What's new

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

Robert Harris

Archivist
Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 8, 1999
Messages
18,272
Real Name
Robert Harris
After a superlative career in television, Arthur Penn moved to feature films in 1958, with The Left Handed Gun - the first of a series of productions that bore his distinctive mark.

For those poor souls who have never heard of Mr. Penn, your assignment is to look him up.

Night Moves, released in 1975, is a gorgeously mounted detective drama / thriller, with enough twists and turns to keep fans thrilled.

Gene Hackman leads a cast, inclusive of Susan Clark, Jennifer Warren, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin, James Woods, along with a newly-minted, Melanie Griffith, in her first major appearance, making a simple entrance you'll not forget.

As fate would have it, and fate does have its way with older film elements, when an IP for Night Moves went through an image harvest, the result was unacceptable to Warner Archive.

That meant, as there was no available back-up for the IP, Warner Archive had to go to the original camera negative, which was scanned, and finished in 4k.

A true pity for home theater enthusiasts, who will receive a Blu-ray of extraordinary visual quality.

The downside is that it makes the majority of recent transfers, especially those that have not had the love extended to WA titles, appear problematic in comparison.

Gorgeous, velvet-like grain. Wonderful blacks, rich colors, and absolutely full resolution.

Can't have everything.

Just one of the most beautiful Blu-rays you might possibly imagine.

Image - 5

Audio - 5 (DTS-HD MA 2.0 Monaural)

4k Up-rez - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH
 

Flashgear

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
2,777
Location
Alberta Canada
Real Name
Randall
It is a very good mystery thriller, and for that alone I want to have the new Blu...but now I'm really hyped up about RAH's review of the technical merits of this new transfer...I want to see what a virtual reference standard for a High Definition treatment should look like...can't wait to get my filthy paws on this!
 
  • Like
Reactions: PMF

lark144

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
2,092
Real Name
mark gross
I saw this in a screening room at 666 Fifth Avenue, and while I don't recall the plot details very well, I do remember being overwhelmed by the visual quality of the film. I believe what I saw was a wet-gate print, which I imagine this new Blu-ray might reproduce. In any case, I have had a DVD of NIGHT MOVES for many years, but I never opened it, knowing that I would be disappointed in the way it looked.

As they say in a slightly different context, from from Mr. Harris' honeyed words to my Amazon cart.
 

Patrick McCart

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 16, 2001
Messages
8,195
Location
Georgia (the state)
Real Name
Patrick McCart
I caught this on TCM not long ago. This really is one of those films that's just an all-around perfect work of cinema. I'm glad this was announced since I had recorded it to watch again, but hadn't gotten around to it yet.
 

Powell&Pressburger

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
1,820
Location
MPLS, MN
Real Name
Jack
This is one of the classic WB titles that I have been wishing for to be released on BLU since the format began.

Already pre-ordered I can't wait. Love the amount of work that WB archive put into this transfer. One of the titles from this period I've also been begging for is KLUTE i can only hope when it finally gets a BLU the transfer will be as great as this one sounds.

Night Moves also features a great score from Michael Small which has yet to have a CD release. I think rumor is the tales haven't survived.

RAH can you confirm if the original WB logo opens the film. ( I can't recall if it ever had a studio logo or not)
 

Winston T. Boogie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
11,586
Location
Agua Verde
Real Name
Pike Bishop
Fantastic news! This is a great example of 1970s "Sunshine" noir as some people call it and a damn fine thriller. Beautifully photographed so with the effort Warner gave this one, this will be a gorgeous night in the home cinema. Hackman is in top form with a great group of actors surrounding him and they are working from an excellent script with the fantastic Mr. Penn at the helm...you might have heard of this little film he did called Bonnie and Clyde.

If you've never seen this one and you love a good detective story or miss Gene Hackman...then feel safe to grab this one as a blind buy. You won't be disappointed you did.
 

david hare

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
682
Real Name
david hare
"For those poor souls who have never heard of Mr. Penn, your assignment is to look him up."
Could not have put it better myself. This is the one where Hackman's GF suggests going to an Eric Roherm film and Hackman makes the "watching paint dry" crack. Then Penn unfolds the movie like a nouvelle vague director.
 

Richard Kaufman

Supporting Actor
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
505
Location
Washington DC
Real Name
Richard Kaufman
A superb film. It's hard to forget the penultimate shot. The final shot is a little heavy handed on symbolism ("He just can't get a handle on it"), but the film is delicious nevertheless.
 

ArnoldLayne

Premium
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
262
Real Name
Chris
Out past the cornfields where the woods got heavy
Out in the back seat of my '60 Chevy
Workin' on mysteries without any clues
Workin' on our night moves
Tryin' to make some front page drive-in news
Workin' on our night moves
In the summertime
In the sweet summertime
 

Richard Gallagher

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2001
Messages
4,275
Location
Fishkill, NY
Real Name
Rich Gallagher
Early in the film Harry, who was once a player in the NFL, meets with Nick, who recommended Harry for the job of locating Delly. Harry picks up one of Nick's valuable Mayan statues and the following conversation ensues:

Nick: Don't you like 'em, Har?
Harry: I would if they didn't all remind me of Alex Karras.

I don't know if that was intended to be an inside joke, but it is now. Susan Clark co-starred with ex-football star Karras in the TV movie BABE, which also was filmed in 1975, and they married in 1980. They remained married for 32 years, until Karras died of kidney failure at the age of 77.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,712
Messages
5,121,141
Members
144,147
Latest member
cennetkaralowa
Recent bookmarks
0
Top