Gator (1976) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

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Definite Favorite! Preordered!

Ronald Epstein said:

Definite Favorite! Preordered!

Click to expand...

Don't forget to preorder White Lightning when it becomes available to do so, as I think it's better than Gator.

Yup. Keeping an eye out for it.

White Lightning is up for pre order, but Amazon screwed it up the same way they screwed up It Happened One Night on blu-ray from Criterion, they listed BOTH the DVD and the blu-ray as DVDs.Here is the link for what should be the White Lightning blu, if/when they get it corrected......

They apparently corrected it. See link above

I have been waiting for White Lighting & Gator to make it to BR, I can now retire my double feature LD.

So, today I treated myself to a double feature of White Lightning and Gator.

Last time I saw Gator was probably about 15 years ago. It was a film I really
liked as a naive "20-something" and was very happy to see it released to Blu-ray.

I had never seen White Lightning and ordered it blindly.

When both films were announced for Blu-ray I was VERY excited for Gator and
questioned how good White Lightning could possibly be compared to the sequel.

With Crawdaddy's usual wisdom, I was advised that White Lightning was the better film.

Well, having watched both films today, I can firmly say this...

White Lightning was very enjoyable. A really good Burt Reynolds action flick.

On the other hand, I can't believe I liked Gator so much in my younger years. It just
doesn't hold up well after all this time. I know why I liked it back then. It had Jack
Weston as a rather comedic FBI agent and Alice Ghostly (who I loved as an actress)
in a rather "whacky" role. Back when I was young and stupid, I think I was highly
amused by their performances. Now older and still stupid, not so much.

Yeah, for me, Gator doesn't hold a candle to White Lightning.

The transfers? They are pretty good. I would say Gator looks significantly better
than White Lightning. Both have their share of bad moments within the transfer.
Dark scenes are not handled very well. There are some scenes that look completely
blurred. Otherwise, the transfers look as good as one would expect being thrown to
a secondary distributor with a minimal cleanup effort done.

Ronald Epstein said:

So, today I treated myself to a double feature of White Lightning and Gator.

Last time I saw Gator was probably about 15 years ago. It was a film I really
liked as a naive "20-something" and was very happy to see it released to Blu-ray.

I had never seen White Lightning and ordered it blindly.

When both films were announced for Blu-ray I was VERY excited for Gator and
questioned how good White Lightning could possibly be compared to the sequel.

With Crawdaddy's usual wisdom, I was advised that White Lightning was the better film.

Well, having watched both films today, I can firmly say this...

White Lightning was very enjoyable. A really good Burt Reynolds action flick.

On the other hand, I can't believe I liked Gator so much in my younger years. It just
doesn't hold up well after all this time. I know why I liked it back then. It had Jack
Weston as a rather comedic FBI agent and Alice Ghostly (who I loved as an actress)
in a rather "whacky" role. Back when I was young and stupid, I think I was highly
amused by their performances. Now older and still stupid, not so much.

Yeah, for me, Gator doesn't hold a candle to White Lightning.

The transfers? They are pretty good. I would say Gator looks significantly better
than White Lightning. Both have their share of bad moments within the transfer.
Dark scenes are not handled very well. There are some scenes that look completely
blurred. Otherwise, the transfers look as good as one would expect being thrown to
a secondary distributor with a minimal cleanup effort done.

Click to expand...

Ron,

I'm happy you enjoyed White Lightning. I actually viewed this film for the first time during its theatrical run. Matter of fact, I believe I saw it at a drive-in and it was a double feature with another film title that has escaped my recollection. Anyhow, I've watched White Lightning several times over the years and will do so again with this BD release.

Did you know that Steven Spielberg should actually directed "White Lightning"?

He nearly directed this movie.

Ronald Epstein said:

White Lightning was very enjoyable. A really good Burt Reynolds action flick.

On the other hand, I can't believe I liked Gator so much in my younger years. It just
doesn't hold up well after all this time. I know why I liked it back then. It had Jack
Weston as a rather comedic FBI agent and Alice Ghostly (who I loved as an actress)
in a rather "whacky" role. Back when I was young and stupid, I think I was highly
amused by their performances. Now older and still stupid, not so much.

Yeah, for me, Gator doesn't hold a candle to White Lightning.

Click to expand...

It really doesn't and is personally an insult to White Lightning. Strangely, it is set up as a sequel but there is almost nothing in common with the first film. I was quite shocked at just how bad made it was in comparison. They really had no idea what kind of movie they wanted to make, it's quite a mess. Gator isn't even the same character, as if some impostor killed the real Gator and started masquerading in his name.

Gator might be dumb fun on its own, but is seriously in the shadow of the former film. Probably best enjoyed by someone who never heard of the original.