Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

Well make his life easier and list them!

Exactly. Pretty useless comment otherwise.

[The Great Owl]

I got tired of waiting for an individual Blu-ray release of Elia Kazan's Boomerang, so I ordered the Kazan at Fox: Volume 1 box set for cheap from a third-party dealer. I now have two discs of Panic in the Streets as a result, having bought the individual Blu-ray several months ago, but I'm going to hold on to both copies.

[Dick Laurent 97]

Should I blind buy Sunset Boulevard? I think I'd like it since I love Mulholland Drive, but my surprising dislike for North by Northwest has me skeptical.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by Dick Laurent 97

Should I blind buy Sunset Boulevard? I think I'd like it since I love Mulholland Drive, but my surprising dislike for North by Northwest has me skeptical.

It's hard to tell, because your dislike for NbNW makes you irrational. How could anybody recommend you anything?!

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

It's hard to tell, because your dislike for NbNW makes you irrational. How could anybody recommend you anything?!

Right. NORTH BY NORTHWEST may drag in a few spots (especially if you've seen it several times), but it seems inconceivable that anyone could outright dislike it! Romance, comedy, adventure, thrills, spies, social commentary, not to mention that it's Hitchcock and stars Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint -- what's not to like (besides maybe cutting about 10-20 minutes)?!

[Le Samourai]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I got tired of waiting for an individual Blu-ray release of Elia Kazan's Boomerang, so I ordered the Kazan at Fox: Volume 1 box set for cheap from a third-party dealer. I now have two discs of Panic in the Streets as a result, having bought the individual Blu-ray several months ago, but I'm going to hold on to both copies.

You know Masters of Cinema are releasing Boomerang in the UK right?

[BluPat]

Yea I wish Fox would release 'Boomerang' seperately here in the states. If it's already in a boxset, why not just release it as a single as well? I really like Dana Andrews.

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

Right. NORTH BY NORTHWEST may drag in a few spots (especially if you've seen it several times), but it seems inconceivable that anyone could outright dislike it! Romance, comedy, adventure, thrills, spies, social commentary, not to mention that it's Hitchcock and stars Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint -- what's not to like (besides maybe cutting about 10-20 minutes)?!

Cutting 10-20 mins??? one does not touch Hitchcock.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Le Samourai

You know Masters of Cinema are releasing Boomerang in the UK right?

Yes. My Blu-ray player is only region A playable, though.

Also, I was planning to buy Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement at some point, so that was another decent recent to buy the box set, because that movie is included as well.

[BluPat]

'Gentleman's Agreement' is an AMAZING film. Gregory Peck is outstanding.

[BLOFELD]

huh? invasion of the body snatchers? why.

some others to add:

The Petrified Forest

http://www.amazon.com/Petrified-Fore...trified+Forest


Little Caesar

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Caesar-...=Little+Caesar

The Public Enemy

http://www.amazon.com/Public-Enemy-B...e+Public+Enemy

*this thread is proof that most of the great noirs haven't been transferred to BR yet. When I think of noir "Out of the Past", "The Big Sleep", "Gun Crazy", "Murder my Sweet" and "Asphalt Jungle" come to mind. There are only available on DVD, but for most of them the transfers are very good..

[*PREACHER*]

Hey guys, anyone want to inquire as to whether you think René Clément's The Damned would be considered a noir type film...it looks like a very interesting film that I have been really considering adding to my collection. Thoughts and opinions? Thanks in advance!

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by *PREACHER*

Hey guys, anyone want to inquire as to whether you think René Clément's The Damned would be considered a noir type film...it looks like a very interesting film that I have been really considering adding to my collection. Thoughts and opinions? Thanks in advance!

I wouldn't really call it a film noir, although a few scenes have that general vibe (nighttime in dark alleys, voiceover narrator, etc.). Mostly it's a gripping submarine escape adventure thriller blended with a touch of "Ship of Fools," set at the very end of WWII, with a few interesting twists along the way. The Blu-ray looks great and sounds very good.

[lordmorpheus72]

Thanks for the awesome thread! Can't wait to find more noir films I didn't know existed.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by BLOFELD

huh? invasion of the body snatchers? why.

some others to add:

The Petrified Forest

http://www.amazon.com/Petrified-Fore...trified+Forest


Little Caesar

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Caesar-...=Little+Caesar

The Public Enemy

http://www.amazon.com/Public-Enemy-B...e+Public+Enemy

*this thread is proof that most of the great noirs haven't been transferred to BR yet. When I think of noir "Out of the Past", "The Big Sleep", "Gun Crazy", "Murder my Sweet" and "Asphalt Jungle" come to mind. There are only available on DVD, but for most of them the transfers are very good..

I would call those "gangster" movies, not noir. I've seen a lot of noir lists where gangster movies and police procedurals get lumped in with noir, and I don't think that's right. The key to noir is that the protaganist be morally ambivalent. He is either an average Joe who gets lured into sin (Double Indemnity), a P.I. or cop who's not above bending the rules to solve a case (Maltese Falcon), or a criminal who is either trying to go straight or has a moral code where there are some things he won't do (Kiss of Death). I may have missed a few other subcategories, but I don't think a film about a sociopathic criminal who will do anything fits with the classic noir profile, although it can contain other noir elements.

[AlexHarvey]

It has been said that film noir is not a genre, but rather a style.

Perhaps the best example of a noir film is " Double Indemnity." To quote Eddie Muller, " If I had one movie to show people....to explain what noir is....it's Double Indemnity." Fred MacMurray's character sums up the style quite nicely in his confession...." I killed him for the money....and for a woman. I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman."

[GoldMotel]

Just snagged Sweet Smell of Success during Criterion's 50% off flash sale. Can't wait to watch it!

[usuallee]

Would it make sense to list films that, while not on Blu, are available for streaming in HD? For instance, Vudu has Murder, My Sweet in HD, Naked City is available on Netflix in HD, Amazon has Dead Reckoning and Dark Passage in HD (2 Bogey Noirs), and also, Warner Archive has some stuff in HD like Crime Wave, Decoy, and others. (those are all off the top of my head, and films do come and go off those sites).

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I would call those "gangster" movies, not noir. I've seen a lot of noir lists where gangster movies and police procedurals get lumped in with noir, and I don't think that's right.

Agreed. Noir didn't start until 1940 with Stranger on the Third Floor. Some 30s films could be called proto-noirs, but many of the pictures (including those listed above) from that era that get labeled noir are gangster pictures.

In upcoming blu news, Koch Media is putting out a triple pack of Ministry of Fear, The Dark Mirror and The Big Clock. This will mark the first blu-ray release of The Big Clock. Street date is April 17: link.

[GoldMotel]

Just finished Sweet Smell of Success, and it was interesting to see how much of a hybrid noir it was. Although it had many "tropes" of classic noir, I feel like it was a melodrama moreso.

It was released in 1957, so it was interesting to see where classic noir was heading into the noir transition period, with it happening even that late in the classic period.