Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[mspar009]

Film Noir is why I began collecting Blu-rays last year.

The Big Combo is a Noir, isn't it?

[CBHampson]

Incredible thread. Thanks.

[jetthead]

Originally Posted by mspar009

Film Noir is why I began collecting Blu-rays last year.

The Big Combo is a Noir, isn't it?

Indeed it is. And a very good one!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by mspar009

Film Noir is why I began collecting Blu-rays last year.

Film noir is my favorite genre to watch on Blu-ray. I've always liked film noir, but I started rediscovering old classics in a big way when I saw how amazing The Maltese Falcon, The Night of the Hunter, and others look in high definition once I upgraded them to Blu-ray from my old DVDs.

[noirjunkie]

Great additions to the neo-noir section, and I think it was also a very good idea to separate out the early 1960s films into "The Later Period." One suggestion: move the two Fuller films and The Manchurian Candidate to that section and add Twilight Time's release of Experiment in Terror (1962) to it. All these films are in black and white and function as transition films into the neo-noir period.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Great additions to the neo-noir section, and I think it was also a very good idea to separate out the early 1960s films into "The Later Period." One suggestion: move the two Fuller films and The Manchurian Candidate to that section and add Twilight Time's release of Experiment in Terror (1962) to it. All these films are in black and white and function as transition films into the neo-noir period.

Awesome, thanks for the input. I was unsure about Experiment in Terror, and the Fuller movies/. I never really thought about The Manchurian Candidate as a noir, but when researching the subject the past week or so I've seen it on several lists.

[GoldMotel]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Awesome, thanks for the input. I was unsure about Experiment in Terror, and the Fuller movies/. I never really thought about The Manchurian Candidate as a noir, but when researching the subject the past week or so I've seen it on several lists.

According to wikipedia, the film is a neo-noir because it was "directed by experienced noir character actor William Conrad, and treats the theme of mental dispossession within stylistic and tonal frameworks derived from classic film noir"

I never really thought about it as a neo-noir before either. The things you learn.

[Russhole]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Film noir is my favorite genre to watch on Blu-ray. I've always liked film noir, but I started rediscovering old classics in a big way when I saw how amazing The Maltese Falcon, The Night of the Hunter, and others look in high definition once I upgraded them to Blu-ray from my old DVDs.

I agree. These classics are a real treat to watch on Blu-ray. I almost feel like I'm in the theater back in the day watching these classics late at night.

I did notice that A Double Life is missing from the list.
double.jpg

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Russhole

I agree. These classics are a real treat to watch on Blu-ray. I almost feel like I'm in the theater back in the day watching these classics late at night.

I did notice that A Double Life is missing from the list.
Attachment 79359

Thanks, it's been added. I really love the cover art too

[Russhole]

Me too. I love that Olive uses original poster art.

[GoldMotel]

MifuneFan, I don't know if you plan on including these at a later date, but just in case you missed it, Criterion has a list of noir/neo-noir films on their site, and these are ones that we currently don't have on our list.

Breathless (1960) - France
Tokyo Drifter (1966) - Japan
Branded to Kill (1967) - Japan
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
The Game (1997)

[MifuneFan]

Some film noirs were announced by Eureka in the UK today:

Ace in the Hole
Boomerang! (1947)

Another title announced is "Violent Saturday" Not really familiar with it, is it considered a noir title to you guys? Did just a little research, and it seems to be considered borderline noir, but also part drama..

[GoldMotel]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Some film noirs were announced by Eureka in the UK today:

Ace in the Hole
Boomerang! (1947)

Another title announced is "Violent Saturday" Not really familiar with it, is it considered a noir title to you guys? Did just a little research, and it seems to be considered borderline noir, but also part drama..

I've never seen it, but doing a bit of research, this is what sticks out to me.

A portion of a review of the DVD from DVDTalk:

...Although now promoted as a film noir -- apparently every movie with someone in street clothes carrying a gun now qualifies -- Violent Saturday is a dramatic hybrid...The movie is certainly violent enough, but its thematic agenda falls more in the 'threat to the family' subgenre that in the 1950s seemed always to reinforce conformist social ideas.

And from Turner Movie Classics:

Richard Fleischer's hybrid of violent crime drama and small town melodrama Violent Saturday (1955) is not technically a film noir. The widescreen production is in color and takes place almost entirely in daylight with nary a long shadow on the screen or a scheming double cross in the story. But it does belong to a distinctive subgenre of criminal violence--in this case a bank robbery--in rural settings, the urban poison reaching into the "innocence" of small town America, which as this sub-Peyton Place reveals, is not so innocent after all.

Anyone with more knowledge on the subject want to chime in?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

MifuneFan, I don't know if you plan on including these at a later date, but just in case you missed it, Criterion has a list of noir/neo-noir films on their site, and these are ones that we currently don't have on our list.

