A Few Words About A few words about...™ On Golden Pond -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Mark Rydell's wonderful 1981, On Golden Pond, stars two of Hollywood's classic era legends toward the end of their careers, as a "middle age" couple spending a summer at their seasonal home in New Hampshire.

Katharine Hepburn, in one of her finest performances, and Henry Fonda, in his last, and also one of his best.

Jane Fonda is along on this one, and seeing her act with her dad... just seems special.

Watching this beautiful piece of cinema today is a bit like saying goodbye to old friends -- how many hundreds of hours have we spent in the dark watching their shadows reflect off a large silver sheet?

I get a similar feeling when I watch Lindsay Anderson's The Whales of August.

With their Blu-ray release of On Golden Pond, Shout Factory takes another major step toward being a purveyor of extremely high end programming.

As a Blu-ray, while I wish it had been taken a step further with a new 4k scan, full preservation, and the Blu-ray being a down-razzed recipient of that work, what we receive is quite enough.

The only thing missing might be a bit more digital cleansing and a some light stabilization, although so many scenes are on the pond, it probably makes little difference.

Color is basically as I recall it being, although I'd love to try to take a point or so of cyan out of some of Jane Fonda's shots.  Grain looks just fine, as are black levels and shadow detail.

Young Doug McKeon, who has now had a long and successful career on both sides of the camera, is a major part of the story, which I'll not get into.  I cannot imagine the learning experience for a 14 or whatever year-old to work on this film.

A magnificent film, now with a quality Blu-ray release courtesy of Shout Factory.

A film that should be in every serious cinema library.

Image - 4

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[lukejosephchung]

Mark Rydell's wonderful 1981, On Golden Pond, stars two of Hollywood's classic era legends toward the end of their careers, as a "middle age" couple spending a summer at their seasonal home in New Hampshire.


Katharine Hepburn, in one of her finest performances, and Henry Fonda, in his last, and also one of his best.


Jane Fonda is along on this one, and seeing her act with her dad... just seems special.


Watching this beautiful piece of cinema today is a bit like saying goodbye to old friends -- how many hundreds of hours have we spent in the dark watching their shadows reflect off a large silver sheet?


I get a similar feeling when I watch Lindsay Anderson's The Whales of August.


With their Blu-ray release of On Golden Pond, Shout Factory takes another major step toward being a purveyor of extremely high end programming.


As a Blu-ray, while I wish it had been taken a step further with a new 4k scan, full preservation, and the Blu-ray being a down-razzed recipient of that work, what we receive is quite enough.


The only thing missing might be a bit more digital cleansing and a some light stabilization, although so many scenes are on the pond, it probably makes little difference.


Color is basically as I recall it being, although I'd love to try to take a point or so of cyan out of some of Jane Fonda's shots. Grain looks just fine, as are black levels and shadow detail.


Young Doug McKeon, who has now had a long and successful career on both sides of the camera, is a major part of the story, which I'll not get into. I cannot imagine the learning experience for a 14 or whatever year-old to work on this film.


A magnificent film, now with a quality Blu-ray release courtesy of Shout Factory.


A film that should be in every serious cinema library.


Image - 4


Audio - 5


Pass / Fail - Pass


Very Highly Recommended


RAH

One of my all-time favorite dramas of the '80s...glad to know that the current presentation on blu-ray is up to snuff overall...waiting impatiently for my copy of this to arrive from Amazon and thanks for the highly favorable review, Robert!!!

 

[Erik_H]

Thanks very much for the favorable review of a favorite film of mine.


A minor factual quibble. While "On Golden Pond" was Henry Fonda's final theatrical film, it was not his final performance. After completing "On Golden Pond" in New Hampshire, he made a television film called "Summer Solstice" (produced by WCVB-TV in Boston) that was shot on Cape Cod. Fonda's co-star was Myrna Loy, and it was the final film for both. It's a slight but touching film about an elderly couple on vacation looking back on their lives---not unlike "On Golden Pond" in a few respects. A shame that this film has been largely forgotten; it seems that its only home video release was during the VHS era.

 

[Robert Harris]

Thanks very much for the favorable review of a favorite film of mine.

A minor factual quibble. While "On Golden Pond" was Henry Fonda's final theatrical film, it was not his final performance. After completing "On Golden Pond" in New Hampshire, he made a television film called "Summer Solstice" (produced by WCVB-TV in Boston) that was shot on Cape Cod. Fonda's co-star was Myrna Loy, and it was the final film for both. It's a slight but touching film about an elderly couple on vacation looking back on their lives---not unlike "On Golden Pond" in a few respects. A shame that this film has been largely forgotten; it seems that its only home video release was during the VHS era.

Unfortunately, that seems to occur with regularity. Love Among the Ruins made it to laser, but on DVD, it fails for quality.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

I'll pass this on in the hope that someone can prove or disprove it:


I read at the time ON GOLDEN POND was released that Katharine Hepburn & Henry Fonda had never previously met.

 

[Matt Hough]

I'll pass this on in the hope that someone can prove or disprove it:


I read at the time ON GOLDEN POND was released that Katharine Hepburn & Henry Fonda had never previously met.

You obviously haven't read my review here. I mention this fact in the review. Director Mark Rydell confirms it in his commentary as he was the one who introduced them.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

'......that Katharine Hepburn & Henry Fonda had never previously met.'


Very sorry Matt. I always read your reviews but this one was a pleasure being postponed. It's a common error, particularly amongst people outside the industry, that everyone knows everyone else.