Sayonara (1957)
Starring: James
Garner, Red Buttons, Marlon Brando, Ricardo Montalban, Miko Taka, Miyoshi
Umeki, Martha Scott
Company: Twilight Time
My Review and Thoughts:
My Rating: 5 out of 5
This is my first time seeing this film and I am shocked I
had never came across it before. A phenomenal cast. Awesome direction and a
brilliant story. This romantic drama is one of the greats of cinema. Sadly, it seems lost by time. Thankfully it is resurrected to 1080p High Definition for a
new generation to experience this wonderful film of a Special Edition Twilight
Time Blu-ray. I must say thanks to Twilight Time for making a new favorite film
in my movie library. I feel this is a worthy film to praise. Twilight Time did
a perfect job in picking this to bring it out.
This stars the flawless Marlon Brando. Brando always gives
amazing performances in cinema. He has been honored with other Twilight Time
Blu-ray Special Edition releases, The Young Lions, and The Chase which you can
read my reviews for both in the Twilight Time Section of this webpage. His many character’s that
he played are prime examples of building character’s in cinema, to be
remembered. Brando always executes his characters with mastery, and his dynamic
art of creating flawless characterizations of fictional individuals, simply
put, bringing them to life as believable in many of his roles, is what makes
his mastery stand out. It was wonderful seeing him in this for the first time.
Also starring the wonderful James Garner who was always a
master in front of the camera. He had a natural talent, both serious and funny.
He was a true, show business reality that always could capture the watcher and
give them a satisfaction in entertainment. From Feature film to Television, he
mastered it all. He created so many wonderful characters from Jason McCullough
in Support Your Local Sheriff, to Support your Local Gunman which might I add both
have been released on Special Edition Twilight Time Blu-rays, which you can read
my reviews for both in the Twilight Time section. From Motion picture to
television, he was an icon. Starring as the character of Jim Rockford from The
Rockford Files, to the moving and touching Duke from The Notebook. He was a
part of the wonderful age of Hollywood, a master talent that sadly few modern
actors could ever be.
Also starring the beautiful and amazing Patricia Molly
Owens. She was a golden ticket of an actress. She shined on screen throughout
her career. She starred in some greats, or at least films I consider great. The
one and only 1952 Ghost Ship, 1957’s Island in the Sun, 1958’s sci-fi horror classic
The Fly. 1959’s Five Gates to Hell, 1961's 7 Women from Hell, 1961’s X-15. Sadly,
this wonderful beauty stopped acting in 1968. She passed away in 2000. She was
what I consider a true goddess of cinema, it’s a true shame she did not act in
more films then what she did.
Marlon Brando plays Major Gruver of the United States Air
Force. He is stationed near Kobe Japan. Now Gruver is against inter racial
marriage and one of his Airman is about to marry a Japanese woman. Gruver
speaks his mind and dislikes the situation. He makes one known of his
disapproval. But soon Gruver finds himself right in the smack of his beliefs
being wavered as he falls deeply in love with a Japanese performer named
Hana-ogi (played flawlessly with a pure perfection by Miiko Taka). Add in the
reality of War, and inter-racial comments, and prejudice reality, and you have a
dynamic and thoughtful picture. The movie is both equally dramatic and equally
romantic. A pure wonderful drama that stands out.
Directed by a director that only had 11 credits under his
belt. Shockingly his skills as director shined and is flawlessly showcased
through this film and makes you wonder why he did not direct more. Of those 11 films, he directed some very memorable pieces of
cinema. The wonderful 1955 Picnic which was also honored with a Special
Edition Twilight Time Blu-ray release. He directed 1956’s Bus Stop, and the
awesome 1958’s South Pacific. His last movie he directed was the weird comical
musical 1969’s Paint Your Wagon. He was nominated twice for Academy Awards one
for the brilliant Picnic and for this one, I am reviewing, Sayonara.
A wonderful choice by Twilight Time. Sayonara is a film to be remembered and honored in all it's wonderful classic glory of cinema.
Audio/Video:
My Rating: 5 out of 5
Seeing this for the first time, it looks amazing for it’s
age. The audio is equally impressive. The sound is crisp and spot on clarity. The
imagery is vibrant and looks like a perfect transfer to an older film. Yet
again another flawless example of how to treat a film. I tend to sound like I
am a broken repeating record when it comes to reviewing the audio and video of Twilight
Time Blu-ray’s, but, it’s always a true treat to see the amazing transfers.
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1957 / Color
Extra’s:
My Rating: 1 out of 5
Isolated Music & Effects Track: Franz Waxman is
brilliant. His vast career of music shines. He is one of the best musicians to
ever grace cinema. One of his greatest scores was for the film Peyton Place, which
Twilight Time honored with a Special Edition Blu-ray yet sadly the isolated music
was not given as a special feature on it, which was a huge bummer. The score
for Sayonara was one of his awesome scores also, and you get it as a special
feature alongside some of the effects track. He died way to soon. 60 years old
was such a shame. He left a world of excellence for all to hear. His music is
still being used today on soundtracks and being composed for motion pictures
and TV. Started in 1930 and did so up until his death. A pure German composer that
not only created music, but allowed the listener to become a part of the music. If
there is ever one composer I bring up all the time, it would be Waxman, because
Waxman was music. It’s as if the lyrical notes bled from his hands. A pure genius.
Original Theatrical Trailer
Overall:
Another priceless example that Twilight Time does so well.
This being the first time seeing this film,
I was amazed at how perfect this film was. A brilliant piece of cinema
given a wonderful and beautiful new outlet. I would have loved to see or experience more special feature's, which would have been a wonderful added bonus to this wonderful film, but still was amazingly satisfied.
This Blu-ray is Highly recommended
INFO:
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beautiful releases on top quality Special Editions.
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