Company: Twilight Time
Starring: Richard Harris, Carroll O'Connor, Julie Andrews, Jocelyne LaGarde, Max von Sydow, Gene Hackman
My Review and Thoughts:
Film: My Rating: 4 out of 5
For starters how can you not, as a film buff, film lover,
movie watcher not be utterly enthralled with the cast of this film. The master
Richard Harris. The master Carroll O'Connor. The master, stunning goddess Julie
Andrews. Master Malcolm Atterbury. And the one of a kind master, which words can’t
describe his flawless talent in cinema, Max von Sydow. The extraordinary master
Gene Hackman. The amazing Michael Constantine and Lou Antonio. If that does not
pull you into this film then you really shouldn’t be calling yourself a film
buff. That mastery in talent of performance should showcase to you the amazing
performances in this film. What a cast to behold in one feature film.
This is the first time seeing this and showcasing that cast
of actors, and actresses blew me away. The movie itself might not be a
masterpiece but the cast in front of the camera is.
This is a grand classic
film of the 1960’s. The plot is you have Christian Missionaries coming to
Hawaii to spread their beliefs upon what is considered to them and an island of
paganism. Now I can sit here and ramble on about the right and wrong reality of
this, but I am not, I am reviewing a movie, not politics and religion. Yes, some
will say it’s wrong, and yes some will say it’s right, we will leave it at that.
Now aside from the film, there is really a whole bunch of
cool film history behind this production. For one there is an uncredited role
by Bette Midler who makes a screen appearance as a passenger. The character of
Malama was played by a real Tahitian, Jocelyne LaGarde. Who did not speak English.
They trained her in dialogue to undergo the part. Amazingly she is the dynamic
glue to this film, her part is beyond brilliant. She was nominated for an Oscar, and also won a Golden Globe Award for this part. She was breathtaking and
showcased a raw talent of performance. She had never acted before so you got
this natural essence of reality through her role.
Directed by one of the greats in cinema George Roy Hill, who
really needs no introduction to the cinema world. He has mastered such greats as
1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1973’s The Sting. He directed one of
my personal favorites Slaughterhouse-Five. He also was honored with another
Twilight Time Blu-ray The World of Henry Orient which you can read my review HERE. Hill had a long career in the
movie business. He created many wonderful pieces of cinema. He is probably best
known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Many of his films were nominated
for countless awards. The Sting itself racked up 10 nominations and 7 wins. His
career was a defining reality of cinema history.
The film itself is a wonderful mixed bag of great acting,
amazing cinematography, and perfected music, direction, editing and an all-around
classic in my view point. It’s a movie of the old days when humans looked at
bringing religious beliefs to islanders, and saw nothing wrong with it. We today
look at this reality as destroying history, changing beliefs and forcing others
upon beliefs that we saw fit. As I have stated, don’t go into this in a
political or religious viewpoint, go into this in experiencing a classic style
film that has dynamic acting performances.
Also something that needs to be mentioned is the amazing
cinematography in this feature. Done by one of the greatest, Russell Harlan. He
was an award worthy master. He racked up 6 nominations. He worked on such amazing
films like, To Kill a Mockingbird, Run Silent Run Deep, Witness for the
Prosecution, and one of my personal favorites, the flawless science fiction
film, black and white classic, 1951’s The Thing. He was a master in creating
memorable imagery.
Hawaii is based off the book by the same name written by an
amazing author that I highly recommend. I have read 6 of his books, he has
published over 40. His talent is grand in storytelling and I highly recommend
the book, Hawaii. He also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948 and
he rightly deserved it. I recommend reading Tales of the South Pacific. Also
other greats are Texas and The Fires of Spring. Hawaii is one of his greats and
the movie adaption is a prime example of his beauty in the expertise of
writing.
Audio/Video: My Rating: 5 out of 5
Another flawless and dynamic outlet and example of how to treat a film with wonderful audio and video transfer. I have never seen this before, but what is great about this, is the two versions you get, the Original Roadside Version which is not restored and is standard, and the Blu-ray Version. So you can compare the quality of how amazing the transfer and restoration to HD was by Twilight Time. The Twilight Time Blu-ray is amazing video and audio quality. Stands out like a whole new picture.
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 1.0 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Extras: My Rating: 2 out of 5
The all-important
isolated music track and also something that is fantastic the 189-minute
version of the film, although this is not in High Definition it still is a
wonderful bonus. I have never seen either versions of the film and so being
able to watch it twice in two different ways was very worthy entertainment and
a wonderful trip into film history. The 189-minute version showcases the
overture, intermission, entr’acte and exit music. This reality was great in
being able to experience the music for the movie. Many movies of this era had
these intermissions to allow for breaks, or to get ready. Something I absolutely
love as a film lover, self-proclaimed film historian in training is adventuring
into all versions, information or history of films. I enjoy finding alternate
versions, or deleted scenes. So this special feature was a grand experience
seeing both versions for the price of one.
Isolated Score Track. Now this is an important extra, the
Isolated Music Score. The score is by one of the greatest musicians to ever
live. Elmer Bernstein. He created throughout the years many wonderful pieces of
music. A composer and conductor of many memorable pieces throughout cinema. His
music film scores have always stood out. It’s a true shame to even say he was
just a musician. His countless years of music love throughout cinema shines.
From such amazing films as, The Ten Commandments, To Kill a Mockingbird,
Ghostbusters, The Magnificent Seven, and many, many others. I could write a
whole book on this man. His genius, his work, his sounds, his visionary
expertise in the art form of music. This is a wonderful extra on this Twilight
Time Blu-ray.
Original Roadshow Version (189 Minutes) in Standard
Definition. This adds the music intermission and entrance and extras shots. This version as I have stated is not HD it's in the old ways. It's amazing looking back at these older versions and thinking how did we ever watch these, when comparing to the beauty of a Blu-ray or even a restored DVD.
Original Theatrical Trailer
Overall:
This amazing movie, amazing book and a wonderful Blu-ray to
have. A few slim extras. A wonderful transfer in video and amazing audio.
Twilight Time does it again in bringing a new outlet for an older film.
Twilight Time always brings out wonderful products. I feel this is another
prime example of how to treat a film. They don’t make films in an epic setting
anymore, or at least they are few and far in number, but thankfully companies
like Twilight Time, honors these often forgotten about important pieces of film
history. Highly Recommended.
INFO:
Make sure you head over to www.screenarchives.com to buy all
the wonderful Twilight Time Blu-rays. The main page that gives you these
beautiful releases on top quality Special Editions.
Also head over and like Twilight Time on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies