John Houston's The Roots of Heaven Limited Edition Review

[Blu Titan]

The Roots of Heaven Blu-ray

The Roots of Heaven Blu-ray Review

John Houston's The Roots of Heaven will be released by Twilight Times. Another limited release of 3,000 Blu-ray copies. Amazon pre-order should be up soon.


LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
1958 / Color
126 MINUTES
Limited Edition of 3,000 Units

“Under John Huston’s fine direction, the action moves along in splendid style.” —The New York Times

“Striking pictorial aspects, exciting performances, and builds to a pulsating climax of absorbing tension.” —Variety

John Huston’s adventure-packed adaptation of Romain Gary’s Prix Goncourt-winning novel takes a prescient look at an early eco-warrior (Trevor Howard) waging a battle to preserve the elephant herds of French Equatorial Africa. With the colonial government and bloodthirsty ivory hunters aligned against him, he joins forces with a motley band of rebels—including a jovial but perpetually hammered ex-military man (Errol Flynn) and a world-weary bar girl (Juliette Greco)—in a courageous effort to save the last wild things of this Earth.

roots.jpg

[bboisvert]

Pre-ordered.

[HyperRealist]

Last night, I watched a Blu and Ray entitled The Roots Of Heaven, which I got an advance copy of from our very own Mr. Nick Redman. I’d never seen the film and only knew its rather pedestrian reputation. It wasn’t a hit, and I don’t believe it was well reviewed when it came out. So, I really knew nothing about it at all, save for the fact that I’d had the soundtrack LP when I was young. Well, it’s terrific. It’s about a man who is trying to stop the slaughter of elephants and other animals in Africa. It was actually a very prescient film for the 1950s, with talk about ruining the planet and endangering our animals for human fun and sport. The cast is fantastic, with a wonderful performance by Trevor Howard, a really colorful turn by Orson Welles, and a great performance from Errol Flynn, looking haggard and old, playing a drunk all too well. There’s also good work from Paul Lukas, Juliette Greco, and Herbert Lom. The direction by John Huston is terrific, as is the script based on the novel by Romain Gary (who also co-wrote the film). The score by Malcolm Arnold is also a big plus. I was just completely taken with the film and the Cinemascope color transfer provided by Fox is perfect. Highly recommended by the likes of me – a film ripe for rediscovery.

http://www.haineshisway.com/

[bboisvert]

I imagine these should be shipping out pretty soon... sometime next week I'd guess.

(insert generic magnet joke here)

[rafaelsalguero]

its a good movie???

[JHas]

Originally Posted by rafaelsalguero

its a good movie???

Don't know, but it's directed by John Huston, so it's a must buy for me.

[Deciazulado]

The Roots of Heaven Blu-ray Review

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by rafaelsalguero

its a good movie???

It's a very good movie...one that I had never seen either theatrically or on home video before this TT Blu-ray (I don't even recall a Region 1 DVD).

But it's odd...and I mean that in a good way. Unfathomable how something this unconventional got made with a $4.5 million dollar budget back in 1958! W-a-y ahead of its time in terms of ecological themes, activist values, and political insight. I guess they were counting on the equatorial African scenic splendour in CinemaScope to sell this oddity to mass audiences. But the characters and story just took so many 'un-Hollywood' turns, you still have to wonder, "What were they thinking???" All I can say is Huston must have cashed in some big chips with Zanuck to get this picture in the can.

Nevertheless, I'm glad The Roots of Heaven got made, and made this well, and especially happy how superbly it was treated by Twilight Time. Any PQ or AQ issues were minor and a result of the source elements (the somewhat jarring colour shifts and contrast build-up during dissolves were just Adler-era CinemaScope). Most of the movie looked and sounded splendid, including some really interesting 'corrupted' colour palettes...impure colours that we don't see often in such "odd" combinations (there's that word again). It made for a great visual tapestry.

But if ever the old movie axiom "they don't make 'em like that anymore" applied, this would be one of the finest 'scope era examples. Blind buy for me and didn't regret it at all.

[ROclockCK]

Duplicate post. Nothing to see here. Move along...

EDIT: Oh well, why waste the post. Did anyone catch Errol Flynn's softly mumbled last line? After 3 passes on that scene, I still can't quite make out what he said.

