THE PASSENGER (1 Viewer)

[Ernest]

The PASSENGER starring Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider has been released by Powerhouse Films in a newly high definition remaster LIMITED edition (5000 copies) BluRay. Like Criterion and Twilight the release includes a very nice 40 page booklet providing information about the making of the movie.

The story deals with a frustrated war correspondent, Jack Nicholson, who is unable to find the war he has been asked to cover so he takes the risky path of assuming the identity of a dead arms dealer.

The Blu-Ray is REGION FREE.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I pre-ordered this direct from Powerhouse/Indicator but haven't received it yet. I can't wait.

 

[JPCinema]

Bought it in London on the release date. Looks the best I've seen since its release.

 

[Peter Neski]

This is a fine release ,with same source as dvd ,even so BR is clearly better extras are nice and include one of the better still frame
sections ,which is only 50 or so pictures ,but they great and really sharp and many are behind the scenes
THE DISC IS REGION FREE!!

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Just got mine and did a quick comparison to my dvd & disc copy I made from the Sony Channel broadcast. All three have the some colors with the Blu-ray looking a little brighter and much sharper due to the higher resolution. Blu-ray shows more image on the sides and some film grain. Happy to add this great film to my Blu-ray collection..

 

[haineshisway]

5000??? 5000 people didn't see this film when it came out.

 

[david hare]

Their loss Bruce.
The INdicator disc is a killer. They have done as much as humanly possible with original materials from Sony's 2005 "restored" 35mm. The restored is in reality two short sequences in London which were cut from first release in the States (god knows why, length?) but always played inthe 126 minute version everywhere else. One QC issue that is obvious is the blown out grain and weak labwork on the opening and closing credit sequences (approx 3minutes and two minutes repectively.) With a couple of the tiniest exceptions (some tramlines that run for a couple of seconds) the print is undamaged and I've been playing the disc uprezzed to 4K on a new projector with finally achieved gamma setting of 2.4 It looks like 35mm. It's makes sone weep. The extras are a mix of original Sony 2005 and new pieces for Powerhouse including a doozy of a commentary by Adrian Martin (one of three.)

 

[lark144]

I have the Sony DVD of THE PASSENGER so I was intending to pass on the Blu-Ray, since this is allegedly from the same master but David you make this sound awfully tempting. I loved the way the film looked in 35mm. I was one of possibly twenty people who saw it opening night at the late lamented Greenwich & I tried to see the film whenever a 35mm print was screened.

 

[bujaki]

I can't remember where I saw it in NYC in '75 but I was one of the fewer than 5000 lucky ones in the USA who saw this.

 

[david hare]

I have the Sony DVD of THE PASSENGER so I was intending to pass on the Blu-Ray, since this is allegedly from the same master but David you make this sound awfully tempting. I loved the way the film looked in 35mm. I was one of possibly twenty people who saw it opening night at the late lamented Greenwich & I tried to see the film whenever a 35mm print was screened.

It's region free too so there's no reason to hesitate. Not every 60s and 70s title actually seems to need a full blown digital resto in the 4K domain. This was a Metrocolor (usually good QC) when it was made, and that's how it looks here. I understand David Mackenzie did the mastering and encoding work for Indicator. He undestands film grain and texture very very well. It doesnt seem to need the remedial work on color and white levels that BlowUp did for instance. I consider it Nicholson's best role, (along with Ashby's Last Detail) and he contributed enormously to the film's ideas, even the dialogue. It was he who suggested the sublime shot in the car to MA when Maria Schnieder asks him "What are running away from?", he replies "turn your back to the front seat. It's one of the great moments in the movie. And Antonioni. SHe gazes back both the the past and to us beyond the fourth wall of the cinema. I love htis movie.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I just watched this tonight and I thought it looked outstanding. Nice touch by Indicator to give us the option of watching with the original Italian opening and closing credits.

I can't wait to delve into the extras.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

On September 22 Sony Pictures will release the film on Blu-ray. No details yet on the transfer or extras or will it be the same as the Indicator Blu-ray release minus the extras from 2016. I wished Criterion would have released it.

 

[PMF]

5000??? 5000 people didn't see this film when it came out.

Just discovered this thread, tonight.
And then I shot on over to the Indicator site; as I had always liked “The Passenger”.
Damn. It sold out. Unbelievable.
Who are these 5,000 people?

BTW, are all of the Indicator BDs Region-Free?

 

[lark144]

Just discovered this thread, tonight.
And then I shot on over to the Indicator site; as I had always liked “The Passenger”.
Damn. It sold out. Unbelievable.
Who are these 5,000 people?

The standard edition, without the booklet, but with the same extras, is in print and available at the Indicator website.

https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/standard-editions/products/the-passenger-bd

 

[Robert Crawford]

Just discovered this thread, tonight.
And then I shot on over to the Indicator site; as I had always liked “The Passenger”.
Damn. It sold out. Unbelievable.
Who are these 5,000 people?

BTW, are all of the Indicator BDs Region-Free?

It's getting a Region A release on September 22nd from Allied Vaughn. I'll let you know once the Amazon link is activated.

The Passenger (Allied Vaughn)

See on Amazon

 

[Douglas R]

Just discovered this thread, tonight.
And then I shot on over to the Indicator site; as I had always liked “The Passenger”.
Damn. It sold out. Unbelievable.
Who are these 5,000 people?

BTW, are all of the Indicator BDs Region-Free?

Most of the Indicator discs I have are region free, as is “The Passenger”, but there are some exceptions.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's getting a Region A release on September 22nd from Allied Vaughn. I'll let you know once the Amazon link is activated.

The Passenger (Allied Vaughn)

See on Amazon

@PMF The Amazon link in my quoted post is activated.