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Falcon and the Snowman (The)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - 101 Films Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (9th November 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** They were best friends from the best of families. Then they committed a crime against their country and became the two most wanted men in America. After his father (Pat Hingle) finds him a job at the CIA, Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) discovers the less reputable side of the American government through handling classified documents. As he grows increasingly disillusioned, Boyce decides to sell the information to the Russians in an act of defiance. A drug-addicted friend of Boyce's, Daulton Lee (Sean Penn), becomes involved in the plot and acts as a middleman between Boyce and the Soviets but the erratic Lee fails to cover his tracks.
Video
Independent British distributor 101 Films have released the espionage true story "The Falcon and the Snowman" on to Blu-ray for the first time in the United Kingdom as part of their Cult Movie Collection range. The transfer receives an AVC MPEG-4 encode and is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 1080p. Having licensed the film from MGM, it should come as no surprise that the transfer here includes all the hallmarks of an older eighties MGM master that was likely made for the original DVD releases. The print is certainly not the cleanest with some noticeable dirt throughout and the occasional minor scratch, but don't let that deter you as it is still a far superior transfer to what we have had in the UK previously. A thin layer of natural film grain can be seen for the duration, though some minor digital noise reduction does seem to have been applied (though thankfully not overly enthusiastically). Blacks are quite deep, though do infrequently succumb to some mild crush, particularly in slightly darker locales. Other colours look natural, though rarely pop apart from in some external daytime shots. The level of detail is solid throughout, with facial close-ups and minute clothing details (the layers of wool in the jumper at 19:52) distinct. Background details are fairly average. There is the odd bit of negligible banding, but no obvious aliasing or edge enhancement. The transfer may not be reference quality, but it is certainly the best the film has looked on home media in the UK to date. The feature is uncut and runs 131:29.
Audio
Just like 101's previous release in the range, "Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen", there is no lossless audio track included here - something which I hope is not going to become a regular occurrence. On this occasion the track is English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, though channel separation is non-existent. Dialogue is clear for the most part (the occasional line is slightly lower in volume) and the infrequent score never overpowers speech. Action is limited for the genre, but is catered for adequately. There are no issues with the track such as drop outs, scratches or pops, and I didn't notice any background hiss. The track is fine, but would have certainly benefited from the increased bitrate of a lossless option. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
Nothing.
Overall
A solid thriller based on an intriguing true story receives a solid yet dated transfer on Blu-ray. Some extras would have been nice considering the nature of the film, but none were found on the MGM DVD either, so it comes as no big surprise that there aren't any here. Fans of the film will find this disc worth picking up, though there is certainly much room for improvement.
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