[Arkadin]

finally finished this film this morning, and though I am certainly no expert on exactly how this film should look, I think 4.5 for PQ is a little high. I certainly wasn't as impressed as the reviewer was, and understand all about TT simply issuing what Fox provided to them. I agree that it doesn't look tampered with to any large degree, but overall I just didn't find the image quality to be that remarkable to any level as compared to other cinemascope presentations I have seen on blu-ray. There is a lot of location footage that has obvious issues as compared to what can be achieved in a studio setting, and there are numerous process shots that take on a somewhat jarring appearance in their obvious placement between shots of the actors. This is all to be expected given the nature of the film, but I still feel that this bd basically represents a serviceable effort and not much more. I think anyone simply seeing a PQ score of 4.5 and buying this bd on that alone will be very disappointed by a PQ that imo should have been scored closer to a 3.0 or 3.5 perhaps.
As far as the film itself, I found the second half of film certainly more engaging than the first half, but I honestly don't see myself revisiting this film in the immediate or perhaps even long term future.
It's not a bad film by any means, and the story is certainly quite worthwhile. Trevor Howard does turn in a very nice performance, but I am puzzled why anyone would even remember Errol Flynn's performance--his role being completely forgettable imo and in reality somewhat sad given the star he once was.
bottom line--glad I have seen the film; it does have some points of recommendation; not happy with how much I paid for it; don't think I'll probably ever watch it again; overall opinion kind of meh.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

finally finished this film this morning, and though I am certainly no expert on exactly how this film should look, I think 4.5 for PQ is a little high. I certainly wasn't as impressed as the reviewer was, and understand all about TT simply issuing what Fox provided to them. I agree that it doesn't look tampered with to any large degree, but overall I just didn't find the image quality to be that remarkable to any level as compared to other cinemascope presentations I have seen on blu-ray. There is a lot of location footage that has obvious issues as compared to what can be achieved in a studio setting, and there are numerous process shots that take on a somewhat jarring appearance in their obvious placement between shots of the actors. This is all to be expected given the nature of the film, but I still feel that this bd basically represents a serviceable effort and not much more. I think anyone simply seeing a PQ score of 4.5 and buying this bd on that alone will be very disappointed by a PQ that imo should have been scored closer to a 3.0 or 3.5 perhaps.
As far as the film itself, I found the second half of film certainly more engaging than the first half, but I honestly don't see myself revisiting this film in the immediate or perhaps even long term future.
It's not a bad film by any means, and the story is certainly quite worthwhile. Trevor Howard does turn in a very nice performance, but I am puzzled why anyone would even remember Errol Flynn's performance--his role being completely forgettable imo and in reality somewhat sad given the star he once was.
bottom line--glad I have seen the film; it does have some points of recommendation; not happy with how much I paid for it; don't think I'll probably ever watch it again; overall opinion kind of meh.

Sorry to hear that Arkadin. I thought The Roots of Heaven was a fascinating lost treasure which I definitely will see again. And I thought TT did a fine job bringing it to Blu-ray.

And you're right, Flynn was quite a mess at times, but a really interesting mess, especially in this socio-political context.

What I'd like to know though, is who is this pepe98 character? And what is his real agenda here? Dude has been going from one Twilight Time review to another just trashing them across the boards with ridiculous 0.5 ratings. *Coincidentally*, all of his targets have been TT Fox titles, and all have included the same raving screed about their lack of subtitles...which would be laughable by any reasonable standards of criticism if it wasn't so pathologically irresponsible. I mean, his across the boards 0.5 ratings for Swamp Water and Rapture actually border on corporate libel and product sabotage. I don't understand how this site can tolerate such blatant, troll-level conduct. Are they even aware what he's been doing here?

This is just so wrong on so many levels...

