A Few Words About A few words about...™ Thunder Road -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

From what I gather, Arthur Ripley, the director of the 1958 Thunder Road, with Robert Mitchum in the lead, began his career behind the camera - in 1915, for the Kalem Company.

He spent some time as an editor (Foolish Wives - 1922), then moved to writing for, among others, Harry Langdon.  During the 1930s he did some direction along with dialogue directing.

His final work was Thunder Road, and reviewing his CV, one would presume that it would have been far better, even on it's tiny budget.

However, everything about it gently shrieks of a quick and dirty shoot.  And while Mr. Mitchum comes off professionally, and Gene Barry is fine, much of the cast just lays there like a lox.

From a visual perspective, it is what it is.  It apparently never looked great.  Shout Factory's new Blu-ray seems to be a quality representation of the film (probably derived from a fine grain).  Grain has come to fore, and appears far more evident than it might in a 1958 film.  I have no idea what the taking stock was.

Much like the image, the audio gets by -- not by any fault of Shout Factory's but rather, I presume as made.

For those who desire to see what a top performer can be like in a low-budget film from the late '50s, Thunder Road may just be your Hitler.

Image - 3.5

Audio - 3.5

Pass / Fail - Pass

RAH

What aspect ratio is the BD?

Robert Harris said:

For those who desire to see what a top performer can be like in a low-budget film from the late '50s, Thunder Road may just be your Hitler.

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I take it that you must have Triumph of the Will on your brain.

Donnerstraße?

JoeDoakes said:

I take it that you must have Triumph of the Will on your brain.

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No. The Producers.

I'll stick with the DVD.


Thunder Road was a DRM production (Dorothy and Robert Mitchum) based on a story by Robert Mitchum. This probably explains how Keely Smith, one of the great singers of popular songs, got into the film and how Arthur Ripley became director. Mitchum always used to contradict the "auteur" theory by insisting it didn't make any difference who directed a film.

The making of "Thunder Road" is covered very entertainingly by Lee Server in his biography "Robert Mitchum 'Baby, I Don't Care'", a very entertaining book about a very entertaining entertainer.

I always thought there's a certain charm to this production. Done without much pretense to Art that I can detect. , Just an entertaining programmer. I could definitely see it on a double with The True Story of Lynn Stuart.

ChromeJob said:

I always thought there's a certain charm to this production. Done without much pretense to Art that I can detect. , Just an entertaining programmer. I could definitely see it on a double with The True Story of Lynn Stuart.

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While I agree with RAH on his points, I've always had a liking for this movie. I think my fondness has as much to do with Mitchum as it does with seeing it for the first time as a teenager and responding to the moonshiners and hot rods aspects.

Robin9 said:

I'll stick with the DVD.

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Unless you just don't care much for the film, I'd say you're missing out. Big improvements in detail and gradient throughout, even given the limitations of the source. Worth the upgrade if you like this movie.

Mitchum is great in this movie!

Greg_D_R said:

Unless you just don't care much for the film, I'd say you're missing out. Big improvements in detail and gradient throughout, even given the limitations of the source. Worth the upgrade if you like this movie.

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Thanks for that. I'll watch the DVD again to see how much I like the film, and then decide. I've always regarded Thunder Road as minor Mitchum, but I could be persuaded . . . .