Breathless (1960) - France
Tokyo Drifter (1966) - Japan
Branded to Kill (1967) - Japan
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
The Game (1997)

While updating the neo noir list, I put the first 4 of those on my maybe list to ask you guys about. Breathless is considered more of a French New Wave title, and the Suzuki titles have some noir elements, but I'm not sure if it's enough to truly consider them neo-noir. Pro-B said this specifically about Branded to Kill: It has the important ingredients great noir films have but it is too surreal to be considered one". I've only see The Game twice and it's been a while, but I never really thought about it as a neo-noir. Fincher's movies always feel noirish in tone, but I'm not sure.

So I'd like some more people here to chime in on those titles, as well as these others from my maybe list:

Basic Instinct (1992) - More erotic thriller than noir to me, but I'm not sure.
Cape Fear (1991) - The original is, but I don't know if this one is too. It's been a long time since I've seen it.
Se7en - More of a cop thriller, but has a somewhat noirish feel.

Thanks as always for the suggestions

[Russhole]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

While updating the neo noir list, I put the first 4 of those on my maybe list to ask you guys about. Breathless is considered more of a French New Wave title, and the Suzuki titles have some noir elements, but I'm not sure if it's enough to truly consider them neo-noir. Pro-B said this specifically about Branded to Kill: It has the important ingredients great noir films have but it is too surreal to be considered one". I've only see The Game twice and it's been a while, but I never really thought about it as a neo-noir. Fincher's movies always feel noirish in tone, but I'm not sure.

So I'd like some more people here to chime in on those titles, as well as these others from my maybe list:

Basic Instinct (1992) - More erotic thriller than noir to me, but I'm not sure.
Cape Fear (1991) - The original is, but I don't know if this one is too. It's been a long time since I've seen it.
Se7en - More of a cop thriller, but has a somewhat noirish feel.

Thanks as always for the suggestions

I would say yes for Basic Instinct & Cape Fear - 91 -. Not sure about Se7en.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

So I'd like some more people here to chime in on those titles, as well as these others from my maybe list:

Basic Instinct (1992) - More erotic thriller than noir to me, but I'm not sure.
Cape Fear (1991) - The original is, but I don't know if this one is too. It's been a long time since I've seen it.
Se7en - More of a cop thriller, but has a somewhat noirish feel.

The three that you mentioned above are all rooted in classic film noir...

Basic Instinct takes the femme fatale archetype and sharpens it with today's sensibilities. (I'm personally not a fan of this movie, but I do believe that it falls into neo-noir territory fair and square.)

The 1992 version of Cape Fear adds a few noir-edged character complexities to the original story.

Se7en is a fascinating "another noir tale in the dark city" film in the vein of classic noirs like The Naked City and City That Never Sleeps.


It's easy to go overboard with the neo-noir classifications, though. I could make a reasonable case for Point Break (1991) and Into the Blue (2005) to be classified as neo-noir movies, because they both share quite a few traits with classic film plots, but these would probably come off as far-fetched to the majority.

I revisited Infernal Affairs (2002) a few days ago after finding a cheap Blu-ray, and I was throwing around the idea of recommending it here as a neo-noir. I'll leave that one up to the mob to decide.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Some film noirs were announced by Eureka in the UK today:

Ace in the Hole
Boomerang! (1947)

Another title announced is "Violent Saturday" Not really familiar with it, is it considered a noir title to you guys? Did just a little research, and it seems to be considered borderline noir, but also part drama..

I would classify VIOLENT SATURDAY as a noir, as well as THE TRAP (1959), which is also in color. Along with NIAGARA and LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, they have a few variations on the fairly standard noir formula elements, but are very much in the noir spirit (possibly even more so).

I would also put PALE FLOWER into the 1960s transitional period, rather than "neo-noir," and add both TOKYO DRIFTER and BRANDED TO KILL, both of which are truly archetypal noirs but made in the 60s (and TOKYO DRIFTER in vivid color). Now if only Criterion would upgrade the great Nikkatsu noir and Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara Eclipse sets to Blu-ray. Some more great Japanoir there! And some of the transfers approach Blu-ray quality when upscaled!

[GoldMotel]

Also found some neo-noirs that are on blu, but not in the US.

Lost Highway (1997) [available on blu in the UK and other non-American regions]
Hollywoodland (2006) [available on blu in the UK and other non-American regions]
Hotel Noir (2012) [only on blu in Australia and Germany]

Also, do we want to include The Spirit (2008) in the neo-noir section? It's not critically acclaimed or anything, but it is a neo-noir.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

Also found some neo-noirs that are on blu, but not in the US.

Lost Highway (1997) [available on blu in the UK and other non-American regions]
Hollywoodland (2006) [available on blu in the UK and other non-American regions]
Hotel Noir (2012) [only on blu in Australia and Germany]

Also, do we want to include The Spirit (2008) in the neo-noir section? It's not critically acclaimed or anything, but it is a neo-noir.

Regarding THE SPIRIT, it's a film I found terribly disappointing after having seen the somewhat intriguing trailer, but felt was still slightly above-average overall, and certainly was consciously attempting to be a neo-noir film (rather than simply falling into the category).

[Midnight Rambler]

I sure wish Gaslight (1944) was available on Blu-ray, it would probably fit this category ?