White Heat (1949) - 5/21/13

[Oscar Rothman]

White Heat Blu-ray review

synopsis: As a psychotic thug devoted to his hard-boiled ma, james cagney -- older, scarier and just as electrifying -- gives a performance to match his work in the public enemy as white heat's cold-blooded cody jarrett. Bracingly directed by raoul walsh, this fast-paced thriller tracing jarrett's violent life in and out of jail is also a harrowing character study. Jarret is a psychological time bomb ruled by impulse. He murders a wounded accomplice and revels in the act. He neglects his sultry wife (virginia mayo) and adores his doting mother. It is among the most vivid screen performances of cagney's career

the blu-ray edition of white heat features english dts-hd master audio mono and spanish dolby digital mono (both castilian & latin); english sdh, spanish and french subtitles; and the following extras:

Leonard maltin hosts warner night at the movies 1949 with newsreel, comedy short so you think you're not guilty, cartoon homeless hare and theatrical trailers
feature film commentary by film historian

[Scottie]

Is this film any good?

[dsman71]

I think its a great film..part of their A list which is why it was in the first gangster set
My only concern is if these will really be true HD transfers, since the DVDs can make good upconverts...
This could wind up being a shelf saving set if these dont look too terribly HiDef...
Warner does a good job with their titles but a lot of DVDS look good with unconverts

[MifuneFan]

Also part of the Ultimate Gangsters: Classic collection

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is this film any good?

It's excellent, perhaps the best of the four being released.

[Monterey Jack]

"Made it, Ma! Top a-tha world...!"

[bdmartin134]

Great movie.. It was the first Cagney film I saw, then immediately sought his essentials out right after. Between Wheat Heat and The Roaring Twenties are my favorite, oh and Each Dawn I Die as well.

[ZoetMB]

This film used to play on the syndicated RKO movie package "Million Dollar Movie" in the early 1960s. In New York, Million Dollar Movie (on the RKO-owned WOR-TV 9) used to play the same movie 16 times per week - twice per weeknight and 3x on weekends. Those were the days when local TV was still very small time and low budget, even in the largest cities.

For reasons I no longer remember, I used to watch the same movie over and over again. I saw King Kong, Son of Kong and Godzilla a zillion times, but also Yankee Doodle Dandy (also Cagney), La Strada and Citizen Kane (I think) over and over again. They might have even played "The Bicycle Thief". I loved Cagney in White Heat and used to watch this film whenever it played. As a kid, I used to imitate Cagney's character Cody Jarret when he'd go nuts. I don't know why my parents let me watch this. I certainly wouldn't have let my kids watch it, not that they would have wanted to.

I'll probably buy this, but I don't like the packaging. IMO, they should never use color on the package when the movie is in black and white. I think they do this because they try to fool people who won't buy a black & white movie.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is this film any good?

Hell Yes! I'm sure once I see it a second time, I'll deem it one of my favorite gangster flicks.

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is this film any good?

Hell yes.

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Hell Yes! I'm sure once I see it a second time, I'll deem it one of my favorite gangster flicks.

Lol, I didn't see your post and said exactly the same thing. Funny.

[Angel Eyes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is this film any good?

One of the best!!!

[jonmayo15]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I'll probably buy this, but I don't like the packaging. IMO, they should never use color on the package when the movie is in black and white. I think they do this because they try to fool people who won't buy a black & white movie.

I think it's just original poster art, most black and white movies had color posters.

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by dsman71

I think its a great film..part of their A list which is why it was in the first gangster set
My only concern is if these will really be true HD transfers, since the DVDs can make good upconverts...
This could wind up being a shelf saving set if these dont look too terribly HiDef...
Warner does a good job with their titles but a lot of DVDS look good with unconverts

How many U.S. blurays of theatrical feature films released by major studios are upconverts of DVD transfers? I'm guessing 0.00001%.

There is no chance Warner is releasing any theatrical feature film on BD as a 480p upconvert.

And yes, DVDs can look good upconverted, but let's not have any illusions. They are not even close to the same thing.

[dsman71]

Thats what you say, but there are many, including the Terminator that the DVD upconvert looked like the Blu Ray..
There is also the Innocents , Near Dark, Mars Attacks to name a few

[joie]

Originally Posted by dsman71

I think its a great film..part of their A list which is why it was in the first gangster set
My only concern is if these will really be true HD transfers, since the DVDs can make good upconverts...
This could wind up being a shelf saving set if these dont look too terribly HiDef...
Warner does a good job with their titles but a lot of DVDS look good with unconverts

It's possible that a lot of Blu-rays, even from Criterion, are derived from 2K masters/scans that were done for DVD. As long as they copied the master and didn't alter it (didn't burn "fixes" for the DVD into the original master, but into a copy used to make the DVD), then use the original master to prepare the Blu-ray, it will look better on Blu-ray. There will at least be fewer artifacts, because the "compression artist" has more room to work with, etc. Of course, scanner technology, like any, is continuously being improved, so a 2K scan from 2 years ago may be better than one from 10 years ago. I doubt that any of these are upconverts.

Also with DVD up-converted to 1080p, you can often easily see digitalization artifacts if you pause and go frame-by-frame for about a second. That's rare while playing a Blu-ray, even from an old 2K master.

[lolwut]

Been wanting to see this for years. Finally get to see it on Blu-ray!

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by dsman71

Thats what you say, but there are many, including the Terminator that the DVD upconvert looked like the Blu Ray..
There is also the Innocents , Near Dark, Mars Attacks to name a few

"Upconvert" implies that a sub-HD master (below 720p) was converted to 720p or higher. There are good HD transfers and bad HD transfers but those are wholly independent from upconverts.

And rest assured Warner doesn't do that for theatrical feature films on BD.*

*at least for feature films that were actually shot on film or something that is really meant as a supplement like the silent version of Ben-Hur.

[BLU-RAY1450]

Great movie, great story, Cagney at his best.

[MichaelR]

White Heat Blu-ray review