relationship, with a real ring of truth to it. As a new Warner Archive title, I presumed that it might have been pressed, but it's actually burned (no difference in quality between the two), and even projected on a large screen, the imagery holds up nicely. While I'd love to have this, and a number of other titles owned by WB on Blu-ray (Four Friends comes to mind), this DVD will do quite nicely. Image - 5 (DVD quality) Audio - 4.5 A beautiful film, and a superb DVD from Warner Archive. Highly Recommended. RAG

FOUR FRIENDS is an MGM title. WB had it on VHS in the early days.

Feb 19, 2013

For those interested, WBShop still has the 2008 pressed DVD available for $13.99 + tax and free shipping (cheaper than the MOD Archive disc). I just received my copy.

Jon Hertzberg · Feb 20, 2013

Sean Greenwood said:
For those interested, WBShop still has the 2008 pressed DVD available for $13.99 + tax and free shipping (cheaper than the MOD Archive disc). I just received my copy.

Good catch, Sean.

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