[whitesheik]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

finally finished this film this morning, and though I am certainly no expert on exactly how this film should look, I think 4.5 for PQ is a little high. I certainly wasn't as impressed as the reviewer was, and understand all about TT simply issuing what Fox provided to them. I agree that it doesn't look tampered with to any large degree, but overall I just didn't find the image quality to be that remarkable to any level as compared to other cinemascope presentations I have seen on blu-ray. There is a lot of location footage that has obvious issues as compared to what can be achieved in a studio setting, and there are numerous process shots that take on a somewhat jarring appearance in their obvious placement between shots of the actors. This is all to be expected given the nature of the film, but I still feel that this bd basically represents a serviceable effort and not much more. I think anyone simply seeing a PQ score of 4.5 and buying this bd on that alone will be very disappointed by a PQ that imo should have been scored closer to a 3.0 or 3.5 perhaps.
As far as the film itself, I found the second half of film certainly more engaging than the first half, but I honestly don't see myself revisiting this film in the immediate or perhaps even long term future.
It's not a bad film by any means, and the story is certainly quite worthwhile. Trevor Howard does turn in a very nice performance, but I am puzzled why anyone would even remember Errol Flynn's performance--his role being completely forgettable imo and in reality somewhat sad given the star he once was.
bottom line--glad I have seen the film; it does have some points of recommendation; not happy with how much I paid for it; don't think I'll probably ever watch it again; overall opinion kind of meh.

The transfer replicates exactly what the film looked like, and therefore the PQ score is accurate - I would rate it even higher because it does exactly what a transfer is supposed to do - replicates the film as shot. You can't blame process shots or location photography on Twilight Time, Fox or anyone - it's how the film was shot. The only thing that can be judged is how faithfully it represents what was originally shown and in that it is completely successful.

[Arkadin]

well I certainly value your opinion, but must say I am a bit surprised that you don't feel it could have possibly looked better in the theater back in 1958.
If this is exactly the way it looked then so be it, but that is a bit surprising to me.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

well I certainly value your opinion, but must say I am a bit surprised that you don't feel it could have possibly looked better in the theater back in 1958.
If this is exactly the way it looked then so be it, but that is a bit surprising to me.

I never saw The Roots of Heaven - in any form - until this Blu-ray, so I can't absolutely confirm/deny what it looked like theatrically. But my first impression, as stated previously, was "typical Adler-era CinemaScope"...because I've seen so many other Fox 'Scope pictures from '56 through '60 that had the same production style and general 'look'. By this point, Fox' 'Scope pics had settled into what became their standard configuration for the rest of the decade and into the '60s: 2.35:1, mag-optical, with Color by DeLuxe (Eastman OCN + prints).

So this movie didn't particularly stand out from any of the other Fox titles I'm more familiar with from the late 50's. If anything, I thought it looked better than most of its kin because of Huston's considerable amount of on-location exterior work, plus what appeared to be atypically more careful preservation of the film elements. Except for its optical dissolves, actually this was very clean 'Scope throughout.

[#Darren]

I think you make an excellent assessment. I too give the PQ 3.5. Frankly the BD.com review is so over the top that it inclines me not to trust that reviewer again.

FACTS: It is, as you said, a serviceable transfer. It held up OK at 100 inches. Some scenes much better than others. But there is no way in hell this is a 4.5 for PQ.

I agree with your assessment of the film itself too. I am glad I saw it, but was a bit dissappointed with it.

Originally Posted by Arkadin

I think 4.5 for PQ is a little high. I certainly wasn't as impressed as the reviewer was, and understand all about TT simply issuing what Fox provided to them. I agree that it doesn't look tampered with to any large degree, but overall I just didn't find the image quality to be that remarkable to any level as compared to other cinemascope presentations I have seen on blu-ray. There is a lot of location footage that has obvious issues as compared to what can be achieved in a studio setting, and there are numerous process shots that take on a somewhat jarring appearance in their obvious placement between shots of the actors. This is all to be expected given the nature of the film, but I still feel that this bd basically represents a serviceable effort and not much more. I think anyone simply seeing a PQ score of 4.5 and buying this bd on that alone will be very disappointed by a PQ that imo should have been scored closer to a 3.0 or 3.5 perhaps.
As far as the film itself, I found the second half of film certainly more engaging than the first half, but I honestly don't see myself revisiting this film in the immediate or perhaps even long term future.
It's not a bad film by any means, and the story is certainly quite worthwhile. Trevor Howard does turn in a very nice performance, but I am puzzled why anyone would even remember Errol Flynn's performance--his role being completely forgettable imo and in reality somewhat sad given the star he once was.
bottom line--glad I have seen the film; it does have some points of recommendation; not happy with how much I paid for it; don't think I'll probably ever watch it again; overall opinion kind of meh.

[#Darren]

Just an addendum to my comments above - I give it a 3.75/5 for PQ. My personal review on the site will err on generosity and say 4/5 (as I can only pick 3 or 4).